Venezia Santa Lucia Railway Station - History

History

Work on the construction of the station began in 1860. To make room for the station and its forecourt, both a convent and the Church of Santa Lucia were demolished in 1861. The station then took the name of the church.

The current station building is one of the few modernist buildings facing the Grand Canal. It is the result of a series of plans started by the rationalist architect Angiolo Mazzoni in 1924, and developed by him over the next decade.

In 1934, a contest for a detailed design for the current station was won by Virgilio Vallot. Between 1936 and 1943, Mazzoni and Vallot collaborated on the construction of the station building, and Mazzoni also worked on the train hall. The work was completed only some years later, in 1952, to a design developed by another architect, Paul Perilli.

In November 2009, work began on the renovation of the station. The renovation will include improvements to the use of spaces and the flow of internal transit. Additionally, certain architectural elements will be recovered and restored, and the atrium will be altered to house several retail spaces. The project is estimated to take two years and cost 24 million euros.