LAGOONS

The Venetian lagoon

The Lagoon of Venice or Venetian lagoon is a lagoon of the Adriatic Sea north along the coasts of Veneto region. The surface of the lagoon is about 550 square kilometers,the 8% is constitued of lands (Venice itself and many smaller islands). About the 11% is permanently composed of water, or dredged channels, of those the 80% are muddy tidal flats, salt marshes or artificial. In 1987 the Venice lagoon and Venice its self have been included in the list of World Heritage by ‘UNESCO.

For accurate and detailed information you can visit the website and interactive map of the Venice lagoon of the l ‘Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts’ .

The smaller islands

A journey to discovery the minor islands in the Venetian lagoon, silent places which often are unfortunately uninhabited, supreme reigns of vegetation and fauna of the lagoon.

Not far from the crowded Venice, these islands, immersed in surreal atmospheres and out of time, they promise to the few visitors who venture the charm of a hike between nature and history, between water and sky.

San Servolo

San Servolo is an island, located in the San Marco basin, with an ancient history (the first settlement dates back to 600 century) It is one of the few islands that has a history even today. Thanks to the Province of Venice, San Servolo is now an International University, a conference center,a museum and a full program of events from art to photography, from music to movies, from literature to theater.

Certosa Island

Certosa, is less than 250 meters from St. Peter’s Castle, just over 500 meters from the Lido and it is close to the island of Vignole and the Fort of St. Andrew. It owes its name to the Carthusian monks who settled in Florence in 1424. Abandoned for years, now the island of Certosa is an example of integrated recovery, thanks to EU funding, the funds of the Special Law and the City of Venice, with the establishment of a park, with the creation of a nautical pole, Wind of Venice, and with the recent settlement of ‘European Institute of Design.

Island of Santa Cristina

Santa Cristina is located in the northern lagoon of Treporti. By extension, it is the largest of 33 smaller islands of the Venetian lagoon. The island of Santa Cristina was formerly known under the name of San Marco. Now is private property.

Island of St. Erasmus

St. Erasmus is located in north-central basin. Till the 800 century it was a real lido, placed in front of the Adriatic Sea. Then, with the construction of breakwaters at the inlets, the action of filing of the currents created the dune Punta Sabbioni. Marziale describes the island, once known as Alba or Mercede, as a charming resort area with fertile soil and large pine forests. It carried out for centuries and still in part performs the function of ‘ortho ‘ of Venice.

San Giacomo in PALUDE

San Giacomo in Palude is located in the central lagoon in the north-east of Murano. The presence in the island of settlements stable in the early Middle Ages, if not earlier, has been recently confirmed through some Archaeological discoveries. In the summer of 1975, after a period of neglect, the Venice Biennale, used one of the military sheds for some theatrical shows.

Lazzaretto Nuovo

Lazzaretto Nuovo is located in the central lagoon. Its location was strategic becasue closed to St. Erasmus, which at the time was considered to be the main harbor in the lagoon mouth . As Poveglia and S. Clemente it was a station already during the Roman times, Fossa Popilia which linked Chioggia to Altino. But long and intense has been the life of this island that in 1468 takes its name with the establishment of the hospital for the quarantine of people and goods suspected of contagion of plague. After a period of neglect, the island has been reborn thanks to the Association Ekos Club and Archeoclub Venice.

Salina Island

Salina is located in the northern lagoon. Coincides with the core of the ancient island of San Felice, one of the churches that made up the archipelago of Ammiana. The name that characterizes it, was introduced towards the middle of the last century, when the ‘motta’ of San Felice, now abandoned since centuries, was chosen as the seat of the office buildings of a large plant for sea ​​salt production. The island is today private property.

San Lazzaro degli Armeni

San Lazzaro degli Armeni is a small island in the south of the lagoon, home of the order of Mekhitaristi. One of the first world’s centers of the Armenian culture. It has a long tradition of hospitality: Lord Byron studied the Armenian island in 1816 and it is said that he loved the very special Vartanush, jam with rose petals that the monks still produce thanks to the rose bushes planted in the island.

San Francesco del Deserto

San Francesco del Deserto is located in front of St. Erasmus. Oasis of peace and mysticism, with its unmistakable profile of cypresses. The foundation of the hermitage traditionally coincides with the permanence in lagoon in 1220 of St. Francis of Assisi return from Egypt. Anyway there are still many doubts about the veracity of the fact and about a possible active role of St. Francis in the creation of the settlement. The name of St. Francis of the Desert comes from the fact that, a couple of centuries after the settlement of Franciscan friars, the deterioration of the island led them to abandon it and then they returned in 1453.

Vignole

The island of Le Vignole, in the central lagoon, looks like a long off sandy cuneiform place between the port of St. Erasmus and Lido. Once known Biniola, or even “of the seven vineyards“, was one of the privileged places of recreation of the inhabitants of Altino first and then those of Venice. According to the poet Marziale, the magnificence of the residences was higher than that of Pozzuoli.

Island Poveglia

Poveglia is an island located in the south of the lagoon and placed in front of Malamocco. Following the invasion of the Lombards in the sixth century and the destruction of Padua, Poveglia became one of the resettlement of populations fleeing. Depopulated during the War of Chioggia to allow the installation of defensive works. It was abandoned in the last century and is now still being recovered.

Laguna North and the ‘ISOLE MAGGIORI’

This excursion of interest, not only landscape but also ethnographic and cultural, will lead you in the historical, artistic and popular north of the lagoon that offers and reveals itself to the visitor in multiple and contradictory aspects of its reality. A suggestive experience, to be lived a whole day, without haste, with a soul willing to discover and wonder that arouse the beauty of nature and traces the history of which this part of the lagoon has been the scene.

Mazzorbo

To welcome the first in this’ “Other Venice” Immersed in the surreal peace of the lagoon, we find the lonely landscape and discrete Mazzorbo. While in the nearby Mazzorbetto, Reachable only by boat, the vegetation is lush and wild, Mazzorbo is populated by a few simple colored houses which alternate orchards and vineyards. A few minutes’ walking and it is possible to see the fourteenth-century church of the monastery Santa Caterina, one of the last vestiges of Maiurbium full of monasteries, churches and stately homes. Preceded by a small and charming atrium herringbone paved , the church is flanked by a beautiful bell dome, which houses the oldest bell in the lagoon. The church is surrounded by a small public park, once it was the old cemetery and it is still worth stopping to admire the surrounding landscape.

Burano

We continue our walking across the wooden bridge that leads us to Burano, trendy island of fishermen, as it can be seen from the boats moored along the banks and channels. A few miles away there is a freezing activism, but this island still seems to keep its rhythms unchanged, its traditions, its colors. A veritable explosion of colors in fact strikes the visitor who has never been here. You should slow down the pace and take a walk in this place of suggestions where slowness, identity and sense of community seem to have seized time and space. Looking all around the colored walls of the houses, where sheets waves hung out and on which the white frames of doors and windows stand out , you’ll probably still see an old lady sitting in front of the entrance of the house, intent to work a lace This was the main productive activity of the island and today one of its major tourist attractions. Over the row of small lace shops, which try to make tourists buying souvenirs, it is possible to reach the main square of the island, named after the famous musician baroque “buranello” Baldassarre Galuppi. For those wish to learn more about the ancient art of lace, we advise to visit the Lace Museum.

 Torcello

After a few minutes by boat there is the island of Torcello. The approach with the island that oncewas the “capital“North of the lagoon and whose inhabitants can be counted on the fingers of one hand today, will surprise you with its rustic and desolate aspect offered to visitors. A few isolated houses, hedges, overgrown lawns and some vegetable gardens here and there, are the only evidence of a distant human presence in the eyes of those who, in silence and indolent of this semi-deserted place, try to imagine a hard-working and busy seaside town and port , resplendent with churches and palaces. The center that was once the heart of the economic and social life of the Venetian civilization.

Once down the boat, along the narrow channel on the left, you will meet shortly after the lonely Devil’s Bridge (ponte del Diavolo) which, according to the legend, appears in the middle of this bridge as a black cat, every night of December 24. The perception of being in a ghost island will give the impression of being in a surreal place when you arrive on the grassy courtyard around which you squeeze the heart of the red brick Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, the oldest of the lagoon. It is flanked by his baptistery, the martyrium of Santa Fosca, the bell tower and Palazzotti Council and the Archive, now the Museum of the Estuary with its Archaeological and Medieval sections. At the center of the square you will see an ancient marble seat, used by the tribunes to administer justice. According to the popular legend, it would be the throne of Attila, King of the Huns, pass through here to sow destruction and desolation.

The contrast between the refined splendor of Byzantine architecture and the slow and steady advance of nature highlight even more the feeling you have of being in an island-museum, icon and guardian whole of its former glory. Visit splendid marble and Byzantine mosaics decorate the floors and walls of the basilica and press forward uncultivated backwaters. You can walk almost entirely on paved docks, before boarding the bell, ideal point of view to see the landscape in the lagoon and its intricate complexity. Down the bell, you can conclude the visit of Torcello walking in full sandbank along the embankment along one of the many small canals of this lagoon.

Murano

Divided into nine small islands, crossed by a wide channel, Murano is the island of blown glass: an ancient tradition still very alive, who has been involved in this magical process generations of Murano. The Museum of Glass is today a must for those who want to read up on the art of glass production in Venice. In Palazzo Giustiniani once prestigious seat of the Bishops of Torcello, the museum has a rich collection of objects and decorative glass products from the fifteenth century. Today, testimonies of changes in taste and style, the testing of new techniques, of a tradition in which the island owes its wealth and fame.

Not far from the museum, the Basilica of Saints Mary and Donato is one of the best examples of Venetian-Byzantine style: interesting exterior decorations of the apse and, inside, the floor mosaics with ornamental motifs that date back to the construction of the basilica (1140). Of the original interior decoration remains a Byzantine mosaic while the bezel above the door of the Baptistery is the frame of a painting by L. Bastiani (1484).

The South Lagoon and its fish farms

Suspended between water and land, the valleys that extend beyond the Romea in the territory of Campagna Lupia offer one of the most beautiful and fascinating lagoon landscapes of the world, particularly ‘magic’ in certain red sunsets. Due to millennial human interventions to shape nature, it contains the sea or gain ground, the ‘closed valleys’ diked are nine belonging to the State property and are used by individuals who have the concession for fish farming of mullet, sea bass, sole and sea bream.

Beating heart of this lagoon, are the two hundred acres of valley Averto managed by WWF, which has given rise to a ‘Wildlife oasis where he was healed an ecological system ideal for resting and nesting of various species of migratory birds. Equipped with a “Museum of the territory” with a boathouse restored, reforested with the original flora: poplars, whites and blacks, willows, maples, alders blacks, oaks, the oasis is full of all kinds of animals, which can be seen by following paths camouflaged or hiding in reed huts. Mammals: buffalo (introduced a few years ago), otters, badgers, foxes, martens, weasels, skunks. Birds that spend here the winter: mallards, coots, cormorants. Residents: the gray heron, great white heron, kingfishers, marsh harrier and the royal swan. During the summer you can see red herons nesting egrets, knights of Italy, gossips, squid, greenshanks, spatulas, sandpipers. During migrations, osprey and many species of ducks. Often you can meet even the Fistione turkish who also nested in the area and was chosen as a symbol of the oasis.

Always beyond the Romea, near Campagna Lupia, starting from Channel Cornio, an ancient branch of the River Brenta, there is another beautiful valley rich in flora and fauna where there are several fishing houses, the most famous Cason Zappa. This is an ancient building used as a point for catching fish. Not far continuing with navigation, there is Valle Figheri. The name is the same, casone, reachable from the SS Romea. The path between these special valleys Averto, Cornio and Figheri, composes a real nature trail between fish farms and Casoni. Excursions can be planned on the base of a different nature : these places of great natural beauty , history colors can be visited by Boat, walking or by bycicle.

Leaving behind the beautiful fish farms and heading towards the coast of Pellestrina, there is a territory ‘hinge’ between unique environments such as the Laguna Veneta, the high Adriatic, the Po Delta and the auctions end of the main Italian rivers, Chioggia and Underwater (Lido). These places offer ample opportunity for a full immersion in nature and moments of leisure and fun. To the traditional activities of sea life and beach coastline it can be possible to combine a direct immersion in nature and a special environment constructed by the wisdom of many generations over the centuries that have hand down their way of life.

The very quiet and floating expanse of the sea offers curiosity and jewels of inestimable value as the Tegnùe, sediment rocky places in front of the coast. Since 2002 this is an area of ​​biological protection, deriving its name from the fact that the fishermen’s netscaught, were ‘detained’. For a long time it has been considered a submerged city, with remains of towers and buildings. The area is characterized by an aura of sacredness, which remains in his role as a nursery, a field in which some species of fish can undisturbed grow. During the time a variety of flora and fauna of enviable value has grown up, beloved destination of sub waters and sea lovers. There magnificient sites and wonderful place even for those who wants to stay on the ground, for example the natural reserve called Woods Nordio at the South , the area of ​​Forte San Felice at North. It is possible to walk around the ring cycle Laguna Lusenzo, between the historic towns of Chioggia and Sottomarina and the Laguna Lunga di Sottomarina, or even to the mouths of rivers and pathways between channels.

At the Isola dell’Unione a Sottomarina there is a basis to hire houseboats. Aa new holidays formula, since 1986, the first in Italy of this kind. The territory is wonderfully unique, will power and technical knowledge with an adequate organization has made this entrepreneurial adventure a consolidated and appreciated experience. Chioggia it has always been the headquarters and the first base. The particular and constant breeze makes the sea in Sottomarina and Isolaverde the favorite place for lovers of water sports such as surfing, windsurfing, kite surfing, canoeing, kayaking, dragon boating and sailing. Since 1947 there is in Chioggia the Circolo Nautico di Chioggia which brings together sailing enthusiasts. Lovers of sport fishing and deep sea fishing can have in Chioggia some boats that offer daily boat trips.

Alternative really pleasant and always requested by guests of the Venetian towns, are tourism and fishing tourism. It is possible to spend a day on a boat guided by local fishermen, discover myths and traditions of Chioggia. In this way it is possible to reach otherwise inaccessible locations and discover the most charming views of the Venetian lagoon. In the end the caught fish is cooked and directly tasted on board.

The Lagoon of Caorle

The territory of Caorle has the identity of a place suspended between land and water, for centuries the lagoon has given space to agricultural activities. The variety of the ecosystems, the natural beauty, the symbols of cultural identity have been forged over the time. Walking through the lagoon and remediation today you can still see glimpses of a traditional reality that has been lost with the tourism development, looking for silence and vibrant flavors and unusual landscapes.

The best way to visit the lagoon environment can only be navigating slowly along its waterways. Looking the Casoni from the right perspective, living some minutes in a silence to make grasp all sounds of nature, will be a memorable emotion. In the lagoon of Caorle the presence of large areas of open lagoon is anyway reduced, since a large part of the water surface is of valle is diked and private. This is the reason because it is often proposed as an accessory excursion to the visit by boat. Some of the most interesting aspects of the lagoon and the coast road between Caorle and Bibione are linked to the existence of a stretch of coastline which isn’t yet urbanized (Old Valley). The name of “valley” identifies a water mirror delimited, within a lagoon, by a system of levees. The lagoon of Caorle and Bibione includes within it the following marshes: Valle Zignago , Valle Perera, Valle Grande (called even Valle Franchetti), Valle Nova, Vallesina and Vallegrande Bibione.

In the territories of Caorle and Bibione many significant examples of typical buildings of the lagoon-valliva are preserved, known by the nickname of the Venetian dialect “Casoni“. These are examples of ancestral architecture, characterized by a design of particular simplicity, but at the same time from a rustic functionality and especially by the use of building materials directly derived from the river and lagoon and subjected to elementary machining. Since distant origins, huts were used as permanent habitation for families involved in fishing and hunting. They were built near the banks of the great river beds lagoon, river valleys or on higher island outcrops and usually were accessible only by boat. In Caorle and Bibione, huts that withstand ravages of time, are totally several dozen. They are placed in different locations. In one case, at the Southern end of the Palude delle Zumelle, nearly by the third basin in Bibione, has even been built a small group of huts equipped with a modern technological solutions, such as the floor heating through thermal waters. The places where you can observe the most significant examples of ‘caorlotti’ huts are the following:

Mouth Volta: There is a preserved , authentic and charming “village”. It is a large group of huts, located on the right bank of the mouth of Volta and dated seventeenth century. Some of the huts are still used today by fishermen to operate in the neighboring channels.

Destra Nicesolo and Falconera: From the village of Bocca di Volta and up to Falconera, along the right bank of the lower Nicesolo, ranks a sequence of several huts and “cavane” of different shapes and sizes. They are often used for recreational living functions but sometimes they are ruined .

Valle Vecchia: There are some lodges, located at the bank of Falconera, at the Western end of the area, along the canal Baseleghe. The surface is complitly done with reclamation and at the Eastern end of Long called Punta. These, three in total, are to be considered now lost due to the strong erosion of the shoreline.

Venetian coastline: At the confluence of the channel Lugugnana in the Venetian coast, north of the Area of ​​Bibione, there are two large huts in excellent condition and used as recreational places.

Prati Nuovi : At the left bank of the Canale dei Lovi, immediately at the upstream of the Idrovora, located at the mouth of the channel Loregolo, there is a fine example of a big house surrounded by dense tamarisks. Even in this case it is just used as a recreational area.

The Grado Lagoon

The Adriatic sea is mainly dominated by two winds: the bora that blows from Northeast, which is fresh and dry, and sirocco rising from Southeast, hot and humid. The chance to direct navigation in two ways has, in ancient times, allowed the development of marine connections. Ships of Giulio Caesar maintained, in fact, the connections with the legions stationed in Aquileia, using the two winds. The island of Grado was the first landing place of these ancient navigators. From the island, they went back up to the lagoon and than from the River Natissa up to Aquileia. The Grado lagoon stretches from ‘Fossalon di Grado’ till the ‘Isola di Anfora’, at the mouth of rivers Aussa and Corno.

The Grado lagoon is over 12 thousand hectares, and continues to the West with Marano, is the most beautiful of the all Mediterranean basin, with its face of barrier islands along over 25 kilometers. A maze of channels and valleys among the “mote”, like the small lagoon islands have been named, covered with reeds and bushes. A little fantasy world, in the quiet of nature. The interweaving of canals and streams, paths of faith since distant origins, as evidenced by the Marian sanctuary of the’ isola di Barbarana’, is one of the busiest in Italy. The lagoon, which occupies an area of ​​about 90 square kilometers, is divided into an Eastern sector (Palù de sora) and in a Western one (Palù de soto) from the dam where road runs and connects Grado to the mainland.

From a natural side, the lagoon is rich of trees, and in particular of tamarisks, elms, poplars, junipers and pines. The fauna has a remarkable variety of birds, including gulls, egrets, herons, ducks, terns. Significant fish farming, with the presence of numerous fish farms are located all around. The typical boat of the inhabitants of the lagoon is the batèla, which is flat at bottom and can be maneuvered by rowing. The batèla, long typically 5 to 10 meters, is conducted by an oarsman standing aft and can be equipped with a tree. The lagoon, which is bordered at West by the Marano lagoon, is crossed longitudinally by the Venetian waterway coastline, a waterway that connects Venice with the mouth of Isonzo river and Trieste.

The lagoon Western (Palù de soto) is the most extensive and rich of islands. Since the past, it was crossed by waterways linking the port of Aquileia, as it has been recently highlighted with the discovery of a Roman cargo ship dated first century AD. It is crossed by several channels, arranged along the main islands. Among them, near Grado, there is the small San Pietro d’Orio. It has been for centuries the seat of a monastery, Ravaiarina, which today has fish farms and facilities, and Gorgo (Santi Cosma and Damiano), which once hosted a church and, during World War I, an Italian military base. Moving away from Grado and heading towards the lagoon of Marano there is the ‘isola di Morgo’. Well-known in the past for its agricultural production, and because of the ‘isola dei Belli’, which owes its name to the legendary witch Bela that used to confound sailors. The most Western island is Anfora. It acquired strategic importance in 1866, when it scored the border between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, provided with a small military base. Today there are the houses of the small town of Porto Buso.

The Eastern lagoon (Palù de sora) is the most recent and less deep. After the reclamation of the Fossalon, built in the first half of last century, its surface is substantially halved. Eastern also falls into the lagoon isola di Schiusa. Recently it has been created a landfill and now it is entirely urbanized and integrated with Grado, connected by two bridges.

The CASONI

Islets, which still bear the ancient names of Grado, fishermen live in Casoni made by straw. Nowadays just few people stay there the whole year, but the huts remain the emblem of the lagoon and are the base for many Grado inhabitants that still live fishing. Some have been turned into rustic restaurants during the summer, and it is possible to eat excellent fish dishes, accompanied by polenta and wine of Friuli. Their pointed roof is the sole element that breaks with the flat horizontal line of the lagoon. Rectangular and reed roof shaped like a pyramid, the huts are built with the same way using limited material that can be found on site: poles, reeds, straw and wicker. Within there is just a single large room with a fireplace, while the door is oriented West to shelter from cold winds that blow from East.

THE RESERVE OF THE CAVANATA VALLEY

The reserve of Cavanata Valley is actually what remains of a large drainage for agricultural purposes made between the wars, and that left only the wetland Cavanata. The Reserve covers 330 acres surface and is located at the Eeastern edge of the lagoon of Grado. The valleys lagoon used for fish farming, are shallow lagoons, interrupted by mudflats and salt marshes, completely dammed and hydraulically isolated from the surrounding environment. The water level inside them is adjusted by the opening or closing of the closed. Here is most of the various species of ducks and coots wintering, the cormorants and various species of shorebirds.

For itineraries along the valley, there are guided tours. Recommended are bicycle riding and binoculars.

Events on Boat

The “Perdòn Barban”: traditional and charming holiday that is celebrated on the first Sunday of July in the Grado lagoon. An impressive parade of boats, decorated with magnificent flower garlands, reached the Marian shrine in Isola di Barbarana, to dissolve the old vote that Grado made to Madonna and a terrible epidemic plague stopped. Following the Mass, the procession makes return to Grado, between songs, prayers and the tolling of bells.

Regata Open Graisana : the most important sailing event of Grado . The historic and spectacular race is not to be missed for those who love sea and sailing.

The Marano Lagoon

The Marano Lagoon, enclosed in the last bit of the coast Lignano Sabbiadoro and the Grado Lagoon, is an area of ​​outstanding natural beauty that is home of a unique flora and fauna and of a great natural value. Protected from the open sea by a series of islands and islets, such as that of St. Andrew and that of Martignano, also known as the Isle of shells, Is characterized by a marsh vegetation and the uniqueness of the temporary settlements of fishermen, the typical “casoni” houses made of cane and wood . The Marano Lagoon is one of the most interesting places of the ‘Alto Adriatico.

Natural reserves

Marano Lagoon has two natural reserves: the Riserva of mouth of river Stella, which includes the entire delta of the eponymous river, accessible only by sea, and the Riserva valle canal Novo, which consists of a former fishing valley of about thirty acres. Both of a great natural importance thanks to an exceptional presence of bird life. Many species of resident and migratory birds inhabit that environment (geese, gulls, swans, herons, terns), rich in natural vegetation of reeds, rushes and sea lavender. They find the ideal environment for nesting or spend the winter during migration. There is a rich presence of fish species typically of the lagoon (shellfish, cuttlefish, squid, octopus, mussels, stingrays, sea bass bream, shrimp). The oasis is a destination for excursions on specially equipped boats.

lagoon by boat

It can be also possible to choose between different boat trips in the lagoon, some motorships to see up close the pristine nature of these places, or hire a houseboat. Before sailing, it is inevitable a visit of the historic center of Marano lagoon, where stands the tower “millennial”, between a succession of narrow streets and small squares, evidences of the Republic of Venice, who ruled these lands from the fifteenth to the late eighteenth century.

Event not to be missed

There procession of San Vito which take place every year in June 15th , or the following Sunday. A rite that was founded in the fourteenth century to avert the dangers that threaten the fishermen and to commemorate those who lost their lives sailing. To go aboard on one of the boats in procession in the lagoon, it offers an experience of particular suggestion.

The CASONI

Inside the lagoon, between the channels formed by sandbanks, there are the characteristic “Casoni“. They are domestic buildings originally built by local fishermen to find shelter during fishing trips or resting place between draws. Their structure is formed by bundles of reeds, suitably assembled, consisting of one unit as rectangular or circular with a hearth in the center. Today it is a tourist destination and educational. Some Casoni, privately owned, were equipped for small companies to spend a day than eating a dish of fish such as grilled eel or “sardines in sauce” enjoying a good glass of local wine and experiencing some magic moments with nature, into the smell of salt air surrounding everything.

THE ISLAND OF SHELLS

The ‘Isola di Martignano’, a salt sedimentary marsh, better known as the “island of the shells”, is opposite at the far Eeast of the peninsula of Lignano which is a few hundred meters. Rich in flora and fauna is a great place for walkers, who are really a lot during the summer. Its coastline offshore consists of sand even more golden than that of Lignano. In addition a part for bathing in clean waters, sunbathing, walking inside and looking for some rare avian species, or the collection of beautiful shells that the sea gives back on the beach, the island is a regular destination of “Kiters” because its breezes is ideal for who loves this sport. They made of this island their usual location. “The island of shells” just a few minutes even by small boats, help you to spend a day thinking for a while of being “Robinson Crusoe”.

MOUTH TAGLIAMENTO

The river Tagliamento with its slow slide towards the sea which leads to the extreme West of the peninsula of Lignano, is the border with the neighboring Veneto region. The river is navigable for many kilometers from the mouth, its banks are rich in vegetation, trees and Mediterranean. The colors on the blue waters and the adjacent pine forests make it a destination for boat trips also with larger size, trips by bicycle or horseback riding along its banks. Its waters are rich of typical brackish fishes. Who loves fishing can practice his favorite sport capturing prey or sea bass (as they are called here), mullet or eel of considerable size. When the season let it, along its banks, in the middle of the pine forest, you can pick wild blackberries or shoots of edible plants, and using them locals cook delicious dishes.