On my Venice Trip of 2009, on a visit to the Lido searching for churches, I found the dilapidated Ospedale al Mare. It's a sprawling, neglected and atmospherically crumbling old hospital complex, full of tempting photo opportunities  which I did not even try to resist. A news item in July 2010 revealed that the same company that had bought the famous Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido and turned it into luxury flats had bought the Ospedale al Mare site too.

In September 2010 I went back and took some more photos. There were more open doors this time, some busted open, and more vandalism inside, in the old theatre most noticeably. The open doors meant that I was able to do a bit more wandering and photographing inside. In one room I found piles of old patient records, the very thing that had caused a bit of a furore on Venetian TV a while back. There's a YouTube link to this news item below.

In June 2011 an email told of restoration plans for the theatre, Il Teatrino Liberty, and a link to details. But these protests and plans date from 2006, so well before my first visit, let alone the second when considerably more vandalism had taken place, so no cause for optimism there.

I visited again in September 2011. I took more photos, and noticed impromptu banners over the entrance to the ospedale and over the church door. There were people in the theatre and I spoke to a very nice man representing a group protesting the dereliction of the Ospedale, and particularly the theatre, and the continued lack of progress in developing the site. Good luck to them!

2012 Update
The group protesting the dereliction of the theatre and the ongoing non-development of the site now have a website teatromarinoni.org to visit and an arty video to watch.
 

Photos taken in 2011

Photos taken in 2010

Photos taken in 2009

The ceiling painting is by Giuseppe Cherubini

A visit from Il Duce...

...and Prince Umberto di Savoia (below)