Parco delle Rimembranze, Venice

Parco delle Rimembranze is a wooded public park on Sant’Elena, also known as the Sant’Elena pine grove. Its purpose is remembrance: the park honours soldiers who died during the Second World War. Local tradition holds that a tree was planted for every victim, giving the grove a memorial meaning alongside its recreation spaces.

You can see a children’s playground and sports grounds within the park, while the outer waterfront provides a view across the Venetian lagoon. A separate monument recalls the tornado that struck the grove on 11 September 1970. That storm uprooted dozens of trees, damaged houses, lifted a 22-tonne motorboat, and caused 21 deaths. The park also hosts the Coppa Faganelli cross-country race, held there since 1961 for students from Venice and the mainland.