Historical and cultural excursion

An historical and cultural excursion during which there will be the visit to churches and historical sites dating back to the first and second World War.

Visit of the historical towns of the coast

This suggestive route starts from the terminal on the sea access of Punta Sabbioni, which connects Venice to the sea, and explores the lagoon and its ancient settlements in the area of Cavallino. Once passed the Pordelio Canal, you get to the centre of Treporti, which has a small church characterised by two particular steeples. Going then along the banks of Valle Zanella, there is Saccagnana, with the historical rural Court “Pra”, overlooked by an elegant rustic villa and an ancient little church built by the first inhabitants of the island; the route ends in Lio Piccolo, in a lagoon landscape, characterised by the fishing valleys.

This long and interesting route explores the area between Cavallino and Punta Sabbioni. The landscape is dominated by fields and  greenhouses, gardens and houses scattered on the green, and above all, by old military buildings (Amalfi, Pisani, San Marco and Radaelli) which, starting from the first half of the XIX century, were the defences of the big Cavallino peninsula.

The massive structures of this buildings are visible along the whole Pordelio street, with its numerous watchtowers, and in the area of Lio Grando, where there is the austere Forte Vecchio. This fort was built by the Austrians between 1845 and 1851 to defend one of the accesses to Venice, and was modified during the first World War. It is the best preserved of the forts in this area.

As if they were an ideal meeting of nature and human presence, these strong buildings are often set in landscapes of green gardens and blossoming flower beds. A very rich fauna and flora is also present in the big "barena" of San Felice Canal, where there are some typical lagoon birds: curlew sandpipers, redshanks, common snipes and mallards are very numerous in the lagoon of Saccagnana.