Antiche Mura

Antiche Mura in Jesolo preserve the remains of medieval religious buildings beside the Venetian lagoon. Jesolo was once known as Equilio, an important religious centre in the lagoon. The ruins connect you with the former cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the monastery of San Mauro. The cathedral served as the diocese’s main church until its suppression.

Archaeological evidence reveals a Latin-cross plan and a large nearby cemetery. A legend attributes the cathedral’s destruction to Attila the Hun, although archaeology does not confirm it. Mid-twentieth-century excavations uncovered a small San Mauro church with three apses and early medieval features. Other walls probably belonged to the monastery’s final phase, abandoned in the twelfth century because of environmental problems.

Ca’ Foscari University excavations in 2018 exposed the monastery’s bell tower and another cemetery. Vegetation had concealed these remains, despite their appearance on older maps. Nature and an agriturismo now frame ruins that preserve more than a thousand years of Jesolo’s religious history.