Chioggia Geography & Climate

The town occupies a group of low islands at the lagoon's southern extremity, about 25 km south of Venice, near where the Brenta and Adige deltas meet the Adriatic.

Its shape is dictated by water. The old town is a long spine of reclaimed island with the Vena canal running through it and the lagoon on one side; Sottomarina lies across a narrow channel on the seaward sandbar, and takes the open Adriatic beach.

The Porto di Chioggia, one of the lagoon's three inlets, sits immediately north -- which is why one of the three sets of MOSE flood barriers is here, and why the town's fortunes have always been tied to how the lagoon is managed.

Inland the ground is flat, drained farmland almost at sea level, much of it reclaimed and some of it below the tide.

Summers (June-August) are hot and humid, usually around thirty degrees, with the sea breeze at Sottomarina making the beach side noticeably more comfortable than the old town.

Winters (December-February) are cold and damp, with Po valley fog frequent and temperatures near freezing at night. Snow is rare.

Acqua alta affects Chioggia as it does Venice: high tides combined with sirocco winds can flood the lowest streets between autumn and early spring, usually briefly.

The sea keeps the extremes narrower than inland -- summers are less fierce than Padua's and winters less sharp than Belluno's -- and the humidity higher throughout.