Piazza del Granatiere, where you can breathe history

By Giovanni Cagnassi

Piazza del Granatiere, at the eastern end of Jesolo, in the hamlet of Cortellazzo, is a corner of the city that exudes passion, blood, and pain and reminds us of the sacrifice of those men who fought on the Piave front to defend their homeland from the invading Austrian enemy.

This area stands where the Cavetta canal flows into the Piave River, near its mouth. Far from the glitz and glamour of the lido, a safe and secure harbor where tourism has not yet compromised the delicate urban and social balances, Cortellazzo is an area to be discovered for what it experienced in the more distant past.

In fact, one has to go back in history, even centuries, when the marsh was dominating and the community was slowly forming with its works to wrest these inauspicious lands from the water. There are a few dates to keep well in mind.

In 1560, in fact, the project to excavate a new branch of the mouth of the Piave Vecchia was approved. This work continued until 1601 and contributed to Cortellazzo becoming a crossroads for trade between Venice and Friuli Venezia Giulia via the waterways. The crossroads year, however, was 1683, when the Piave River flooded, definitively demarcating the territory of the town, which at that point consolidated its flourishing fishing-related activities. The events, in these parts, are manifold.

Cortellazzo was a battleground in the Great War, a border between the Italian and Austrian armies. Its roots, therefore, are deep and differentiate it from the coast and the country making it a village to be discovered.

Today Piazza del Granatiere bears perennial witness to World War I and those devastating clashes that involved Italian soldiers in the advance of the Austro-Hungarian army. For the Jesolo hamlet, this square is a symbol, as well as a landmark that cements the strong identity of its citizens. Sheltered from large tourist flows, today the picturesque fishing village is experiencing a new development, including urban planning. Many Jesolo residents live there and enjoy its landscape, aware of the importance of the hamlet’s historical references and an agora that becomes the protagonist on every important occasion.