La laguna di Caorle, tanto amata da Ernest Hemingway, è un’area naturalistica protetta tutta da scoprire per la sua flora particolare
(non solo orchidee ma anche la salicornia veneta, il limonio del caspio e il lino delle fate piumoso, piante particolari tutte da ammirare), per i moltissimi uccelli migratori e stanziali censiti (oltre 280 specie tra cui l’anatra, il tarabusino, l’airone rosso, la folaga, il tuffetto e il germano reale) e per la varietà di pesci che vi si riproducono. Da queste parti è stata avvistata anche una volpe!
In passato era qui che vivevano i pescatori con le loro famiglie, nelle tipiche abitazioni in legno e canna palustre dette casoni, visibili ancora oggi, ad esempio, lungo l’itinerario ciclabile che parte all’altezza dello stadio comunale (Piazzale Olimpia), prosegue per Strada Palangon fino alla cosiddetta “Isola dei pescatori” e da qui, su una strada ciclopedonale che costeggia la laguna, giunge a Falconera: un percorso assolutamente da non perdere!
The Isola dei Pescatori (fishermen’s island) is a small island that can be reached on foot or by bike. The cries of the animals, natural owners of these centuries-old swamps, echo through this fairytale environment: wild ducks, herons, coots and cranes… all immersed in the typical Mediterranean scrubland. Fishermen used to live in the Casoni (typical dwellings) on the island. During the normal fishing season, when the fishermen came home on Saturday, the house was occupied only by them, but at certain times of the year they stayed almost for three months. This is the so-called fraima, which lasted from September to Christmas. This is an extremely favorable period for fishing in the lagoon, because it is linked to the phenomenon of the Autumn rains that disturb the fish and the migration of the bisati (eels), to the sea. As the fishermen had to stay for a long time in these dwellings, they brought their whole family – wives, children and everything they needed, like provisions and clothing.
Everything was wrapped into bundles, known as fagoti, and loaded on their boats. They departed on 8th September, the day in which Virgin Mary’s birthday was celebrated: for this reason, this day has been called “Madonna dei fagoti”. On the Isola dei Pescatori you can visit a characteristic dwelling and discover the ancient love for the sea and the secrets of the lives of Caorle’s fishermen, still here today to tell stories of days gone by. If you’re lucky enough, they will offer you a traditional dish called broeto (fish stew) with a good glass of red wine.