Jesolo, theatre of the world wars

by Manuel Pavanello Jesolo is a modern city of more than 25,000 inhabitants that has a rich history behind it, in addition to tourism. In the 20th century, for example, it was the scene of two world wars. Numerous testimonies of this past remain. With regard to the First World War, we cannot fail to mention, in Jesolo Paese, the Victory Bridge-monument on the Sile river, inaugurated on 9 October 1927 at the behest of the Duke of Aosta Emanuele Filiberto with the aim of commemorating the sailors who died in the Great War. Not far from there, stand the commemorative monument in Piazzetta Fanti del Mare and the one to the Naval Gunners in Piazza Matteotti. These two artefacts come from Chico Mendes Park, between Paese and Lido, a former war cemetery reclaimed long ago. This very area was embellished with a commemorative sculpture in red marble in October 2021. A must-see is also the machine gun emplacement right at the entrance to the Gianni Rodari school in the town centre. It is important to remember that it was at the mouth of the Piave River that Lieutenant Andrea Bafile fought and died (11/12 March 1918). The figure of this military hero is so deeply rooted in Jesolo that the town’s longest and most important shopping street has been dedicated to him, as well as a posthumous monument in the central Piazza Brescia. Returning to Jesolo Paese in search of evidence of the Second World War, let us not forget the square reinforced concrete forts, half-hidden in the area behind the Antiche Mura and one adjacent to the Locanda ‘Al Ponte de Fero’. Particularly rich in these forts is the area of Cortellazzo-Pineta, a hamlet in which there are innumerable, but mostly inaccessible because they are located in fenced-off private areas, as well as shrouded in vegetation.