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This Office is a subdivision of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Its Activities, which furthers official cultural affairs in the geographic area under its jurisdiction.

These activities concern principally the following:

Guardianship and protection by means of control and legislative regulation of construction sites and management of Venice’s territory (i.e. maintenance and restoration of historically-protected buildings, alterations of the environment and the landscape, and examination of the P.R.G.);

• Gathering knowledge about Venice’s territory: cataloguing and filing, the Catalogue Office – Scientific documentation of various kinds;
• Planning and directing restoration work with ministry financing. Construction sites directed by the Office.
• Planning and directing restoration work with financing provided by Private Committees for Venice’s Guardianship. Construction sites directed by the Office.
• Teaching: the Office Bulletin, guided tours of construction sites, lectures, conferences, exhibitions; Exhibitions and Events

Cultural updates for its own employees.

Direct Protection

The protection of sites of historical and cultural interest is carried out directly through the total control of all phases of restoration: planning, work-site supervision and final inspection.

The construction sites, set up through ministry funding, are an opportunity to engage in study and research in collaboration with other public entities, such as those at the local level, including the university. Often, the results of research are also made public by means of lectures, conferences and exhibitions.

Indirect Protection

Control over construction work carried out at existing buildings subject to historic protection according to law # 42/2004, which establishes two procedures:

1. Granting authorization to carry out restoration work on historically-protected buildings, according to article 21 of law # 42/2004;
2. Annulling authorizations already granted by municipalities, according to article 63, paragraph 6 of law # 63/94, which refers to modifications made to environmentally-protected sites (and refers to both new structures and external alterations made to existing ones).