In the public gardens of Castello, a monument to Pier Luigi Penzo stands beside an older memorial to the polar explorer Francesco Querini. The Italian inscription links Penzo’s final flight over the Arctic with his fatal crash on the Rhône, presenting the 1928 Italia rescue operation as part of a longer Venetian tradition of polar and aviation exploration.
At a glance
Pier Luigi Penzo was born in Venice on 5 May 1896, according to the monument, and died near Valence on the Rhône in France on 29 September 1928. His aircraft struck a high-tension wire while attempting an emergency landing.
He was returning from operations connected to the search for Umberto Nobile’s airship Italia, which had come down on Arctic ice in May 1928, and the searches were also tied to efforts around Roald Amundsen’s rescue flight. In June 1932 Venice raised a monument to him in the Giardini di Castello, beside an existing memorial to the Venetian explorer Francesco Querini.
Key facts
- Born: Venice, 5 May 1896, as carved on the monument; his tomb at San Michele gives 6 April 1896.
- Died: near Valence, France, 29 September 1928, after his aircraft hit a power line during an emergency landing on the Rhône.
- Context of death: search and rescue operations connected to Umberto Nobile’s airship Italia, downed on Arctic ice in May 1928.
- Monument unveiled: June 1932, Giardini di Castello, Venice.
- Sculptor: Francesco Scarpabolla (1902–1999).
- Legacy: Venice’s municipal football stadium, built in 1913, was dedicated to Penzo in 1931.
History
Penzo died on 29 September 1928 near Valence, on the Rhône, when his aircraft hit a high-tension wire during an emergency landing. He was returning from operations linked to the search for Umberto Nobile’s airship Italia, which had crashed on Arctic ice in May 1928.
The monument’s inscription deliberately places him alongside another Venetian lost to exploration, Francesco Querini, who had died decades earlier on the Italian polar expedition of the Duke of the Abruzzi. Pairing the two memorials presented Penzo’s death during the Italia rescue effort as a continuation of the same Venetian tradition of polar and aviation exploration.
Penzo is buried in the military field of the cemetery of San Michele, under a pillar with his bust and a Latin epitaph. The monument and the tomb do not agree on his birthday: the monument gives 5 May 1896 and the tomb 6 April 1896.
What you see
The monument stands in the Giardini di Castello, the gardens also known as the Giardini della Biennale, directly beside an existing memorial to Francesco Querini. Its inscription reads: “Accanto al marmo di Francesco Querini, qui vuole onorata e compianta l’ala del veneziano Pier Luigi Penzo, sorvolata sull’Artide, caduta nel Rodano.”
In translation, it states that beside the marble of Francesco Querini the wing of the Venetian Pier Luigi Penzo, flown over the Arctic and fallen in the Rhône, wished to be honoured and mourned. The monument is signed “F. Scarpabolla.”
Practical information
- Location: Giardini di Castello, also called the Giardini della Biennale, Venice.
- Nearest vaporetto stop: Giardini.
- What to look for: the Italian inscription and the sculptor’s signature “F. Scarpabolla,” alongside the Querini memorial.
Getting there
The monument is in the Giardini di Castello (Giardini della Biennale) and can be reached from the Giardini vaporetto stop.
Nearby
- Francesco Querini memorial — directly beside Penzo’s monument in the Giardini di Castello.
- Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo — elsewhere in Venice, the municipal football stadium dedicated to Penzo in 1931.
Sources
- On-site inscription, Giardini di Castello
- voicemap.me, ‘Monuments to Pier Luigi Penzo and to Francesco Querini’
- iamnotmakingthisup.net, ‘The Garden of the Forgotten Venetians: Pier Luigi Penzo’
Find it on the map
See this place and what’s around it →Record researched and written by Stefano Vigolo for Cultural Heritage Online, 2026.
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