Question 1

Chioggia on Your Own

Accepted Answer

Chioggia's old town is compact: one long main street, a main canal and a fish market, all on a small island. If you would rather spend the afternoon on sand, the beach at Sottomarina is just across a bridge. Corso del Popolo: The main street follows the line of the main axis of the Roman town and also serves as its chief square. A market has been held there every Thursday since 1852. Canals and the clock tower: The Canale Vena is the main canal. The bell tower of the Church of Sant'Andrea holds what is said to be the oldest working tower clock in the world, with a museum inside since 2006. Piazzetta Vigo: On the way into the old town from the waterfront, a column in Piazzetta Vigo carries the winged lion of St. Mark, and the lagoon boats leave from here. Sottomarina: A 700-meter bridge links the old town with Sottomarina, whose sandy beach runs for about 5.5 km. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, so if you head for Venice by public boat or bus, check the last service back and leave a wide margin.

Question 2

Getting to Venice

Accepted Answer

Two public ACTV routes link Chioggia with Venice, one through the Lido and Pellestrina and one over the mainland. Plan the return before you set out. ACTV route 11 runs between Chioggia's historic center and Lido S.M.E., the main water-bus stop on the Lido, with stops on Pellestrina. Part of the journey is by bus along the narrow strip of land between lagoon and sea, and part by ferry. From the Lido, water buses continue into Venice. In Chioggia, the boats use the Piazzetta Vigo terminal. ACTV bus 80E runs over the mainland between Chioggia and Piazzale Roma, the bus terminal at the edge of Venice.

Question 3

What to Eat

Accepted Answer

Chioggia is a fishing town first, with seafood restaurants and shellfish farmed in the lagoon nearby. Its fishermen have been organized since about the year 1000, and the town is still one of the main fishing ports on the Adriatic. The white Chioggia onion is grown in the area, and so is radicchio di Chioggia. Since 1938 the Sagra del Pesce, a fish festival, has turned the historic center into one big open-air restaurant on summer evenings.

Question 4

Tipping and Currency

Accepted Answer

Tipping is not expected in Italy, though people do leave something for special service. Italy uses the euro, and in small towns only some shops and restaurants take cards, so carry cash. Most restaurants charge a cover charge, the coperto, and waiters do not expect a tip on top. In cafés and bars it is common to leave your change, and leaving the change is also common with taxi drivers.

Question 5

Canals, Churches and Lace

Accepted Answer

Chioggia is often called Little Venice, for its canals and its narrow streets known as calli. It has its own crafts, festivals and a place in Italian theater. The cathedral was rebuilt from 1623 to a design by Baldassare Longhena, after the earlier church burned. Lace in Chioggia is made with bobbins, a craft the town shares with Pellestrina. Carlo Goldoni set his comedy Le baruffe chiozzotte here, among the town's fishermen and lacemakers. On the third weekend of June, the Palio della Marciliana brings costumed teams from five districts into the square for a crossbow contest that recalls the War of Chioggia.

Question 6

History

Accepted Answer

Chioggia was a town in Roman times and has spent most of its history tied to Venice, as a salt town, a bishop's seat and a fishing port. In the War of Chioggia, Genoa captured it and Venice fought for almost a year to win it back. The Roman writer Pliny recorded this place as the fossa Clodia, and the street plan of the old town still follows a Roman grid. The oldest documents naming the town date from the 6th century, under Byzantine rule. In the 7th century a second settlement, Clodia Minor, stood on what is now Sottomarina. King Pippin of Italy destroyed the town in the 9th century, and it was rebuilt around salt pans. In 1110 the bishop's seat moved to Chioggia, bringing the relics of Saints Felix and Fortunatus, who are still the town's patron saints. Genoese forces, with Paduan and Hungarian allies, stormed Chioggia on 16 August 1379. Venice blockaded them there, and the Genoese surrendered on 24 June 1380. The war left deep scars: Clodia Minor and Pellestrina were destroyed, salt-making was stopped, and the survivors had to live inside the town walls. The railway from Rovigo opened on 22 May 1887. The masonry bridge to Sottomarina followed in 1931, and the harbor breakwater in 1935. In 1960 the wholesale fish market moved out of the crowded center to an island between Chioggia and Sottomarina. To learn more ashore: The Museo civico della Laguna Sud, in a former convent on Campo Marconi near the Santa Maria gate at the end of the Canale Vena, covers the area from Roman times to its boatyards and fishing fleet.

Question 7

Traveling with Family

Accepted Answer

With children, Chioggia is easiest as a short walk through the old town followed by time on the beach at Sottomarina, rather than a long trip to Venice. Older children and teenagers who like boats can ride the lagoon route through Pellestrina. Younger children: Sottomarina's sandy beach is about 5.5 km long and up to 300 meters wide in places, across the bridge from the old town. School age: The Museum of Adriatic Zoology in Palazzo Grassi, on the Canale Vena near Ponte Vigo, shows the oldest collection of Adriatic sea creatures. Check its opening days before you go. Teenagers: ACTV route 11 combines bus and ferry legs along Pellestrina, so a ride part of the way is a trip in itself. Check the times back before you board.

Question 8

Shopping and the Fish Market

Accepted Answer

The wholesale fish market, on an island between Chioggia and Sottomarina, sells the catch by an auction in which buyers whisper their bids. In the center, a retail fish market sells to the public. At the wholesale auction, the auctioneer announces the winning buyer, who then states the price aloud. Chioggia is known for bobbin lace, as Pellestrina is. A weekly market fills Corso del Popolo on Thursdays.

Question 9

Beaches

Accepted Answer

Sottomarina, across the bridge from the old town, is Chioggia's beach district, and today it is mainly a seaside resort. Its sandy beach runs for about 5.5 km. The first beach establishments and a promenade more than 2 km long were built there from 1900 to 1903. Sottomarina has about 60 hotels and 17 campgrounds, and its big tourist boom came between 1960 and 1972. A second beach, Isolaverde, lies between the mouths of the Adige and the Brenta.

Venice (Chioggia), Italy

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