Population:  26,322 (2004)
Official website: Mogliano
Wikipedia: Mogliano
Map: MapQuest

Mogliano is a small city located on an important road, the Terraglio (the SS13), about half way between Treviso to the north and Venice to the south.  It sits on lands that have long since been reclaimed from the malarial marshes and bogs that at one time stretched from even further north to the lagoons of Venice and the Adriatic.  

Historical documents indicate that the Romans busied themselves with reclamation work in the area during the long years of their Empire and that a sizeable population developed during that time in the area, with Mogliano being a busy center of agricultural activity.  However, with the Barbarian incursions of the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries, much of the population scurried to the protection offered by the City of Venice and its lagoons, and much of the good work was undone by neglect.  The work was restarted in the middle Middle Ages, mostly under the ministration of the Benedictines who performed similar work all over Italy.

As the Venetian Empire grew into the Serene Republic, or Republica Serenissima as it is known to Italians, its natural loveliness and short distance from bustling Venice made it one of the places where Venice's rich built grand villas - a suburb like Westchester is to New York, or Hollywood to Los Angeles.  Many verdant, quite beautiful parks were created around and between the villas and along the remaining waterways in and around the city to add to its appeal.

Today, Mogliano is best known as a place for tourists to hang their hats - a less expensive, cooler, greener place than Venice, but only a few short kilometers away - maybe 15 or minutes by train. Trains come about every half an hour. A number of hotels and B&Bs, an number of them quite swank, serve the tourist trade.

There are a few sites worth seeing in Mogliano too - among them the Church of Sant'Elena, built in about 1860, most notable because it is home to a painting by the Venetian painter Palma Il Giovane, whose work was influence by Titian, Tintoretto and Raphael.

The Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta has in illustrious history.  It was built on the ruins of a Benedictine Monastery, which itself had been built on a very early Christian chapel that had been destroyed by the Visigoths when they invaded the Italian Peninsula.  The church boasts paintings by Palma Il Giovane (to be distinguished from his great uncle, Palma Il Vecchio) and Sebastiano Santi.

The Church of San Teonisio in nearby Campocroce also has paintings by Palma Il Giovane and frescoes by Giovan Battista Canal.

Among the villas still standing - interestingly none by Palladio - are Villa Bianchi (18th century) with a small church and belltower along the Terraglio road, Villa Zara (17th century), Villa Duodo Trevisanato (17th century), Villa Rigamonti (16th century), Villa Benetton hosting the International Academy of Wrought Iron, Villa Forlani, Villa Dalla Riva, Villa Tornielli today a renowned golf club, Villa Margareta, Villa Foscarini.

Mogliano makes a good base from which to explore the Veneto province, not just Venice. It is well connected to much of the Veneto region - and cities such as Treviso, Montagnana, Marostica and Asolo.  Treviso, is like a "Little Venice" but few tourists get to experience this city, because Venice always steals the show.

Mogliano, like Venice, also has sides  to it that are unpleasant, although not fatally so.  For one thing, there is a road that cuts though the town that can get busy at rush hour, but not annoyingly so and most of the hotels in Mogliano are away from this.

 The Villas, most of which have been converted into beautiful hotels, are lovely and they do take more special care with their visitors - who do not have to pay through the nose to stay here, like many do now in Venice.

Mogliano is a pretty, little town with many of her own charms, but at the same time offers great access to the more famous cities nearby.  It's a great base, in our opinion to base your stay!

By Jesse Andrews, August 13, 2007