Chioggia is a coastal town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Known as the “Little Venice”. The historic center stands on islets divided by canals and connected by bridges. It is the sixth most populous city in Veneto and the fulcrum of various works and artists throughout history.
The municipality, located in south of the province, close to the provinces of Padua and Rovigo, borders with Campagna Lupia, Cavarzere, Codevigo, Cona, Correzzola, Loreo, Rosolina and Venice. It is located on the southern edge of the metropolitan city and borders the Venetian lagoon to the north and west, the Adriatic Sea to the east, the mouths of the Adige and the Po delta to the south.
The town is situated on a small island at the southern entrance to the Lagoon of Venice about 25 kilometres south of Venice; causeways connect it to the mainland and to its frazione, nowadays a quarter, of Sottomarina. The population of the comune is around 50,000, with the town proper accounting for about half of that and Sottomarina for most of the rest.
Divided from the sea by a long strip of beach, the Lido di Sottomarina, which goes from the mouth of the port of San Felice to the mouth of the Brenta. Its “forma urbis”, or the structure of the city, has always intrigued scholars, travelers and writers, to the point of considering it a classic and highly cited example of an urban plan, incomparable synthesis of natural morphology and functionality compared to the typical profession, fishing. The vertical lines of the square and the canals intersect with the horizontal lines of the calli marked regularly and in an almost perfect order to form the classic “herringbone”.
History
The most ancient documents naming Chioggia date from the 6th century AD, when it was part of the Byzantine Empire. Chioggia was destroyed by King Pippin of Italy in the 9th century, but rebuilt around a new industry based on salt pans. In the Middle Ages, Chioggia proper was known as Clugia major.
A free commune and an episcopal see from 1110, it had later an important role in the so-called War of Chioggia between Genoa and Venice, being conquered by Genoa in 1378 and finally by Venice in June 1380. Although the town remained largely autonomous, it was always thereafter subordinate to Venice. On 14 March 1381, Chioggia concluded an alliance with Zadar and Trogir against Venice, and finally Chioggia became better protected by Venice in 1412, because Šibenik became in 1412 the seat of the main customs office and the seat of the salt consumers office with a monopoly on the salt trade in Chioggia and on the whole Adriatic Sea.
In 1438 what is considered the first shipyard in the world was founded, the Cantiere navale Camuffo, then transferred in 1840 to Portogruaro. The city was governed, on the model of Venice, by a major and minor council, in which the Chioggiotte families were represented. Chioggia was part of the Republic of Venice until 1797, when it fell into the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops. In 1812 Domenico Poli founded the Poli Naval Shipyard in Chioggia.
Chioggia is an artificial island: since, in the mid 1500s, the Cava canal was dug for reasons of military security of the Serenissima Republic, of which the Doge was the second city. From the mid-1700s it found its natural continuity with the mainland through an ancient bridge with 43 arches, now renovated and made compliant with modern mobility needs, a place from which it is possible to admire extraordinary fiery sunsets in the lagoon.
Following the treaty of Campoformio, in 1798, the city passed into the hands of Austria. During the Habsburg domination precisely in December 1856 the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria visited the city accompanied by his wife Elisabeth of Bavaria better known with the name of Sissi.
It remained under imperial sovereignty except for a short period in which the French took over again, until 1866, the year in which Chioggia was annexed to the nascent Italian State at the end of the third war of independence, when, despite the military defeats suffered by the Italian forces, with the notable exception of the Garibaldi formations, thanks to the alliance with Prussia, the Austrian government was forced to cede the Veneto and part of today’s north-east to Italy. During the Second World War on April 27, 1945 the city was liberated by the allied forces.
Main sights
Chioggia is a miniature version of Venice, and is often called “Little Venice”, with a few canals, chief among them the Canale Vena, and the characteristic narrow streets known as calli. Chioggia has several medieval churches, much reworked in the period of its greatest prosperity in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The square
The “Corso del Popolo” crosses the historic center of Chioggia from north to south. It is the real heart of the city. It has a double entrance: from the water to the Vigo pier, where the majestic historiated bridge rises, a true balcony over the lagoon, and from the ground through the door of Santa Maria, a remnant of ancient medieval walls. A majestic and “lived-in” square-street, measuring 840 meters in length. It constitutes the cardo maximus of the Roman castrum. One of the most striking features is the continuous series of arcadeson the west side. In the northernmost stretch the route curves around five degrees, just enough to break the direct gusts of the bora. Curzio Malaparte defined it as a unique open-air “great café”. Place of animation and sociability, it gives the impression that every day is a celebration.
Canals
Three canals flow, dividing the historic center into slices. The innermost is the Vena canal, the most picturesque, ridden by nine bridges (of Vigo, Caneva, Sant’Andrea, della Pescheria, dei Filippini, San Giacomo, Scarpa, Zitelle, della Cuccagna). It accommodates small tonnage boats. The picturesque daily fish, fruit and vegetable market takes place in its foundations. Outside the central core: the Lombardo canal to the west and the San Domenico to the east, at the foundations of which deep sea fishing boats are moored. Each is recognizable in the different specialization of the trades by the shape of the nets and fishing tools (flying cocce, crampons for the trawl, the turbo blowers). Between the Vena and the Lombardo: the partially buried canal del Perottolo, on the bank of which is the marble balustrade of the “Refugium peccatorum”, a suggestive corner that has inspired artists and writers.
Small canals
A place where people live, work and play. A common living room that extends the living spaces that are always too narrow outside the home. Arranged with an admirable design in two parallel series that intersect perpendicularly on the double land (square) and water (the Vena canal) with a plant that recalls the herringbone. There are 74 streets in all: Of these 34 are located on the west side, beyond the square; 40 in the one defined between the Vena and San Domenico canals, which once were wedged with small canals, called “zoelli”. As evidence of this ancient origin there are still two elements: the portico on the side of the pedestrian passage, usually to the north and on the opposite side the “caneve”, the warehouses for the storage of fishing tools that can be reached directly from boats.
The arcades
They are a very peculiar feature for a lagoon city, which not even Venice (with the exception of Piazza San Marco) has. A feature that – as noted by the well-known art critic Cesare Brandi – makes Chioggia “half land and half water”, “half Venetian and half Emilian”. An element, that of the arcades, which we find not only along the whole square, but also for large stretches of the Vena bank and protruding from time to time in the streets. Most of the time they represent a solution to recover living space. But their presence also responds to the function of sheltering from bad weather and also from the sun’s rays.
The squeri
The fishing landscape is completed by the Cantieri islands, the “squeri”, which boast a tradition of material culture that sinks into the medieval period. Their statute, the Mariegola di San Giuliano, dates back to 1211 and is one of the first examples in Europe of a society that preceded mutual aid. Of particular interest is the architecture of the typical warehouses, the “tenze”. On whose architrave you can see the characteristic “cesiola”, a sort of altar with a celestial image, placed to protect the workers. Inside the “tabiào” the office-scabuzzino suspended high on a wall. Several specializations exist within this activity: the shipwright, the “scorarioi” or carpenters, the “saws” paired with the very long saw, the “puti de cantier” or apprentices,
Route of Art and culture
Carlo Goldoni – who lived for some years in Palazzo Poli – set one of his best known comedies in this city, Le baruffe chiozzotte, staged for the first time at the Teatro San Luca in Venice in 1762.Goldoni himself describes it in the preface to the Baruffe:
“Chiozza is a beautiful and rich city twenty-five miles away from Venice, also planted in the lagoons, isolated but made peninsula by a very long wooden bridge, which communicates with the mainland. It has a Governor with the title of Podestà, which is always of one of the first Patrician Houses of the Republic of Venice, to which it belongs. It has a Bishop transported there from the ancient seat of Malamocco. It has a very lively and comfortable and well fortified port. Evvi the noble class, the civilian and the merchant. There are people of merit and distinction. The Knight of the city has the title of Cancellier Grande, and has the privilege of wearing the robe with long and wide sleeves, like the Procurators of San Marco. In short, she is a respectable city. ”
The route starts through the Porta Di Santa Maria (1530), as it was once done when Chioggia was a walled city and this was the only access available for those arriving from the mainland.
Immediately on your left on the south side of the Cathedral, in the so-called Sagraéto (small churchyard) you can admire the Refugium Peccatorum complex: one of the most evocative corners of the city. The interesting marble group of which it is composed, depicting the Madonna and Child, is surmounted by a golden dome. The statue, together with the balustrade, was placed up to 1814 on the steps of the ancient town hall, which was subsequently demolished. It is said that right in front of it the condemned to death stopped to recite the last prayer. Immortalized by a painting by Luigi Nono.
Immediately after, you can admire the majestic Cathedral built on the project of Baldassarre Longhena. Inside you can admire the baptistery (1700) by A. Cattajapietra, the pulpit (1677) and the high altar by Tremignon. The relics of SS. Patrons Felice and Fortunato with valuable paintings on the walls by Palma il Giovane, Piazzetta, Tiepolo, Cignaroli, Diziani and Liberi.
The Bell Tower is Romanic Style and a bas-relief called ‘Madonna del Riposo’ is visible above the door: it recalls the night stop in Chioggia of Pope Alexander III in 1178 on the steps of the bell tower itself. Next to the Tempietto di San Martino in late Gothic style with a hexagonal dome on the outside and hemispherical inside, it was built by the inhabitants of Sottomarina who took refuge in Chioggia after the destruction of their village by the Genoese in 1379. Proceeding on the right onto Palazzo Poli a plaque recalls that for a few years it was the House of Carlo Goldoni, father of the Italian comedy and author of the famous “Baruffe Chioggiotte”.
At the center of the square is the Basilica Di S.Giacomo, which preserves the effigy of the Madonna della Navicella, found after an apparition of the Madonna on the shore of Sottomarina beach in 1508. Numerous ‘tolele’, and the ex voto a testify to the rooted popular religiosity. Among the most notable works is the huge ceiling fresco of 223 square meters. eighteenth-century work by the local painter Antonio Marinetti known as Chiozzotto, a pupil of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1682-1754).
On the Piazzetta XX Settembre overlooks the Church of the Trinity built in its present form in 1705 by Andrea Tirali (1660-1737), with a Greek cross plan in the adjacent Battuti oratory, known as the ‘Rossi’ due to the color of the penitential habit, one of the the most important pictorial cycles of Venetian mannerism (Paolo Piazza, Palma il Giovane, Andrea Vicentino, Alvise Banfatto. In the square there is also the Banner, the flagpole supported by three prisons by Zemignani (1713).
Beyond the Town Hall rebuilt in pure Habsburg style, there is Palazzo Granaio, one of the oldest buildings in the pre-war city of Chioggia, in a very sober Gothic style, it was built in 1328. It had the function of conserving the grain needed by the community and originally rested on 64 columns until the last century, which only in this century have been cemented to obtain a ground floor. On the façade there is an aedicule with an image of the Madonna and Child, a work attributed to Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570). Below you can admire the suggestive town Fishing, a must for anyone who comes to visit Chioggia. The main access is constituted by the ‘Portale a Prisca’, the work of the Paduan sculptor Amleto Sartori
Along the Corso del Popolo you will find the church of S. Andrea. Of ancient foundation (it already existed in the 15th century), the church was rebuilt in 1743 with the façade being of the Baroque type. It preserves noteworthy works including a canvas depicting the crucifixion by Marescalco (Giovanni Buonconsiglio) in the sacristy. Next to it is the Romanesque-style Bell Tower dating back to the 11th-12th century and, at one time, a defense and military watchtower, which preserves the oldest tower clock in the world, existing as early as 1386, contemporary with that of the English cathedral of Salisbury.
The walk in the course ends with the stupendous view offered by Piazzetta Vigo where the column with the Lion of Marciano has stood since 1786 (called with irony by Chioggiotti for its not so majestic features ‘el gato’). And the majestic Vigo bridge which represents the balcony of the city on the lagoon built in masonry in 1685 under the mayor Morosini and embellished in 1762 with marbles from Istria. To complete our itinerary it is necessary to move to the foundations of the Canal Vena where you can admire some of the most important city buildings including Palazzo Grassi, now a university.
And finally to reach the islet of San Domenico where an ancient Dominican convent once stood. In the eighteenth-century temple you can admire works of great value by Carpaccio (S. Paolo, the last known work in 1520), by Jacopo Tintoretto by Pietro Damini, Lendro Bassano and by Brustolon. But the most useful thing is undoubtedly the giant crucifix wooden, over four meters high, which dates from the fourteenth century. And it is recognized as one of the most interesting existing examples of Cristus dolorosus, of clear Nordic derivation, which stands out among all for its expressiveness and its size.
Museums
The Civic Museum of the South Lagoon located near the cathedral and a short distance from the Santa Maria gate, in Campo Marconi. Housed in the former convent of San Francesco fuori le mura, it documents Chioggia territory.
Palazzo Grassi, on the other hand, near the Vigo bridge, houses the Giuseppe Olivi Museum of Adriatic Zoology: a university museum open to the public, which offers the opportunity to get to know the Adriatic marine environment and its organisms and to see a specimen of 8 meter basking shark.
The diocesan museum of sacred art. It houses works by Paolo Veneziano, Cima da Conegliano, Palma il Vecchio, Andrea Brustolon and the last work by Carpaccio, transferred from the sanctuary of San Domenico. There is also a picture gallery: the picture gallery of the Holy Trinity in the oratory of the same name from 1500. It contains paintings by Andrea Vicentino and Pietro Damini.
Religious architectures
There are numerous Catholic churches in the Clodiense area.
Campo del Duomo
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is the main church of Chioggia and the cathedral of the diocese of the same name.
Basilica of St. James the Apostle
The Basilica contains the stump on which, according to tradition, Mary sat with the dead Christ in her arms, and the painting by an unknown artist that portrays the scene. The church also contains some frescoes and sculptures of the “Seven Gifts”. In March 1906, Pope Pius X elevated it to the dignity of a minor basilica. Near the Basilica are the Pinacoteca and the Church of the Rossi, or of the Holy Trinity, with a private cloister inside.
Church of Sant’Andrea
The church of Sant’Andrea, dating back to the 18th century, has a Romanesque tower at its side – called Torre dell’Orologio – dating back to the 11th – 12th century and, once, a defense and military watch tower. Inside it has the oldest tower clock in the world made by Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio (recent studies have shown its pre-existence to that of Salisbury). Inside the religious building there is a Crucifixion by Palma il Vecchio (1480-1528) and the baptistery attributed to Sansovino. Organ by Gaetano Callido 2 manuals restored in 2005 by Maestro Alessandro Girotto
Church of the Holy Trinity
The complex developed from 1528 on the initiative of the Confraternity of the Battuti del Santissimo Crocifisso, which venerated the ancient “articulated crucifix” in the niche above the wardrobe, on the back wall. The Oratory was built in the second half of the sixteenth century, while the ceiling was covered with ‘telerì between 1596 and 1602 with paintings by Palma il Giovane, Pietro Damini and Andrea Vicentino. In 1703-1707 the current church was built, with a Greek cross, in place of the sixteenth-century one, now dilapidated. Today it houses the city’s art gallery.
Church of San Domenico – Sanctuary of Christ
The church stands on a small island, separated from Chioggia by the San Domenico canal. The foundation of the church dates back to the 13th century and was administered first by the Dominicans and then by the Jesuits. The church was radically changed in the ‘700 and in’ ‘800. The interior of the church has a single nave, with a presbytery and some side chapels. There are preserved some valuable paintings, including San Paolo stigmatizzato, the last known work of Vittore Carpaccio and Crucifix speaking to San Tommaso d’Aquino by Tintoretto.
Natural space
Sottomarina beach
Sottomarina beach stretches for about five kilometers, from the San Felice dam at the mouth of the port of Chioggia in the north, to the dam at the mouth of the Brenta river in the south. The two dams respectively delimit the northern and southern boundaries of the seaside area of what is the most populous fraction of the Municipality of Chioggia. The coast is characterized by a very fine sand, with a large presence of augite, quartz, silicates and micaceous elements. On the beach there are numerous bathing establishments, as well as refreshment points, restaurants, pizzerias, water parks, amusement parks and dance halls.
The beach of Isola Verde
Isola Verde is a small town in the municipality of Chioggia, which has remained untouched by the chaos of the city. The contact with nature and the tranquility of a holiday near the sea are essential needs for those who want to stay in Isola Verde. Country roads or along the Adige and Brenta rivers offer the vision of landscapes where the flora and fauna characterize a natural environment in which an excursion by bicycle or on foot, even in the nearby Bosco Nordio, offers well-being and relaxation.
The tegnùe
The Tegnùe di Chioggia are often called ‘the Adriatic coral reefs’. These structures are mainly distributed in front of the coasts of the North Adriatic, but it is right in front of the coast of the city of Chioggia that the largest and most important complex of Tegnùe is located, in which the largest groupings found up to now are present. Their origin at the moment remains partly uncertain and the subject of study, but certainly a large contribution to their formation is due to calcareous algae and bioconstructive invertebrates such as corals. For this reason
The Tegnùe remain today a unique and peculiar environment of the Northern Adriatic Sea, but still very little known. And like the coral reefs present in tropical seas, the Tegnùe are also an environment rich in life and biodiversity, characterized by extremely irregular rocks, rich in ravines, tunnels and cavities, used by many organisms as shelters, shelters or nurseries.
Divers who dive to visit the Tegnùe are surprised by the enormous biodiversity present, characterized by sessile animal and plant organisms(unable to move) and encrusting, showy for shapes and colors, such as, for example, sponges, anemones, colonial sea squirts, and numerous species of fish. For all these characteristics and for what they represent for our Adriatic Sea, the Tegnùe can be considered real oases of biodiversity in the middle of a sandy expanse apparently poor in organisms.