What to see and do in Grado

The lagoon was formed after the fifth century and is divided into the Western lagoon (Palù de Soto), the most extensive and rich in islands, and the Eastern lagoon (Palù de sora), extending to the north of the island of Grado.

One of the features of the lagoon is the presence of houses called “casoni”, simple homes with thatched roofs used by Grado fishermen in the past. The typical boat of the inhabitants of the lagoon is the “batela”, a rowboat with a flat bottom. Some islands are inhabited all year around; the isle of Barbana, where there is an ancient   Marian shrine, whose origins date back to 582 A.D., is one of them. In the isle of Grado there are kilometres of sandy beaches, oriented mainly towards south and gently sloping towards the sea. The beach situated in the west is called “The Costa Azzurra”; it continues towards the promenade of the dam, which protects the historical city centre from the coastal storms. The main beach begins after the dam and stretches out until it reaches Grado Pineta and the other most eastern beaches.  The seabed is generally shallow but there are, some kilometers away from the coast, a lot of “trezze”, rocky outcrops from about 8 to 20 metres deep, characterized by the richness and biodiversity of the marine environment.                                                                                                                                 In 1987 it was found a Roman naval vessel, shipwrecked in the third century in the depths in front of Grado. There are also a lot of monuments which can be visited such as The Basilica of Sant'Eufemia , with the octagonal Baptistry of the late 5th century, the basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the Barbana Sanctuary and so on.