Jesolo, Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto Region, Italy

🇮🇹 Jesolo or Iesolo is a seaside resort town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy. With around six million visitors per year, Jesolo is one of the largest beach resorts in the country, and ranks 7th overall as a tourist destination, and fourth (behind Rimini, Cavallino-Treporti, San Michele al Tagliamento/Bibione) most popular Italian seaside resort. With over 20 visits per inhabitant, it is also one of the 50 Italian towns with the greatest tourist pressure. Its 15 kilometre long beaches and proximity to central Europe make it a favourite destination of many German, Austrian, Dutch and French visitors.

Geography The town lies north of Venice, between Eraclea and Cavallino-Treporti. Jesolo gives its name to a lagoon of 22 square km (8.5 sq mi) on the Adriatic Sea between the rivers Sile and Piave. The urbanized area lies on an island of sorts, delimited by the rivers Piave (on the east) and Sile (on the west), and an artificial canal called Cavetta, which starts from the centre of Jesolo and goes towards Cortellazzo.

The Jesolo area stretches along the Venetian coast on a flat landscape overlooking the Adriatic Sea and edged by Jesolo’s own lagoon (22 km), and by the rivers Sile and Piave. This latter is edged by the opposite Laguna del Mort. The valley of Dragojesolo together with that of Grassabò, is the largest in the northern lagoon of Venice. The coastal strip is low and sandy, consisting of an uninterrupted beach about 12 km long and varying in thickness between 30 and 100 metres.

History In Roman times the lagoon extended over the area now occupied by the town. There were several islands in the lagoon, the biggest of which was known as Equilium, the place of horses. It is thought that Jesolo represents a corruption of this name. On August 1st 2023 a tornado touched down in the town.

Name The ancient name of Jesolo was Equilium (from the Latin equos or from Venetic ekvo) which means "town of horses". The name refers to the breeding of horses, for which the ancient Venetians were famous. The current name of Jesolo probably comes from a series of transcription errors of the oldest name (Equilo, Esulo, Lesulo, Jexulo, Jexollo, Jesolum, Giesolo). From the 16th century until 1930, Jesolo was called Cavazuccherina. This name came from the canal of the same name (in Venetian Cava), opened on 20 April and built by Alvise Zucharin (Zuccherina).

The official spelling used by the municipality is Jesolo but in the same time, the spelling Iesolo is also erroneously used. The use of "J" here is a rare example of a retained archaism, as the letter does not exist in the modern standard Italian alphabet, except in loanwords and proper names.

Economy

The city's economy is mostly based on tourism. Jesolo is a seaside resort with abundant holiday facilities and its 15-kilometre (9 mi) beach called the Lido di Jesolo. At the height of its popularity Jesolo was hosting 6.5 million tourists per year. Competition from new resort towns has reduced the numbers in more recent years. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jesolo has registered around 3.5 million nights, ranking second among Italian beaches overall.

Sport The local football team, A.C. Jesolo, is based at the Stadio Armando Picchi and plays in the Prima Categoria Veneto group G.

Jesolo hosts the City of Jesolo Trophy, an international gymnastics competition.