Chioggia and its beauties

One of the most important and populous coastal towns, Chioggia was a bishopric in 1110. Old village, which will enchant you with its narrow streets and its colors, Chioggia is a very well known .

To reach Venice from Chioggia you must first take a line that will allow you to reach the Lido, then you have to use the line 11 which provides a route by bus, ferry boat and ferry which crosses the Lido and Pellestrina. The journey takes about an hour and a quarter. Check the schedule , there are many races so it is better to start knowing well the times of departure and return (www.actv.it ) .

From the boat you landed in the Piazza Vigo, which opens onto the Corso del Popolo, the main street of the city. People are fishermen, but also has been great composers, artists and young brave . Chioggia has given birth to Rosalba Carriera, for example, the most famous portrait painter of the first half of ‘700. In Corso del Popolo, at number 932, there is a plaque dedicated her. In this house, in addition, also lodged the famous father of Italian comedy and author of ” Baruffe Chioggiotte”, Carlo Goldoni .

To visit, always in Corso del Popolo, the Basilica of San Giacomo. Impressive mosaics and the vast ceiling of about 223 square meters, completely painted .

Do not miss a visit to the fish market, leaning against a fourteenth-century palace, Palazzo Granaio , with an entrance portal surmounted by a monumental carved marble. It is a world of colors, voices, sounds, smells that best represents the local navy and where it is sold fresh fish (open daily , except Mondays , from 8 to 1pm).

A few steps from the fish market there is the Bell Tower of the Chiesa di Sant’Andrea, which you can visit on Sundays at 10.30 , 11, 11.30, 4.30, 5, 5.30 pm hrs. During the week, call the number 041.400757 .

Reach the church of San Domenico, which houses paintings by Carpaccio, Tintoretto and Brustolon but, more importantly, there is a huge wooden crucifix, 4 meters high, whose arrival in Chioggia seems to be shrouded in mystery. According to legend, the crucifix is from the sea because it was found as he floated off the port . The church is open every day from 9 to 12 and from 3 to 5.30 pm.

For lovers of diving, in Chioggia remember that there are beautiful tegnue, some real natural reef where you can find sponges, anemones, crustaceans, small crabs, blennies, damselfish , bags and shoals of cod and redfish. For information www.tegnue.it .

If you want to relax on a boat you can instead take a trip with the bragozzo Ulysses and see the beautiful views of Chioggia both day and night. For information marcotiozzo1@virgilio.it , or 347.8652845 .

Remember that in Chioggia , the capital of fishing, you eat divinely. Specialties include fresh fish, but also soups with vegetables, radicchio di Chioggia served cooked or raw, the bread of Chioggia called “compass”, while among the sweet taste bread made of black honey, carrot cake and radicchio and donuts with vanilla .

Among the restaurants we recommend “El Gato  , in Corso del Popolo at number 653 , which serves both traditional and innovative cuisine like the delicious Catalan . For information +39.041.400265 , info@elgato.it .

From Chioggia also take a walk in Sottomarina, which has a long beach (about ten kilometers) and it is today a renowned tourist resort with modern bathing establishments . If you want to stop to eat here you should make a stop at the restaurant “Al Refolo”, in dock in San Felice, with a nautical decor . For information 335.6583555 , alrefolo@hotmail.it .