Caorle Veneto Italy
Caorle Veneto Italy
Nestled in the Gulf of Venice, Italy, are many beautiful small towns, and Caorle is one of them, known as the 'Little Venice'. Caorle is part of the Veneto region, in the province of Venice, covering an area of one hundred and fifty-one square kilometers, with a population of approximately eleven thousand six hundred and seventy. Geographically, it is located at the northernmost point of the Adriatic Sea, at the mouth of the Livenza River, and is more than seventy kilometers away from the water city of Venice. Caorle has a history of over two thousand years; as early as the 5th century, it was the largest city in northern Italy, a commercial center, and a major port. However, due to changes in climate and environment, the docks gradually silted up and were abandoned, and the ancient city lost its former prosperity. At that time, most of the Caorle nobility moved to Venice, thus establishing a good alliance with the maritime 'Republic' of Venice, and Caorle was one of the few cities that were not violently conquered by Venice. In 1380, due to Caorle's close cooperation with Venice, it suffered looting and destruction by the Genoan army. Since the 9th century, Caorle served as the seat of a Catholic bishopric for a thousand years until it merged with Venice in 1818.
Today, Caorle has become a beloved tourist destination, with a fifteen-kilometer-long beach lined with hotels and resorts of various sizes, and tourism and fishing have become the main economic pillars. The famous American writer Ernest Hemingway traveled here in 1949 and after returning to his country, wrote the novel 'Across the River and Into the Trees', which describes the love story between an American colonel and an Italian girl. Although this novel is considered one of Hemingway's failures, it has added to Caorle's fame, and the town has since become known to the world. Approaching the town of Caorle, the circular bell tower built in the 11th century catches your eye, with its spire reaching forty-eight meters high, seemingly piercing the dense rolling clouds. Walking along the canal into the old town, a variety of fishing boats are lined up at the docks, forming a scenic line of fishing villages in the Gulf of Venice. The colorful small buildings in the town center are quite ostentatious, with craft shops and cafes casually connected, where you can sit down and rest at any time if you're tired from walking. The narrow alleys are like tunnels through time, leading people into the olden days, and if it weren't for the fashionably dressed tourists, one might think they've entered a dreamlike medieval era. Standing on the sea barrier at the edge of the town, the refreshing sea breeze hits your face, and the gentle beach stretches as far as the eye can see. There are more than two hundred tourist hotels, resorts, caravan parks, etc., which usually receive about six million visitors a year, with the highest annual figure reaching nine million, showing the unique charm of Caorle.