Lido
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224952876
2008-07-11T04:15:42Z
DocWatson42
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[[Image:20050525-033-lido.jpg|thumb|250px|Lido vaporetto terminal, seen from the Lagoon.]]
[[Image:Leguna Veneta.png|thumb|right|250px|Lido and the Venetian Lagoon.]]
[[Venice]]'s '''Lido''' is an 11-mile (18 km) long [[bar (landform)|sandbar]], home to about 20,000 residents, greatly augmented by the (mainly Italian) tourists who move in every summer. The [[Venice film festival]] takes place at the Lido every September.
==Geography==
The island is home to three settlements. The Lido itself, in the north, is home to the Film Festival, the [[Grand Hotel des Bains]], the [[Venice Casino]] and the [[Grand Hotel Excelsior]]. [[Malamocco]], in the centre, is the first and for a long time the only settlement. It was at one time home to the [[Doge of Venice]]. [[Alberoni]] at the southern end is home to the [[golf course]].
At least half the [[Adriatic]] side of the island is constituted by a sandy beach, much of which belongs to the various hotels that house the summer tourists. These include the renowned [[Excelsior]] and the Des Bains, setting for [[Thomas Mann]]'s classic novel ''[[Death in Venice]]''. These beaches are private, though towards the northern and southern ends of the island there are two enormous public beaches. The [[Adriatic Sea]] is fairly clean and warm, ideal for children, with only the occasional [[jellyfish]] to disturb swimming.
The heart of the island is the Gran Viale [[Santa Maria Elisabetta]], a wide street approximately 700 m long that leads from the lagoon on one side to the sea on the other. It houses hotels, shops, and tourist-centric restaurants. At the [[Venetian Lagoon|lagoon]] end of the Gran Viale, you find the boats that connect to [[Venice]] (15'), the mainland (35'), the islands and the [[Marco Polo International Airport|Marco Polo]] airport (60').
==History==
In [[1202]] at the beginning of the [[Fourth Crusade]], it was used as a camp by tens of thousands of crusaders, who were blockaded there by the Venetians when they could not pay for the Venetian ships they needed for transport.
The [[island]]'s [[casino]] has recently closed down—it used to operate in the summer months, moving to Palazzo Vendramin Calergi in [[Venice]] for the winter.
==Notes and references==
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==External links==
*[http://maps.google.com/maps?q=venice,+italy&ll=45.383984,12.351723&spn=0.096212,0.328766&t=k&hl=en Satellite image of the Venetian Lido from Google Maps]
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[[Category:Frazioni of the Province of Venice]]
[[Category:Geography of Venice]]
[[Category:Islands of Italy]]
[[Category:Seaside resorts in Italy]]
[[de:Lido]]
[[eo:Lido (Venecio)]]
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[[fr:Lido (Venise)]]
[[it:Lido di Venezia]]
[[ja:リード・ディ・ヴェネツィア]]
[[nl:Lido]]
[[nn:Lido]]
[[pl:Lido (wyspa)]]
[[pt:Lido (Veneza)]]
[[ru:Лидо]]
[[zh:利多]]