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SO
BEAUTIFUL AND SO MUCH TO DISCOVER
Narrow
streets, bridges, palaces, churches, memories... Just as good as the
artistic and historical glories of Venice: St. Mark's Lion also roars
in Chioggia
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"A small
Venice? If you take a really close look, it's even better than the
original...". The peccadillo of the inhabitants' local pride
can be easily forgiven, because Chioggia has an undeniable charm:
with its canals, bridges, narrow streets, massive churches and
elegant eighteenth-century palaces reflecting in the water,
Chioggia offers sights that are just as marvellous as the
aristocratic queen of the lagoon. But this small city,
immortalised by the Goldonian Baruffe, combines these attractions
with its own kind of appeal: the warm and cordial atmosphere, the
colours of the "bragozzi" or small sailing boats, the
characteristic vessels of the fishermen moored in picturesque
disarray along the Vena canal with their multi-coloured sails, the
dynamic vitality of the people: even if the world should come to
an end, the inhabitants of Chioggia, as evening falls and on
holiday mornings, would never do without their leisurely stroll up
and down corso del Popolo, that for good reasons is commonly
called La Piazza. To fall in love with Chioggia, all you have to
do is visiting the fish market, that every morning enlivens the
area facing the Vena canal behind the ancient Granary with its
particular odours, voices and colours. The curious browse amidst
the granite stands together with housewives and impeccable waiters
who, from the nearby restaurants, barter for sea bass and slabs of
tuna for the luncheon menu. The abundance and freshness of the
fish are proof of the tireless work of the fishermen who have been
challenging the open sea from time immemorial. Last century, 500
barges were plying the waters in Chioggia and today its fleet of
fishing boats is still one of Italy's largest. Embraced by the
lagoon, and crossed by three parallel canals, Lombardo, Vena and
San Domenico, Chioggia is intersected by about seventy narrow
streets that are all perpendicular to the main street, giving it a
unique herring bone structure. It is separated from the village of
Sottomarina by seven hundred metres of lagoon, but above all by
what are profoundly different traditions, attitudes, and even
facial features and a dialect: the inhabitants of Chioggia are
fishermen, used to going up against the dangers of the sea every
day and incorrigibly driven to live above their means, heedless of
the future. Instead, the inhabitants of Sottomarina, who are tough
and thrifty gardeners bound to the land, have combined vegetables
farming with tourism over the last few decades, taking advantage
of the extensive fine-sand beach. There is such a clear-cut
separation that the bridge between the two banks was built only in
the twenties: throughout the nineteenth century, the only way to
reach the other side was by row boat, a service that was replaced
at the beginning of the century by two steam ships. Though the
origins of the city are steeped in legend, for which it is said
that the city was founded by the Trojan hero Clodio, a companion
of Aeneas, the first settlement was probably Etruscan. Already
known in Roman times, the port soon became part of the Venetian
Republic, and took the brunt of the age-old rivalry between the
Venetians and Genoese, becoming the battleground for the bitter
conflict known in fact as the war of Chioggia. In 1379 the city
was attacked and conquered, despite the strenuous resistance of
its inhabitants. Sottomarina was razed to the ground. Placed under
siege on the island they occupied, the Genoese surrendered the
following year and the city re-obtained its freedom, through it
was certainly worn-out by the conflict. In fact, from that point
on, events in the official documents were dated ante and post
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local history is studded with glorious episodes, like the
insurrection against the Austrians on April 20, 1800, during
Christ's procession of San Domenico. Therefore, it should come as
no surprise that the inhabitants of Chioggia are so proud of St.
Mark's Lion, dominating piazza Vigo from the top of the marble
column decorated with the Byzantine capital. Nor that they are so
intolerant of the malice of those who consider the lion to be a
cat, since it is out of proportion with respect to the size of the
support. In fact, the inhabitants of Chioggia recount how those
who, in mockery, placed a fish bone at the feet of the "cat",
more than once ended up the worse for wear: not many years ago, as
told by a restaurant owner with unabashed pride, the car of a
group of tricksters from Rovigo ended up in the sea. And then the
lion of Chioggia, they point out, is portrayed in an unusual
position: with an unsheathed sword in the middle of a book.
Piazzetta Vigo is the landing point and the charming welcome site
for those arriving at Chioggia by sea: it is from here that the
way by land and the other by water begin, that cut the city in
half, corso del Popolo and the Vena canal, surmounted by the
seventeenth-century Vigo bridge, embellished with Istria marble in
1762. Just slightly farther away, on a small island connected by
another bridge, rise the church of San Domenico, rebuilt in 1745
on a thirteenth-century base. This church contains the Cristo dei
pescatori which is venerated by the locals: a wooden Crucifix
almost five metres high that, according to tradition, was found in
the sea. The faith of the people also involves the "tolèle",
ex-votos painted on wooden tablets as a sign of gratitude to the
saint that was responsible for a narrow escape from a dangerous
situation: an ingenuous style is used to describe episodes mainly
related to life at sea, shipwrecks and storms, in addition to
unhoped-for healing. The church also includes a beautiful San
Paolo, the last work by Carpaccio, and a Gesù by Tintoretto. The
civic buildings are gathered around piazzetta XX settembre, that
intersects the main street at its midpoint. The city centre is
marked by the flagpole, supported by three stone caryatids since
1713. According to tradition, they are called Andrea, Filipeto and
Giacometo and talk to each other. The neo-classical city hall was
built by the Austrians to replace the original structure destroyed
by fire. The interior contain a tablet by Jacobello del Fiore,
depicting Felice and Fortunato, the patrons Saints of the city, in
addition to drawings by Rosalba Carriera, a painter from Chioggia.
The statues of the balustrade, that today surround the "Sagraeto"
next to the cathedral, along the Perottolo canal, are the only
remnants of the old Town-hall. This charming corner is known as
Refugium peccatorum, since this is where the condemned could stop
and say their last prayers in front of the statue of the Virgin.
The medieval loggia of the Proclamations, rebuilt in the
nineteenth century, from which the heralds read ordinances and
laws to the citizens, since most of them were illiterate, is
located in front of the city hall. Today, it is the site of the
city police department and, in June, hosts the Palio of Marciliana,
a re-enactment in costume of the war of Chioggia. The Granary,
that dates back to 1322, was built to hold grain reserves in case
of famine and war: originally, it rested on 64 column (walled in
at the beginning of the century), through which it was possible to
catch a glimpse of the water from Vena canal. An aedicula on the
façade depicts a papier-mâché Madonna with Child by Sansovino.
Another statue of the Virgin, inside a beautiful gothic aedicula,
decorates the façade of the old Monte di Pietà. The majestic
cathedral was rebuilt in the middle of the seventeenth century by
Baldassarre Longhena, the architect who also created St. Mary of
Health in Venice. The previous church, consecrated in 1110 with
the transfer of the bishopric from Malamocco, was destroyed by
fire on Christmas night in 1623. some of the most beautiful works
includes the inlaid high altar, the pulpit decorated with
bas-reliefs and the baptistery and, of course, numerous canvases
by artists such as Palma the Young and Cima da Conegliano. The
64-metre tall fourteenth-century bell tower rises isolated next to
the church.
The small gothic church of St.
Martin, dating back to 1392, contains two beautiful polyptyches,
one of which by Paolo Veneziano, currently being restored by the
Fine Arts Service of Venice. St. James'basilica, completely
rebuilt in the eighteenth century based on a project that
continued for no less than 46 years, displays the highly venerated
icon of the Madonna of the Navicella. This work refers to the
apparition before a poor gardener in 1508 of the Virgin Mary with
the body of Christ wounded by the sins of the Chioggia inhabitants.
One of the most notable works inside the grandiose church with a
single square aisle is the fresco on the ceiling that covers an
area of no less than 223 square metres. The adjacent church of the
Trinity, built in 1705 by Andrea Tirali, who also created the
pavement of St. Mark's Square in Venice, is more secluded. The
presbytery, closed by only four columns, offers a glimpse of the
Oratory, that was the site of the Guild of the Battuti, a
confraternity also called the Reds, based on the colour of their
frock. The ceiling is richly decorated with scenes from the Old
and New Testament, studded in gilded cornices and inspired by the
Redemption. The courtyard offers a unique contrast in styles
between two side-by-side bell towers: the Romanesque Trinity and
the seventeenth-century St. James, tall and surmounted by an angel
with wings spread. St. Andrew's church was rebuilt in 1734, with
the addition of a Baroque façade. Evidence of the Romanesque
origins includes the bell tower with a square layout, perhaps
dating back to 1110, that was also used as a military look-out
tower. |
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