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Portogruaro and Concordia S.

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Portogruaro and Concordia S.

The experience

Portogruaro, worth visiting for the charm of the Lemene River and ancient noble residences.
Established as a river port in the 12th century, Portogruaro, also known as the “little Venice of the mainland,” is an elegant town less than thirty kilometers from the beach of Bibione, where it is possible to spend a pleasant day strolling along the arcades of ancient medieval and Renaissance palaces, shopping in the elegant stores of the center or among the stalls

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The experience

Portogruaro, worth visiting for the charm of the Lemene River and ancient noble residences.
Established as a river port in the 12th century, Portogruaro, also known as the “little Venice of the mainland,” is an elegant town less than thirty kilometers from the beach of Bibione, where it is possible to spend a pleasant day strolling along the arcades of ancient medieval and Renaissance palaces, shopping in the elegant stores of the center or among the stalls of a market with a centuries-old tradition, stopping for lunch along the river or discovering the frescoes hidden in ancient churches.
The centerpiece of the town is Piazza della Repubblica, which houses the symbols of Portogruaro: the 1494 Pilacorte well with its characteristic bronze cranes and the Town Hall.
The gothic-style town hall is a perfect harmony of lines between the central body from the 1300s and the side wings from the 1500s: built of face brick and crowned with elegant battlements, the interior preserves 16th-century frescoes and paintings by the futurist painter Luigi Russolo, born in Portogruaro in 1885.

Behind the Town Hall is one of the most fascinating views of Portogruaro: on the bank of the Lemene River, where the fish market once took place, admire the old Mills from the late 12th century, now used as an art gallery, and the Oratory of the Fish Market, a delightful little wooden chapel from the 17th century.
Not far away your gaze will be drawn to the curious leaning bell tower of Romanesque design, which almost seems to rest on the side of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the city’s main church consecrated in 1833.
The neoclassical-style cathedral, with Renaissance modules, houses several paintings inside, including the valuable copy of Cima da Conegliano’s original altarpiece Incredulity of St. Thomas, dating from 1504 and housed in the National Gallery in London.
Then, crossing one of the many bridges over the Lemene River, you will be enchanted by the magnificent view of the ancient palaces, which are reflected in its waters: these are the stupendous noble residences dating back to the 15th-16th centuries built in the Venetian Gothic style with the characteristic trefoil arches.
Once upon a time, the facades of these buildings were frescoed like precious jewels: if you look at the stupendous cycle of frescoes in the 16th-century Palazzo Marzotto, you can only get a vague idea of what Portogruaro looked like in the early 19th century.

Concordia Sagittaria
Just 2 km from Portogruaro is Concordia Sagittaria, an ancient Roman colony from the 1st century B.C., which owes its name to an arrow factory (sagittae) from the 3rd century A.D. C. of which numerous traces have been found.
From the various excavation campaigns within the historic city, several artifacts from both the Roman and early Christian periods have emerged, some of which are preserved in the archaeological museums of Concordia and Portogruaro and some of which can be visited in the city, such as the remains of a Roman road.

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