What to visit in Chioggia?

Things to do in your holidays in Chioggia:

Chioggia is a beautiful fishing town, composed of a variety of tiny islands that are connected between each other through bridges. It is located on the southern end of the Laguna Veneta, about 50 kilometres from Venice. Chioggia has an outstanding charm, thanks to its elegant palaces along the canals with its colorful little boats. You will love to stroll through the streets, cross the bridges and take pictures of the wonderful surroundings.

The Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta is the city’s major house of worship. The original cathedral was destroyed by a fire in 1623 and rebuilt in the years to follow.

In the little square next to the church there is the Campanile del Duomo (steeple) and the Chiesetta di San Martino (little church of San Martino), built by worshippers of Sottomarina after the war of Chioggia (1393-1394), which had totally destroyed the town.

Getting out of the Duomo on the right side you find the Refugium Peccatorum, which inhabitants also call the Sagraeto (little churchyard). The latter has a statue of the Virgin Mary with her child covered by a golden cupola, where the sentenced to death had to give their last prayer, and other sculptures from the 18th century.

Right in front of the Duomo there is Porta Garibaldi, built in 1530, and only entrance to the city at that time.

The Museum Civico della Laguna Sud, also called the Museo Civico “San Francesco Fuori le Mura”, stands for the bond of the city of Chioggia with the sea. It consists of three levels, where the various halls contain objects set up in chronological order.

The ground floor contains archeological artifacts from the Bronze Age until the 6th century AD, whereas the first floor refers to the Middle Ages, the Rinascimento and the Modern Age: the hall is dedicated to Cristoforo Sabbadino, a popular hydraulic engineer who lived between 1500 and 1600. The second floor appears to be the most suggestive and is dedicated to the local fishing industry, with objects from the year 1700 until today. Furthermore, on this floor, you will find a collection of paintings.

Once visited the museum, turn back, go past the Duomo and continue on Corso del Popolo, the main avenue of the city: at some point, you will find the Church di San Giacomo on your right.

A little further down the road you will come across the Campanile di Sant’Andrea, which is 30 metres high and has the world’s oldest tower clock, dated 1386.

Inside the tower, you will find the Museo Verticale on its seven floors, with plenty of religious and historical objects. On the ground floor there are documents referring to the tower, on the first and second floor some historical maps, on the third and fourth floor religious artifacts and on the fifth floor you can admire the highlight: the tower clock.

The last floor is arguably the most interesting: you will find the panoramic terrace from where you can enjoy a spectacular view over Chioggia.

Continuing towards the end of Corso del Popolo you will arrive at Piazzetta Vigo Square. From here you can get a complete view on the majestic lagoon. You will feel a special sense of liberty with the city behind you and nothing else than the sea in front of you.

From the Piazzetta Vigo you will also see the Colonna di Vigo, one of the symbols of the city: on its top there is a lion similar to the Lion of Saint Mark in Venice. Due to its relatively small dimensions it’s called “El gato de Ciosa”, which means “The cat of Chioggia”.

On the same square, there is also the bridge Ponte Vigo, arguably the most fascinating bridge of all Chioggia. The current stone structure dates back to the year 1685, while the original version was built in wood. Under it flows the most important stream of the city: the Canal Vena.

The zoological museum “Giuseppe Olivi” hosts the most important collection of sea animals of the Adriatic Sea and is located in the Palazzo Grassi. The latter was built between 1703 and 1714 on behalf of an important merchant family of Chioggia.

Strolling through the halls one can really notice the strong bond between the city and the sea. On the first floor, there is a model of a basking shark, on the second floor a series of crates with hundreds of different types of sea animals. One of the primary goals of the museum is to educate the visitors in terms of respecting the marine ecosystem. To make it all interesting it hosts temporary exhibitions for kids, which shall also make adults reflect.

Very interesting is also the view one can enjoy from the museum; just look out of the windows and you will be amazed.

A little further down the road, following Canal Vena, you can find the Chioggia fish market, another ancient institution of the city. You will recognise it immediately by its red roofing: 30 fishmongers (called mògnoli) have any variety of fish in stock.

The primary entrance to the market is the Portale a Prisca by Amleto Sartori.