Comitati privati per la salvaguardia di Venezia

The Comitati privati per la salvaguardia di Venezia (Private Committees for the Rescue of Venice) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1966. Between 1971 and 2016, the committees managed to finance restoration work on more than 80 monuments and over 900 works of art. Alvise Zorzi was its president from 1986 to 2010, followed by Umberto Marcello del Majno. In Zorzi's honor, all 25 Comitati came together for the first time to have an object restored together, namely the auditorium of the Ateneo Veneto . In addition, Save Venice has maintained the Rosand Library & Study Center since 2014 with currently (as of 2019) 4000 volumes. It is located in the Palazzo Contarini Polignac , Dorsoduro 870.

The committees cooperate within the framework of the UNESCO-Comitati Privati program , which provides for a defined type of cooperation between UNESCO, associations and the individual committees. The art-owning or managing association receives notification of a major restoration project from the Soprintendenza or another monument preservation institution, such as the commune or the patriarchal curia , and the individual committees choose one or more of the works of art in question. For a long time, however, it was the case that the committees themselves selected appropriate works to be restored.

In consultation with the Soprintendenza or the association, the respective committee selects a company that is able to carry out the work, i.e. that has expertise and staff in the field of restoration. The committee is involved in the decision-making processes for the restoration. The necessary funds are deposited in a bank account that UNESCO has access to in order to pay for the work done.

The committees include:

America-Italy Society of Philadelphia
Venice working group of the German UNESCO Commission
Associazione Amici dei Musei e Monumenti Veneziani
Associazione Italia Nostra (Venice Branch)
Associazione per la Conservazione del Patrimonio Culturale degli Armeni a Venezia
The Australian Committee for Venice
Comitato Amici della Basilica dei SS. Giovanni e Paolo
Comitato Internazonale per la Conservazione e la Tutela dell'Antico Arsenale
Comitato per il Centro Storico Ebraico di Venezia
Comité Francais pour la Sauvegarde de Venise
Comitato Italiano per Venezia
Comité San Marco
German Study Center in Venice
Venice European Center for the Trades and Crafts of the Conservation of the Architectural Heritage
"Pro Venezia" Foundation
Lions Club Venezia Hos7
Austrian Committee "Venice Lives" (founded 1993)
"Pro Venezia" Sweden
Save Venice Inc.
Società Dante Alighieri
Stichting Nederlands Venetie Comité
The Venice in Peril Fund
World Monuments Fund
Zonta International, Venice