From an administrative standpoint, the Municipality of Cavallino-Treporti became an autonomous entity on 1st January 2001, when it was separated from the Municipality of Venice. It has a surface area of approximately 45 Km2 and a population of approximately 12,000 inhabitants.
Its territory is constituted by a long peninsular, created by the alluvial deposits of the Piave river, that extends between the Adriatic Sea and the lagoon of Venice with a vast 15-kilometre beach whose fine, golden sands slope gently towards the sea.
Orographically speaking, the environment can be broken down into three parts: marine on one side, lagoon on the other and agricultural in the centre. The landscape is composed of shoals characterised by unusual, suggestive chromatic effects and the green of the market gardens.
The presence of exclusive vegetation suited to a highly saline habitat and characteristic wildlife species such as crustaceans, molluscs, tufted ducks, coots, marsh harriers, egrets, herons, royal seagulls and cormorants, to name but a few, make it a unique environment subject to conservational work and initiatives, such as the WWF project that awarded the AVERTO VALLEY nature reserve status.
As regards tourism, with a territory that accounts for a mere 10% of the whole municipality of Venice, it accommodates over 52% of its holidaymakers.
Situated just a few minutes’ from Venice, the Cavallino coast offers a golden opportunity for practising outdoor tourism, in a setting between the sea and lagoon that is still to a great extent unspoilt and undoubtedly interesting as regards both its environmental profile and hospitality facilities. Cavallino’s territory is an integral part and logical continuation of Venice city centre.
HOW TO GET TO CAVALLINO-TREPORTI
From Venice: The S. Maria della Pietà landing stage at St. Mark’s, is the departure point for the Litorale Nord motorboat line. A 40-minute crossing takes one to Punta Sabbioni, where a connecting bus service provides access to the other areas of the coast.
From Mestre: : a bus service (approx. 35 minutes) runs from the railway station to Jesolo’s Piazza Drago, from where one can take another bus to Cavallino-Treporti, with a journey time of about 20 minutes.
By car: from Jesolo, take Provincial Road 42. One reaches Cavallino-Treporti after crossing the bridge over the Sile.
ECONOMICS
The local economy is based on tourism, agriculture and handicrafts. The sandy soil and mild climate favour the farming of fine, highly acclaimed horticultural products, produced using a blend of traditional and modern techniques and in full respect of the environment and consumer health, as certified by the ''EcoCavallino'' brand that distinguishes them. The techniques used in the Doge’s era are still employed today in the myriad of fisheries where various highly regarded species of white fish are farmed: giltheads, sea bass, grey mullet and the like, that supply Venice’s fish market. Despite the fact that the birth and boom of tourism belong to the recent past, Cavallino’s coast has come to be Europe’s most popular camping destination.
The most significant milestone in the area’s recent history is the opening of the first campsite in 1955, marking the start of the town’s new holidaymaking vocation. This said, it should also be remembered that the Latin poet Strabon praised these lidos as emulators “of the villas of Baja”, ancient Rome’s most popular seaside resort.
HISTORY OF CAVALLINO-TREPORTI
Numerous sites have been discovered that date from the time of the Roman Empire, most notably at Lio Piccolo, in the Riga' Canal, home to a large villa dating from the 1st century a.d. with splendid frescoes and mosaic flooring.
The whole coastal area is affected by the ongoing evolution of the hydro-geological situation. Following the demise of the Roman Empire, the lagoon islands provided shelter to the populations fleeing Altino and other cities from the Barbarian invasions. In the centuries that followed decadence, poverty and malaria raged. The islands of Mesole, Saccagnana and Treporti emerged after 1200, and an impressive beach started to form from Cavallino that now terminates at Punta Sabbioni, opposite Lido di Venezia.
The excavation of the Cavallino Canal (now the Casson Canal), which opened to watercraft in 1632, created a new link between the lagoon and the Piave river and simultaneously made the area more healthy and wholesome. Towns such as Ca’ Savio, the municipality’s current administrative centre, and Punta Sabbioni are of very recent establishment.
HISTORICAL BUILDINGS
The following are must-sees:
Mesole’s 15th century building, otherwise known as the “convent”, with its round “vallesana” chimney stacks.
Saccagnana’s sixteenth century manor house, set in the centre of a large quadrilateral courtyard (Prà), with its agricultural outhouses and little church.
The churches of the Holy Trinity in Treporti , which date from the late 1600s.
The churches of Saint Mary Elizabeth in Cavallino and Lio Piccolo, which were erected in the 1700s.
These are accompanied by a series of military constructions: one catches sight of numerous batteries and forts, including the Forte Vecchio, built by the Austrians between 1845 and 1851 along Lungomare San Felice, at Punta Sabbioni; the telemetric towers, tall, narrow constructions scattered along the seafront housing telemeters at the top that allowed rapid measurement of distances are were useful for identifying the enemy’s objectives in order to alert the four powerful coastal batteries (Amalfi, Pisani, San Marco and Radaelli) stationed in the vicinity. This system of fortifications highlights Cavallino-Treporti’s important strategic position during both world wars, defending Venice from any impending threat.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS OF PARTICULAR BEAUTY
The shoals along the Pordelio Canal provide a fascinating setting for a bike ride.
The cycle path from Piazza S. Maria Elisabetta to the gates of Cavallino along the banks of the Casson Canal, provides a view over much of Cavallino Valley. .
The breathtaking Dante Alighieri seafront at Punta Sabbioni overlooks the Port of Venice, whose bell towers and the green island of Sant’Erasmo are visible on the horizon.
Another splendid natural environment is constituted by the shoals and fish farms visible along the road from Saccagnana to Lio Piccolo, from where one can see the brightly-coloured island of Burano, with its leaning bell tower, and Torcello whose mighty square tower dominates the entire northern lagoon.
Cavallino’s Biophenological Station, close to the bridge over the Sile, is home to important tree species, bearing testimony to the area’s ancient natural history.
Its territory is constituted by a long peninsular, created by the alluvial deposits of the Piave river, that extends between the Adriatic Sea and the lagoon of Venice with a vast 15-kilometre beach whose fine, golden sands slope gently towards the sea.
Orographically speaking, the environment can be broken down into three parts: marine on one side, lagoon on the other and agricultural in the centre. The landscape is composed of shoals characterised by unusual, suggestive chromatic effects and the green of the market gardens.
The presence of exclusive vegetation suited to a highly saline habitat and characteristic wildlife species such as crustaceans, molluscs, tufted ducks, coots, marsh harriers, egrets, herons, royal seagulls and cormorants, to name but a few, make it a unique environment subject to conservational work and initiatives, such as the WWF project that awarded the AVERTO VALLEY nature reserve status.
As regards tourism, with a territory that accounts for a mere 10% of the whole municipality of Venice, it accommodates over 52% of its holidaymakers.
Situated just a few minutes’ from Venice, the Cavallino coast offers a golden opportunity for practising outdoor tourism, in a setting between the sea and lagoon that is still to a great extent unspoilt and undoubtedly interesting as regards both its environmental profile and hospitality facilities. Cavallino’s territory is an integral part and logical continuation of Venice city centre.
HOW TO GET TO CAVALLINO-TREPORTI
From Venice: The S. Maria della Pietà landing stage at St. Mark’s, is the departure point for the Litorale Nord motorboat line. A 40-minute crossing takes one to Punta Sabbioni, where a connecting bus service provides access to the other areas of the coast.
From Mestre: : a bus service (approx. 35 minutes) runs from the railway station to Jesolo’s Piazza Drago, from where one can take another bus to Cavallino-Treporti, with a journey time of about 20 minutes.
By car: from Jesolo, take Provincial Road 42. One reaches Cavallino-Treporti after crossing the bridge over the Sile.
ECONOMICS
The local economy is based on tourism, agriculture and handicrafts. The sandy soil and mild climate favour the farming of fine, highly acclaimed horticultural products, produced using a blend of traditional and modern techniques and in full respect of the environment and consumer health, as certified by the ''EcoCavallino'' brand that distinguishes them. The techniques used in the Doge’s era are still employed today in the myriad of fisheries where various highly regarded species of white fish are farmed: giltheads, sea bass, grey mullet and the like, that supply Venice’s fish market. Despite the fact that the birth and boom of tourism belong to the recent past, Cavallino’s coast has come to be Europe’s most popular camping destination.
The most significant milestone in the area’s recent history is the opening of the first campsite in 1955, marking the start of the town’s new holidaymaking vocation. This said, it should also be remembered that the Latin poet Strabon praised these lidos as emulators “of the villas of Baja”, ancient Rome’s most popular seaside resort.
HISTORY OF CAVALLINO-TREPORTI
Numerous sites have been discovered that date from the time of the Roman Empire, most notably at Lio Piccolo, in the Riga' Canal, home to a large villa dating from the 1st century a.d. with splendid frescoes and mosaic flooring.
The whole coastal area is affected by the ongoing evolution of the hydro-geological situation. Following the demise of the Roman Empire, the lagoon islands provided shelter to the populations fleeing Altino and other cities from the Barbarian invasions. In the centuries that followed decadence, poverty and malaria raged. The islands of Mesole, Saccagnana and Treporti emerged after 1200, and an impressive beach started to form from Cavallino that now terminates at Punta Sabbioni, opposite Lido di Venezia.
The excavation of the Cavallino Canal (now the Casson Canal), which opened to watercraft in 1632, created a new link between the lagoon and the Piave river and simultaneously made the area more healthy and wholesome. Towns such as Ca’ Savio, the municipality’s current administrative centre, and Punta Sabbioni are of very recent establishment.
HISTORICAL BUILDINGS
The following are must-sees:
Mesole’s 15th century building, otherwise known as the “convent”, with its round “vallesana” chimney stacks.
Saccagnana’s sixteenth century manor house, set in the centre of a large quadrilateral courtyard (Prà), with its agricultural outhouses and little church.
The churches of the Holy Trinity in Treporti , which date from the late 1600s.
The churches of Saint Mary Elizabeth in Cavallino and Lio Piccolo, which were erected in the 1700s.
These are accompanied by a series of military constructions: one catches sight of numerous batteries and forts, including the Forte Vecchio, built by the Austrians between 1845 and 1851 along Lungomare San Felice, at Punta Sabbioni; the telemetric towers, tall, narrow constructions scattered along the seafront housing telemeters at the top that allowed rapid measurement of distances are were useful for identifying the enemy’s objectives in order to alert the four powerful coastal batteries (Amalfi, Pisani, San Marco and Radaelli) stationed in the vicinity. This system of fortifications highlights Cavallino-Treporti’s important strategic position during both world wars, defending Venice from any impending threat.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS OF PARTICULAR BEAUTY
The shoals along the Pordelio Canal provide a fascinating setting for a bike ride.
The cycle path from Piazza S. Maria Elisabetta to the gates of Cavallino along the banks of the Casson Canal, provides a view over much of Cavallino Valley. .
The breathtaking Dante Alighieri seafront at Punta Sabbioni overlooks the Port of Venice, whose bell towers and the green island of Sant’Erasmo are visible on the horizon.
Another splendid natural environment is constituted by the shoals and fish farms visible along the road from Saccagnana to Lio Piccolo, from where one can see the brightly-coloured island of Burano, with its leaning bell tower, and Torcello whose mighty square tower dominates the entire northern lagoon.
Cavallino’s Biophenological Station, close to the bridge over the Sile, is home to important tree species, bearing testimony to the area’s ancient natural history.
