There are various hypotheses about the origins of Chioggia. A legend tells that a certain 'Clodio', a fellow of Enea, after escaping from the destruction of Troy, landed in the Italian Peninsula and founded Clodia, presently Chioggia.
Around the year 200 b.C. the Pelasgi people from Tessaglia are said to have reached the site of the city, naming it Cluza, which means 'artificially built'. Signs of the Etruscan civilization are retraceable in the urban structure of the city. For certain, Chioggia was known at the time of the Romans. From 'Clodia' come more recent place-names: 'Cluza', 'Clugia', 'Chiozza' and eventually Chioggia. The island was occupied by the inhabitants of the Venetian region when they escaped from their towns invaded by the Huns (452 A.D.) and the Longobards (568 A.D.). Chiogia was destroyed twice: the first time in 810 A.D. by Pipino Il Breve, king of the Francs and a second time by the Hungarians in 902 A.D. In 1110 A.D. the episcopal see was transferred to Chioggia. Clugia Major (Chioggia) and Clugia Minor (Sottomarina) became the 11th and 12th islands of the Republic of Venice and were subjected to the power of the doge.
About 70 people from Chioggia joined Garibaldi's army, and among them was the youngest of the 1000 soldiers, Giuseppe Marchetti, 11 years old. Chiogia joined Italy on October 15, 1866. Chioggia experienced the tremendous consequences of World War One and was involved, after the Fascist period, in World War Two as well. The liberation took place on april 27, 1945.
Visiting Chioggia is not just admiring its rich artistic heritage. Its particular location in the lagoon makes it appear suspended between the sea and the sky. Discover the picturesque canals (Lombardo, westbound; Vena, in the centre; San Domenico, eastbound) dividing the town in four sections and reflecting in their water buidings and bridges, crowded with coloured boats. Walk along the bank among the people busy in selling and buying fish and vegetables. Discover the 'calli', the narrow streets forming a urban structure on a herring-bone pattern, surrounded by old houses with characteristic chimneys, places of meeting, chatting, working and playing, beautifully described in the plays of Goldoni and the novels of Giovanni Comisso. Sometimes the 'calli' open into wider places: 'the campielli'.
Chioggia lives in its main square, a huge, ferined and solar 'grand cafè', always open and crowded, where we find the most important palaces and churches, and the arcades and small squares alongside. Even in its historical centre, Chioggia is a place for life in the open air...
Well-known in the past was the local production of the Clugiae Salt, exported to the whole Italian Peninsula. In 1379-1380 Chioggia was the site of the war between the two 'Sea Republics' of Genoa and Venice for the supremacy over the seas. After destroying Sottomarina, which would then have been rebuilt only in the 18the century, the Genoese besieged Chioggia, but were eventually defeated thanks to the Venetian fleet. Along crisis followed in the 15th and 16th centuries, marked by famines and plagues, and finally the city knew a rebirth, based on the growth of fishing.
After the Fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, the town was occupied by the French Troops and, with the Treaty of Campoformio, passed to Austria in 1798. The people of Chioggia rose in vain against the foreign domination on April, 20 1800, day of the memorable 'Insurrection of the Christ'. The French were back in town between 1806 and 1814 and a second Austrian Domination followed. Chioggia and Venice rose again in 1848-49, winning a short lasting freedom.
