The Magazzini del Sale (also called Saloni or Emporio dei Sali, but also known as Sale Docks) are a building in Venice, located in the Dorsoduro district, along the Fondamenta delle Zattere ai Saloni, and overlooking the Giudecca Canal.
This large complex was built at the beginning of the fifteenth
century in a strategic point of the city: in fact, along these
foundations there was one of the main landing places for the rafts and
boats that brought goods to Venice.
Here it was decided to build
the place to deposit the salt, a fundamental product in the economy of
the lagoon city.
The complex, designed by the architect Alvise
Pigazzi (pupil of the better known Giannantonio Selva), was then finely
restored around 1830.
During the twentieth century, after being
decommissioned, the Magazzini del Sale suffered a period of decline,
following which they were recovered and used, as is the case today, for
exhibitions and cultural events. One of the nine Magazzini del Sale was
restored by the Emilio and Annabianca Vedova Foundation, based on a
project by Renzo Piano; inaugurated in 2009, since then it has hosted
exhibitions organized by the Foundation on Emilio Vedova and other
artists for a dialectical comparison with Vedova's works.
The facade of the structure has only one floor and developed in
length, with nine large portals surmounted by as many crescent-shaped
windows; above the central openings stands the inscription Emporio dei
Sali.
Internally there are nine spaces in which the salt was
stored, where the aforementioned exhibitions are now organised.