Riva dei Sette Martiri

 The waterfront Riva dei Sette Martiri (Riva of the Seven Martyrs) extends east and west from the Biennale Gardens.

During the Second World War it was the scene of a tragic episode of retaliation against the partisan forces by the German army. Following the disappearance of a German soldier (who was later found to be drowned, after falling into drunk water), the German command decided to shoot seven political prisoners, held in the city prisons of Santa Maria Maggiore, in retaliation.

On the morning of August 3, 1944 the seven were tied to each other between the first two street lamps of the shore, just at the foot of the bridge of the Veneta Marina and shot there. Before the execution, German troops rounded up over 500 inhabitants of the area forcing them to witness the shooting. The corpses were left exposed for several days as a warning and monitored by German soldiers on sight to prevent their removal.

At the end of the hostilities, with the end of the fascist regime and with the establishment of the Italian Republic, in memory of this episode, the Municipality of Venice changed the name of the shore to its current name.

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