Cittanova (, ) is a place in the Italian

Metropolitan City of Venice The Metropolitan City of Venice ( it, Città Metropolitana di Venezia) is a metropolitan city in the Veneto region, Italy. Its capital is the city of Venice. It replaced the Province of Venice and includes the city of Venice and 43 other municipa ...

. It is divided between the municipalities of

San Donà di Piave San Donà di Piave (; vec, San Donà ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. It is one of the historical main towns of the ''Eastern Veneto'' territory, although it was totally reconstructed in the ...

(which considers it as a hamlet, ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) 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 consolidate territ ...

'') and

Eraclea Eraclea () is a small city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adriatic coast between the towns of Caorle and Jesolo. History From its founding until 742 AD, the Republic of Venic ...

(which classifies it as a locality, ''località''). The border between the two municipalities is marked by the Ramo canal. The current town, which was built after the works of '' bonifica'' completed in the twentieth century, is the heir of a much older center, one of the most important in the medieval Venetian Lagoon.

History

Cittanova was founded at the beginning of the 9th century as ''Civitas Nova Heracliana'' (New City of Eraclea) on the ruins of ancient Heraclia, destroyed during the clashes between the rival factions of the pro-Franks and the pro-Byzantines (804) and then by Pepin (810). The initiative came from the Doge

Agnello Participazio Agnello Participazio (Latin: Agnellus Particiacus) was the tenth traditional and eighth (historical) doge of the Duchy of Venetia from 811 to 827. He was born to a rich merchant family from Heraclea and was one of the earliest settlers in the Riv ...

, of a Heracleense family, who had a holiday palace built there. Cherub plaque Louvre MRR245 n2

The end of the settlement came with the great flood of 1110, when the Piave changed its course, ending up flowing into the Cavallino and transforming the lands of Cittanova into a malarial swamp. In a short time, nothing remained of the ancient city, except the cathedral of San Pietro, periodically visited on the occasion of religious solemnities by the bishop, otherwise residing in Venice or in one of the nearby monasteries. The diocese was finally suppressed in 1440 and aggregated to the patriarchate of Grado. San Donà passed from the diocese of Cittanova to that of Treviso in 1334. Between 1543 and 1664 the area was affected by the impressive hydraulic works ordered by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

to avoid the swamping of its lagoon. The Piave was diverted and led to flow into a vast artificial freshwater lake near Cittanova called ''Lago della Piave'', where today there are the hamlets of Passarella and Palazzetto. The situation seemed ideal to favor the flourishing of the area, but not even twenty years later another flood pushed the river to assume its current course and it was necessary to wait till the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

for the '' bonifica'' of

(the '' Bonifica di Eraclea'') to take place.

Today

Today Cittanova is a purely agricultural town. The current church of the hamlet was built in 1927 on the land donated by the engineer Francesco Velluti, as mentioned in a plaque affixed to the wall of the church in 1940. In 1954 the Patriarch of Venice Angelo Roncalli (the future

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 28 Oc ...

) made Cittanova a parish of the vicariate of Eraclea. The first parish priest was Don Giovanni Bessegato, former chaplain of the Cathedral of San Donà. Many finds from the ancient Eraclea-Cittanova were lost in the 1950s, when the bases of an early Christian church dating back to 639 came to light, which were reportedly destroyed by the owners of the land. Recent aerial photographs have confirmed that the city extended over the islands of the '' laguna opitergina '' located between the current localities of

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, Fossà, Staffolo and Stretti.

References

{{reflist Cities and towns in Veneto