Bibione is a ''

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 ...

'' of the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

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

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is a seaside resort, particularly popular among German, Austrian, Czech 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 Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, and occupies a peninsula situated between the Lugugnana canal and the river

Tagliamento The Tagliamento () is a braided river in north-east Italy, flowing from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea at a point between Trieste and Venice. The Tagliamento river is considered as the last morphologically intact river in the Alps. (Its c ...

. 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 Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

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'') ...

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 The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

, 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. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

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 In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, Publishing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Town ...

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 ref ...

guest houses A guest house (also guesthouse) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), guest houses are a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the exclusive use ...

and

campsites A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using ten ...

, which provide a total number of beds that is forty times higher than the number of inhabitants. 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 Venice