For history lovers, the Cavallino Treporti area offers many opportunities to deepen their knowledge or to learn something new about this locality. Starting from Camping Village Garden Paradiso you can easily reach all the points of interest by bicycle!
Located throughout the territory, the barracks, the telemetric towers, the bunkers, the forts and the batteries are a precious architectural heritage that dot the entire peninsula and that tells an important aspect of the historical and cultural identity of Cavallino Treporti. These are the military fortifications erected to defend Venice during the Great War.
When the gates of the Cavallino were built, the islet that had been created housed a building initially used as a duty station and inn. During the period of the Great War, this building was used as a military garrison. It currently houses the "Locanda alle Porte 1963".
Starting from the gates of Cavallino, proceeding along Via Casson and then along Via Pordelio, you can see on the left a series of towers that stand out among the fields and houses. They are the telemetric towers, positions from which the lookouts sighted the enemy army, calculated the distance and transmitted all the data to the batteries located in the territory.
The telemetry towers along the way:
Arriving in Lio Grando you can admire Forte Vecchio. The building was built between 1845 and 1851 to protect the port mouth of Punta Sabbioni and to defend the Venice Lagoon.
The two telemetry towers, on the other hand, were erected during the First World War.
Once the coordinates from the towers are received, the batteries launched the artillery rounds with great precision. While the telemetry towers were in a more internal position and well camouflaged, to be less visible, the batteries were mainly located along the coast.
The Amalfi, San Marco and Radaelli Batteries, built in the early 1900s, were particularly operational on the land front of the Lower Piave. Thanks to the 360° rotating armoured towers, equipped with cannons with very far range, the enemy infantry and outposts were easily hit by these batteries.
The Vettor Pisani Battery, on the other hand, could not fight actively on the front of the Lower Piave during the First World War, due to the reduced range of its cannons, while in the Second World War it was an active anti-aircraft artillery station. Built between 1909 and 1912, this battery takes its name from the Venetian commander Vettor Pisani who in 1380, during the Chioggia war, defeated the Genoese fleet of Pietro Doria.
After careful restoration, today the Batteria Pisani is open to the public and inside there is a museum with exhibition spaces. During the year there are many events and initiatives organised in this area, such as concerts, meetings and exhibitions.