Piazza I Maggio

Journey to the oldest origins of the historic center

By Giovanni Cagnassi

Jesolo Paese’s central square is dedicated to May I, Labor Day. But before arriving at this high-impact and meaningful dedication, the history of this agora is punctuated by fascinating events and decisions that tie in well with the soul of this area. In Jesolo’s historic center it is the beating heart, a place of gathering and animated daily life, with its hustle and bustle of citizens intent on shopping or heading to the municipal building across the Sile. Its past is mobile and fascinating, full of suggestions that go back centuries. The commercial tradition is well-established in Jesolo Paese, where the first traces of real stores date back to the 1500s, thanks to close relations with Venice. Not forgetting that Jesolo, formerly Equilium, has pre-Roman origins and was a mansio, a post station along the network of canals that stretched between Ravenna and Aquileia in the upper Adriatic. Taking a leap in history we leap directly to the Duchy of Venice and in general to the influence of the Venetian patriciate, and then to the time of Cavazuccherina. From here we come directly to the early decades of the 1900s with the discovery of heliotherapy cures after the Great War, which laid the foundation for the advent of the tourist lido we know today.

The inhabited and vital center has always remained the old town, with its squares and orderly, flowing streets. Tombed the Cavetta canal in 1926, a navigable canal that flowed through the middle of the country and cut it into two parts, the area that was initially called Piazza Albergo Camozzi was formed. In 1927, in honor of the March on Rome, it became Piazza XXVIII Ottobre. In September 1943 it changed its name again to Concordia Square. Only in 1946 did it become Piazza I Maggio, remaining so until the present day.

A square that retains this little-known and in some ways complex history behind it, with the only common thread in commerce and exchange that are protagonists even today of daily vitality. Yet, moving from one part of this area to the other, it still feels like reliving that ancient magic. A pedestrianized area, warm and surrounded by stores. All dominated by a fountain that, seen from above, has the shape of a ship. A newly designed structure, designed to embellish the country in the broader framework of a program to restore the historic center. And with the merit, for those who can grasp it, of a square that leads one of Italy’s most important tourist cities strong in its unforgettable past.