Culture Cavallino
Flavors Cavallino

The history and the taste
of the Lagoon.

Nature and Sea
History Cavallino

The peninsula that defends Venice

For centuries the narrow strip of land that is Cavallino-Treporti has served as Venice’s natural bulwark, separating the lagoon from the open sea. Forte Treporti, built by the Austrians between 1845 and 1851 on the remains of a French fort, the early twentieth-century batteries and the old pumping stations tell a story of borderlands, toil and ingenuity, where people learned to live alongside the water.

Farming culture and seafaring tradition

In the hamlets of Treporti, Ca' di Valle, Lio Piccolo and Saccagnana, time seems to have stood still. Small churches, rural courtyards and wayside shrines bear witness to the life of the farming and fishing communities, who to this day cultivate the salt-marsh gardens and raise fish and shellfish in the fish farming valleys.

Flavors Cavallino

The sparasea, Cavallino’s asparagus

The green asparagus of Cavallino, known here as sparasea, has a full flavour with a bitter edge that comes from the sandy soils of the coast. It is harvested entirely by hand, from mid-March to the first days of June, and for over fifty years the Festa dea Sparesea has celebrated it between the end of April and the beginning of May. Alongside it grow tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, aubergines and salad leaves: the market gardens are as much a part of the landscape as the lagoon.

Lagoon fish, seaside cuisine

Moeche, mussels and clams from the lagoon, gilt-head bream, sea bass and mullet from the fishing valleys: the cooking of Cavallino-Treporti brings to the table what the lagoon and the Adriatic give in their proper season. Local trattorias make the most of the catch landed by the local cooperatives, who work with low-impact artisanal gear, of garden produce, and of the DOC Venezia wines, on which the nearness of the sea leaves a recognisable minerality.

Experiences not to be missed

Culture CavallinoFlavors Cavallino