Via Garibaldi is one of the few streets in Venice called "via". It is a rio terà built in 1807 to connect, with a straight path, the San Pietro canal with the San Marco basin. Located at the beginning of the Riva dei Sette Martiri, it represents a considerable crossroads of city life, always a nerve center of the city and especially of the Castello district.
Originally it was called Strada Nuova dei Giardini. In the following years it was also called Via Eugenia, in honor of the viceroy of Italy Eugenio di Beauharnais. The measure was taken with a decree of the emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who wanted to provide the city with places for public walking. The architect Giannantonio Selva, who was part of the Commission for the urban and architectural management of the lagoon city established in January 1807, was entrusted with the work. To obtain the necessary space, various churches with adjoining convents and the hospital of the Sailors, annexed to the church of San Nicolò di Castello, were demolished.
In 1866, after the entry of Garibaldi's troops into Venice, the street was dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, to whom the monument was later erected at the entrance to the Gardens. Between 1993 and 1996, repaving and restoration work was carried out with the aim of redeveloping the street following the original nineteenth-century project by Giannantonio Selva.