A visit to the island of Lazzaretto Nuovo provides an opportunity to get to know and appreciate the natural characteristics of the Venice Laguna. The island boasts a wide variety of biotopes of interest to the community.
The Path of the Barene represents the ecomuseum’s naturalistic dimension, and is also the name of the nature walk of about one kilometer, outside the walls, furnished with informative panels installed by the Venice Museum of Natural History. The path follows the old route the sentinels followed on their rounds, around the nineteenth century bastions, between the “ghebi” (small canals between barene), clumps of laurels, blackthorn and reeds.
Coastal lagunas are areas in delicate balance between erosion and sedimentation, complex brackish water habitats halfway between water and dry land, home to plants and animals that can live nowhere else. The Venice Laguna is the most important wetland area in Italy for waterfowl: during the winter and the migrations, tens of thousands of birds find nourishment in the laguna’s shallow waters.
The Path of the Barene tells the story of the Laguna, exploring its most precious and unique habitat, the barene, from their origins to their flow between flora and fauna, permitting extraordinarily close-up observation. The barene function as a significant litmus test of the relationship between man and nature.
The nature walk also offers striking views of the city of Venice, and one can imagine the landscape as it was when the city was built, centuries ago.
“For the Venice Museum of Natural History – says its director, Luca Mizzan – this is an important opportunity, which brings together the discovery of an extraordinary historical legacy and the chance to see such a lovely and unexpected part of the Venice Laguna, particularly the barene, some of the best-preserved examples, in a place reachable by public transportation, and therefore accessible to everyone.”
As part of the “Rebirth of an Island” project, the Path of the Barene was realized in collaboration with Dontstop Architettura: Innovative network project winner of the 2019 Contest for proposals for the development of mutually supportive communities, organized by the CAVV-CSV Coordinamento delle Associazioni di Volontariato della Città Metropolitana di Venezia (Coordination of Volunteer Associations of the Venice Metropolitan Area).