Getting there
By train: Portogruaro Station (26 km)
By bus: from Portogruaro and San Donà di Piave

This is a popular seaside tourist resort and fishing village on the Veneto coast, situated at the mouth of the River Livenza. A long time ago it was an island called Caprulae but it became part of the mainland when the lagoon was filled in. It began as a fishing village and grew into a large town in the fifth century when it gave refuge to the people of the surrounding areas fleeing from the incursions of Attila the Hun.

It declined rapidly with the growth of Venice and in 1380 was sacked by Pietro Doria of Genoa. Its little houses are all different and painted in pale pastel colours. The large port of Porto Santa Margherita can hold 800 craft. Along the coast there are 12 km of beach which slope gently into the sea.

You can visit the cathedral, which was built in 1038 and contains several works of art including the famous “Pala d’Oro”, the work of Byzantine goldsmiths of the twelfth to thirteenth centuries. There is also a cylindrical bell tower and the little church-lighthouse of the Madonna dell’Angelo.