After Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, Venice came under the authority of Austria. From 1797 the city entered a decline, with many of its historical buildings abandoned and derelict. However, in the late 1800s Lido became a popular summer resort, and under the Treaty of Pressburg of 1805 Venice became part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. In 1814, it was restored to Austria as part of the Austrian-ruled Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. The city also received a rail connection to the mainland in 1846, and achieved independence briefly in 1848 with the re-establishment of the Venetian Republic. It wasn't until 1866 that Venice, after the Third Independence War, became part of Italy.  

Venice continued to flourish in cultural life, introducing in 1894 the first Biennale exhibition of Italian art. Since then, special exhibit pavilions in the Giardini di Castello have been built. On April 30 of that same year, the First International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice was officially opened with the assistance of Italian King and Queen, Umberto I and Margherita di Savoia. The event gathered 224,000 visitors.