Chioggia
The town is situated on a small island at the southern entrance to the Lagoon of Venice causeways connect it to the mainland and to its frazione, nowadays a quarter, of Sottomarina. The population of the comune is around 50,000, with the town proper accounting for about half of that and Sottomarina for most of the rest.
The municipality, located in south of the province, close to the provinces of Padua and Rovigo, borders with Campagna Lupia, Cavarzere, Codevigo, Cona, Correzzola, Loreo, Rosolina and Venice.
The most ancient documents naming Chioggia date from the 6th century AD, when it was part of the Byzantine Empire. On 14 March 1381, Chioggia concluded an alliance with Zadar and Trogir against Venice, and finally Chioggia became better protected by Venice in 1412, because Šibenik became in 1412 the seat of the main customs office and the seat of the salt consumers office with a monopoly on the salt trade in Chioggia and on the whole Adriatic Sea.
Until the 19th century, women in Chioggia wore an outfit based on an apron which could be raised to serve as a veil. Chioggia is also known for lace-making; like Pellestrina, but unlike Burano, this lace is made using bobbins.
Chioggia served Carlo Goldoni as the setting of his play Le baruffe chiozzotte, one of the classics of Italian literature.
Chioggia is a miniature version of Venice and is often called “Little Venice”, with a few canals, chief among them the Canale Vena, and the characteristic narrow streets are known as calli. Chioggia has several medieval churches, much reworked in the period of its greatest prosperity in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The church dedicated to St. Mary of the Assumption, founded in the eleventh century, became a cathedral in 1110, then was rebuilt as Chioggia Cathedral from 1623 by Baldassarre Longhena.
The church of St. Andrew (18th century) has a bell tower from the 11th-12th centuries, the most ancient tower watch in the world. The interior has a Crucifixion by Palma the Elder.
Fishing is historically the livelihood of the port and remains a significant economic sector. Other important modern industries include textiles, brick-making and steel; and Sottomarina, with 60 hotels and 17 campgrounds, is almost entirely given over to seafront tourism.
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