The Roman Empire and the Origins of Jesolo

What we today know as the Jesolo area was, in Roman times, made up of a lagoon, on which were some small islands.
The larger of these was known by the ancient Romans as Equilium, the origin of what is today known as Jesolo.

The island of Equilium, thus called because at that time the main activity was horse breeding, was initially inhabited by the Paleo-Venetians.

Only afterwards did the Romans settle permanently in the area and contributed to its defence against the Barbarians, as well as bringing many innovations, like the building of new villages with roads and bridges and, probably most importantly, organising cultivable land and its centuriation (i.e. its division in lots).

The Romans also carried out the first works to reclaim land and build river banks.

Later, with the fall of the Roman Empire and the arrival of the Barbarian hordes, the inland population abandoned their cities and found refuge on these islands, in particular the inhabitants of nearby Oderzo, who founded Jesolo on the island of Equilio.

The Decline and Re-Birth of the Venetian Republic

In later eras, thanks to its privileged position, Jesolo found itself at the centre of intense commercial traffic in the Northern Adriatic area.  

Thanks to its new strategic importance it was given the role of archbishopric.

However, this importance began to decline towards the end of the 13th century, following new invasions by the Longobards, until it became a small settlement of semi-abandoned houses towards the end of the 15^th century.  

After these dark ages, the re-birth of this little area was mainly due to its proximity to the flourishing Republic of the Serenissima Venice.

In the 15th century, in order to rectify the lack of churches in the area, the Venetian patrician Soranzo built, at his own expense and on his own land, a Church that was later named after St. John the Baptist.

The village of Cavazuccherina then grew up around this new church.

During this period the Venetian Republic also carried out important land reclamation work, mainly aimed at diverting and containing the Piave and Sile Rivers.

From the Land Reclamation of World War 1 to Tourism at Jesolo City Beach

Jesolo became an independent municipality only at the beginning of the 19th century, after the defeat of Venice by the French and Napoleon Bonaparte. But it took the arrival of the Austrians to bring the first new land reclamation works to the area. In particular, the creation of the Passarella consortium was important, as it aimed to promote improvement in the lagoon areas, which had become virtual swamps.  

The modern birth of the Jesolo area was, however, decreed by the Grande Bonifica (Great Land Reclamation) that followed the First World War. The peace that followed brought with it the reconstruction of the area and the birth of the Lower Piave Consortium, which was responsible for it.

All this took place from 1920 to 1930. The area was saved from the swap and converted into land for growing grain, sugar beet, maize, fruit trees and vines.  

In 1930 the Municipality, which had until that time been known by the name of Cavazuccherina, was renamed Jesolo and the two areas of Marina Bassa and Spiaggia were known as Jesolo Lido. This is where the modern history of the city of Jesolo begins and during these years the first centres for sun treatments and the first hotels were set up.

Thus Jesolo began its journey that led it to today become one of the leading seaside destinations in Italy and Europe.  

Today Jesolo has completed the long journey that took it from a lagoon island dedicated to horse breeding to becoming one of the most comprehensive and avant-garde tourist destinations not only on the Northern Adriatic coast, but in the whole of continental Europe.

The completion of this journey goes by the name Jesolo 2012 and Jesolo City Beach is the project that will transform it from a large centre for international tourism to a new and 100% modern seaside city.