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Towns and Villages to Visit in the Venice Province

COMMUNITA DI CHIOGGIA

TOWN OF CHIOGGIA IN THE VICENZA PROVINCE

Chioggia Italy

Chioggia is a great visit and not a bad location for those looking to visit Venezia (Venice) and some of the lesser know areas of the Venice Province. The only draw back to the staying in Chioggia as a base is that it can be difficult to get to from the airport and train station.·There is a regional and provincial bus, plus a water bus form Venice, you can get a taxi or private car and save some time.There is sailing, wind surfing, some SCUBA diving, there is about 3 or 4 days worth of riding on flat terrain. Actually, Chioggia is where I go to train for Tri events.·You can swain along the coast line for 4-5 km without ever getting deeper than 2 meters in the water. During the early season it is a good place to train perhaps while your travel partner visits Venezia or a surrounding city.

Curzio Malaparte defined the town of Chioggia as the "the greatest café of Europe", referring to its vivacious, almost feverish lifestyle so well described by Carlo Goldoni in his famous plays. At almost every hour of the day it is crowded with people in the streets, calli, arches and above all in the numerous cafés.

At present Chioggia, with over 53,000 inhabitants, is the sixth most populated town in the Veneto Region.  Chioggia isthe second largest island of the Venetian lagoon and has a "fish bone" shape. It existed during the Roman period, and possibly owes its name to the "Fossa Clodia", one of the branches of the ancient Brenta river delta. In 1110 it became a Bishop's See and subsequently came under the authority of the Serenissima - Clugia Major (Chioggia) and Clugia Minor (Sottomarina) were the eleventh and twelfth islands under the rule of the Doges of Venice. Famous during the Middle Ages for the production of the prized 'sal Clugiae', the town was the battlefield of the War of Chioggia (1379-80) between the Maritime Republics of Genoa and Venice.

Those who stroll among the 74 calli of the town immediately notice that Corso del Popolo represents its vibrant hub. It is a wide 830 m long road which crosses the historic center from north to south and which is called the 'square'. More than just a road, the Corso resembles a spacious and welcoming 'street' where people seem to be sitting in their livingrooms overlooking the principal monuments of the town.

Chioggia is also made up of calli, bridges, arcades, canals and squeri. The calli are characteristic and also these are more than just streets but also places of life, work and play. A common 'living room' which extends to outside the all too cramped internal living areas of the houses. And then there are the canals, which divide the historical center into segments: the Vena canal, with its nine bridges, and its picturesque daily fish, fruit and vegetable market; the Lombardo and San Domenico canals, where deep-sea fishing boats are moored.

The nearby Sottomarina is a strip of land stretching for about 10 km, facing the Adriatic sea and extending past the Brenta river mouth to the mouth of the Adige. Famous in the past for its soil particularly suitable for vegetable growing, today this seaside resort is prized for its very fine sand beach, abundant in minerals such as augite, quartz, silicates and micaceous elements which make it suitable for sand baths and other treatments.

Chioggia Italy Map

WHAT TO DO AROUND CHIOGGIA

  • Bike Tour
  • Wind Surf
  • Surf
  • SCUBA DIVE

WHAT TO EAT IN CHIOGGIA

Chioggia is famous for its fishing boats or 'bragozzi' as well as the fine typical restaurants which cook the freshest of sea food dishes.
If you do go, the most classic of menus made up of just local products should look like this:

Boboli de vida: snails in olive oil and parsley
Granseole: boiled crab in olive oil, lemon and spices
Sardele salae: raw sardines conserved in salt
Bibarasse in cassopipa: clams cooked in fried onions
Broeto: fish or molluscs cooked in a sauce of olive oil, onions and vinegar.
Bigoli in salsa: spaghetti in olive oil, garlic, onions, parsley and sardine fillets.
Risoto de seperiso with fried or boiled squid.
Bisato in tecia: eel in tomato and white wine sauce
Sepe nere: squid boiled in a garlic and olive oil with white wine, tomatoes and spices
Sardele in saore: fried sardines in a fried onion and vinegar sauce
Pesse rosto incovercià: various types of fish roasted and served in a pot with olive oil, vinegar, wine and garlic
Radicchio rosso - served in olive oil and salt, roasted or fried.
Papini: ciambelle made at Easter time
Sugoli: a cream of black grapes and flour
Smegiassa: focaccia with black honey, flour, pumpkin, sultanas, pine nuts and sugar

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Italy is one of the most diverse places in the world to visit but there is more to the country then Venice, Florence, Roma, Cinque Terre and a couple of other top attractions.  If you plan you days well and understand how to move around within the country you can a great cost effective vacation full of activity, history, culture, and great food and wine.  Contact us to get the insights to travel in Italy.  We offer:

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