Dogana Veneta Revival to Position as Lake Area Cultural Hub

In broad terms, the role and function that the Dogana Veneta will assume in the near future. The “Grande Fabbrica,” once a symbol of the Lacisiese economy, with its new ambitious project aims to revitalize that reputation, albeit under different aspects, which the structure has carried for several centuries: to become a reference center for the entire lower lake area for events and shows, as well as tourism and cultural initiatives.

For the three-century-old building, a return to former glory, to that economic centrality once used as an arsenal under the Scaligeri; as an arsenal, a “tezone,” and finally a customs house during the time of the Serenissima Repubblica Veneta.

This role was later diminished with the advent of railways and safer roads, so much so that Lazise lost its role as the “key of the lake” for commercial traffic, and the Dogana was reduced to a storage for wood and coal.

Attempts to revive the Grande Fabbrica were unsuccessful, such as when it was converted into a cotton spinning mill immediately after the Great War. Not even when it became “one of the most beautiful houses of the Fascio of the entire province,” in the late 1930s, did it succeed in taking off.

An oblivion that has persisted until today, apart from the brief period of vitality observed after restoration work was completed in the early seventies.