Marano Lagunare

THE SQUARE AND THE TOWER

Marano’s main square is dedicated to the provveditori, who were in charge of the town’s government at the time of Venetian rule. Several busts and epigraphs can be seen there on the Provost’s Palace and the facade of the Millennium Tower. The tower, which had sighting, civil and liturgical functions, is incorporated into the Maranese Loggia, an enclosed loggia where the community gathered. The square is also home to the Grand Guard Wing, or the building in which, between the 15th and 18th centuries, the fortress city’s Guard Corps, consisting of a company of 50 military infantrymen, was located. In a niche of the building, which has now become a restaurant, can be seen the 1660 stone statue of Provveditore Pietro Bernardo Bembo, popularly known as Piero Bimbi.

THE CHURCH.

The Pieve di San Martino Vescovo houses an ancient pipe organ and 5 altarpieces from the 18th century.

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

The territory of Marano Lagunare constituted a hub of Adriatic trade routes for centuries, as evidenced by the artifacts on display at the Archaeological Museum of the Marano Lagoon, many of them from Asia and Africa and found through excavations or in the sandy depths of the lagoon.

THE OLD FISH MARKET

Pescaria Vecia with its 8 department stores was the center of Marano’s economy until the 1990s. Today it has been converted to a gathering place and center for cultural events in the village.

THE CISTERNS

Of the 16 cistern wells in Marano, 2 remain, the Priuli well in the main square and the Contareno well in Marii square, both lined with Istrian stone and dating back to the 16th century. At that time, in times of drought, they were supplied with fresh water from nearby rivers: water was poured in via barrels transported by boat.