Sottomarina

Sottomarina is a small town on a peninsula which has the same name. It is a '' frazione'' of the comune of Chioggia, which is part of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region in north-eastern Italy.

Geography

Sottomarina is a peninsula which protrudes into the Lagoon of Venice, forming its southern coastal tract. The other parts of the coastline of this lagoon are the barrier islands of Pellestrina and Lido, in the middle, and the peninsula of Cavallino in the north. Sottomarina is separated form Pellestrina by the Chioggia inlet. The lagoon side of its coast is by the islands which form the town of Chioggia and on the eastern side of the Val di Brenta, southernmost basin of the lagoon. It southern end is cut through by the mouth of the River Brenta. The peninsula is narrow at the northern end as it widens and it progress southwards. The town is close to Chioggia and it is connected with it by a 700 m bridge.

History

The main settlement in Sottomarina was known as ''Clodia Minor'' in the 7th century AD. This distinguished it form ''Clodia Major'', which is now the town of Chioggia. These Latin names then morphed into Chioggia Minore and Chioggia Maggiore. The settlement was governed by its own tribune and issued its own laws. It was connected to Chioggia by a stone bridge. It had the churches of San Martino, Sant'Antonio Abate, San Matteo, a hospital and a castle with a tower on an islet named after it (Buoncastello), just off the northeastern corner of the peninsula.Portale ufficiale di Chioggia, Sottomarina e Isola Verde
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The town was destroyed in 1379, during the War of Chioggia between the Republics of Genoa and Venice. The senate of the Republic of Venice forbade its rebuilding until the second half 17th century. During that period it was uninhabited and subject to floods. In the 18th century, the ''murazzi'', the imposing Istrian st