Bibione is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' of the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of San Michele al Tagliamento, in the Metropolitan City of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

, northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is a seaside

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

, particularly popular among German, Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, and Slovak tourists. The city offers around 100,000 beds, whether in hotels, holiday apartments or on campsites. Bibione is mostly visited between May and September, since this is the most suitable period to bathe. Many shops and beach facilities are open only during the summer season. Traditionally, a weekly market takes place every Tuesday on the square in front of the funfair.

Geography

Bibione faces the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

, and occupies a peninsula situated between the Lugugnana canal and the river Tagliamento. Given the soil consistency and on the basis of some excavations, it can be assumed that Bibione originally consisted of a small group of islands. These were connected to the mainland and the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

by a narrow stretch of land, mentioned in several Roman and medieval documents as ''insulae bibioni'' or ''Bibiones''.

History

After the fall of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, Bibione fell under the suzerainty of the bishops of Concordia. Over the following centuries, the islands were neglected and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

woods spread over the whole area. The actual land reclamation started at the beginning of the 20th century, when drainage canals and embankments were built. When the works ended, around 1950, Bibione was left with its pine forests and its sandy beach. In the following years, the first holiday accommodation was built and Bibione became a tourist resort.

Tourism

Tourists come largely from Germany and Austria, but also from Italy, Eastern European countries and other parts of Europe (depending on the season and on the town district preferred). The cityscape is characterized by numerous

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refr ...

, guest houses and campsites, which provide a total number of beds that is forty times higher than the number of inhabitants. The centre of Bibione houses Corso Europa and other large streets filled with cafés, shops, restaurants and even arcades. Bibione is divided into different areas: Lido dei Pini, Bibione Pineda, Bibione Spiaggia and Lido del Sole. In summer 2014, a smoking ban was imposed on the area between the shore and the first row of beach umbrellas and Bibione thus became Italy's first smoke-free beach. Since 2019 smoking is banned at the complete beach, except dedicated smoking areas.

References

{{Authority control Geography of Venice Tourist attractions in Venice