Eraclea () is a small city and ''

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 ...

'' in the

Metropolitan City of Venice The Metropolitan City of Venice () is a metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in the Veneto region of Italy, one of ten metropolitan cities in Italy. Its capital is the city of Venice. It replaced the province of Venice in 2015 and incl ...

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 Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

. It is located on the

Adriatic 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 ...

coast between the towns of

Caorle Caorle (; ) is a coastal town in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy, located between the estuaries of the Livenza and Lemene rivers. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea between two other tourist towns, Eraclea and Bibione. ...

and

Jesolo Jesolo (; ) is a seaside resort town and ''comune'' of 26,873 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy. With around 5.5 million visitors per year, Jesolo ranks second among beach resorts in the country for number of tourists, and t ...

History

From its founding until 742 AD, the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

had its capital based in Eraclea. It was replaced by

Malamocco Malamocco () was the first, and for a long time, the only, settlement on the Lido of Venice barrier island of the Lagoon of Venice. It is located just south of the island's center and it is part of the Lido-Pellestrina borough of the municipali ...

. According to Greek mythology, it was founded by the hero and demi-god

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

Tourism

Eraclea Mare is, together with

and

, one of the main seaside resorts on the Venetian coast facing 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 ...

. A steady growth of foreign tourists, especially from Germany, has been recently recorded.

Environment

In 2009, Eraclea Mare was awarded the "3 Sails" by the environmental

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Legambiente Legambiente is an Italian environmentalist association with roots in the anti-nuclear movement that developed in Italy and throughout the Western world in the second half of the 1970s. Founded in 1980 as part of the ARCI, it later became a stand- ...

. The city has been awarded the " Blue Flag" from the Foundation for Environmental Education every year from 2007 to 2017 for the cleanliness of its beaches and seawater.

Main sights

Eraclea Mare is known for its pinewood and the Laguna del Mort 'Lagoon of the Dead'. The Lagoon, an unusual natural formation, was caused by the overflowing of the Piave river in 1935, whose bed was modified in its last stretch after a large flood. The Lagoon stretches between the Eraclea's Lido and the mouth of the Piave river and it is a sea-lagoon, being supplied with water only by the flood-tides. Still uncontaminated, the Mort is characterized by shallow and calm waters with a sandy and muddy seabed, rich in

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater Aquatic ecosystem, ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), mea ...

Economy

The city's economy is mostly based on agriculture and tourism, because of its 6 km-long beach (Eracleamare).

Transportation

The town is served by

Trenitalia Trenitalia Società per azioni, SpA is the primary train operator of Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government. It was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulati ...

services to

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 ...

and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

from

San Donà di Piave San Donà di Piave (; ) 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 early 1920s aft ...

, and by

Venice Marco Polo Airport Venice Marco Polo Airport is the international airport of Venice, Italy. It is located on the mainland near the village of Tessera, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Venice located about east of Mestre (on the mainland) and around the same ...

and Treviso Airport to the west and south, respectively. By road, Eraclea is accessible from Venice via the A4 through

to the north.

People

Paolo Lucio Anafesto Paolo Lucio Anafesto () was, according to Venetian chronicler John the Deacon and other later traditions, the first Doge of Venice, serving (allegedly) from 697 to 717. Since he is not known from contemporary sources, various scholars have rais ...

, first

Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ) – in Italian, was the doge or highest role of authority within the Republic of Venice (697–1797). The word derives from the Latin , meaning 'leader', and Venetian Italian dialect for 'duke', highest official of the ...

(697–717) *

Marcello Tegalliano Marcello Tegalliano (Latin: ''Marcellus Tegalianus'') was, according to Venetian chronicler John the Deacon and some other, much later sources and traditions, the second Doge of Venice, serving (allegedly) from 717 to 726. Since he is not known ...

, second Doge of Venice (717–726) *

Orso Ipato Orso Ipato (; died 737) was, by tradition, the third Doge of Venice (726–737) and the first historically known. During his eleven-year reign, he brought great change to the Venetian navy, aided in the recapture of Ravenna from Lombard invade ...

, third Doge of Venice (726–737) * Angelo Participazio, (811–827), 10th Doge of Venice *Saint Floriano bishop of Oderzo with sede in Eraclea (?–620?) * Saint Tiziano bishop of Oderzo with sede in Eraclea (620?–16 January 632?) *Saint Magno, first bishop of Eraclea (632?–638?) * Angelo Correr, bishop of Eraclea (1406–1410) (Pope Gregorio XII) *Giovanni Contarini, bishop of Eraclea (1427) * Nello Santin, footballer (1946)

References

External links

EracleaTravel InfoTourist
Information about Eracleamare.
Eracleamare's Portal
Non-profit portal with some information and utilities about Eraclea Mare.
(Google Maps)Eracleamare in FlickrEracleamare's Blog
Blog with some Touristic information and utilities.

Map

Eraclea on Wikimapia

Webcams

Webcam live service on Eraclea's beach
Free provided by Eracleamare.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Eraclea Capitals of former nations Cities and towns in Veneto Catholic titular sees in Europe Articles containing video clips