Grado, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
| Grado | ||
|---|---|---|
| Comune | ||
| Comune di Grado | ||
Evening in Grado lagoon
|
||
|
||
 Grado
|
||
| Coordinates: 45°40′40″N 13°23′41″E / 45.67778°N 13.39472°E | ||
| Country | Italy | |
| Region | Friuli-Venezia Giulia | |
| Province / Metropolitan city | Gorizia (GO) | |
| Frazioni | Boscat, Fossalon, Pineta, Primero, Val Cavarera | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Edoardo Maricchio | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 114 km2 (44 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 2 m (7 ft) | |
| Population (31 August 2008) | ||
| • Total | 8,650 | |
| • Density | 76/km2 (200/sq mi) | |
| Demonym(s) | Gradesi | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Postal code | 34073 | |
| Dialing code | 0431 | |
| Patron saint | St. Hermagoras and Fortunatus | |
| Saint day | July 21 | |
| Website | Official website | |
-Stemma.png)
Grado (Venetian: Gravo, Latin: Gradus) is a town and comune in the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located on an island and adjacent peninsula of the Adriatic Sea between Venice and Trieste.
Once mainly a fishing center, today it is a popular tourist destination, known commonly as L'Isola del Sole ("The Sunny Island"), also famous because it is also a spa town; together with Marano Lagunare, it is the center of the Marano-Grado Lagoon, which is famous for its uncontaminated nature. Grado is the birthplace of Biagio Marin, a poet who sang about the island in the local Venetian dialect.
In Roman times the city, known as ad Aquae Gradatae, was first port for ships entering the Natissa (Natisone), headed upstream to Aquileia.
Quite close is the ancient Roman city of Aquileia; during the late years of the Western Roman Empire many people fled from Aquileia to Grado in order to find a safer place, more protected from the invasions coming from the east. In 452, Nicetas, Bishop of Aquileia, took refuge briefly at Grado; of the same period is the earliest construction of Grado's first cathedral, the first church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and the baptistery. Grado was the home base of the patriarchate's fleet.
In 568, after the invasion of the Lombards, the seat of the Patriarchate of Aquileia was transferred here by the Patriarch Paulinus. After the Schism of the Three Chapters, two different patriarchs were elected: the patriarch of Grado exerted his jurisdiction over the Latin-origin people living in the coast and in the Venetian Lagoon, while that of Old-Aquileia, later moved to Cividale, had its jurisdiction on the mainland. A long-lasting dispute over the authority of the two patriarchs ensued. In 993, the patriarch of Aquileia, Popo, conquered Grado, but was unable to keep possession of it. The matter was settled only in 1027 when the pope declared the supremacy of the See of Aquileia over Grado and the Venetian province.
...
Wikipedia