The 'Conquest' and Construction of an Urban Place: The Insula dei Gesuiti in Venice in the Early Modern Period

This article examines the production of place and its socio-economie impact in early modem Venice, reconstructing the urban dynamics in one of the lesser-known peripheries of the city, the insula dei Gesuiti. Building on the idea of place making as a collective enterprise, it concentrates on three stages of urban growth and its pertaining agents: the colonization process undertaken by private citizens and ecclesiastical institutions; their efforts toward a residential urban development; and the state-imposed action to determine the insula's final outline. These practices were instrumental in securing significant real estate holdings, but they also initiated a profound change in the area's intended use. Urban transformations engendered a new social identity that would serve as a model for the redesigned Venetian margins.