Lost monastery in Jesolo: The bell tower of San Mauro emerges from the excavations

After unearthing the Late Antique Mansio near Jesolo last year, the team of Medieval archaeologists of the Department of Humanities of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice has explored the San Mauro area nearby.

In 1954 an assistant to the archaeological sector of the Superintendence of Padoa, G. Longo, had cast light on structures he identified as the monastery of San Mauro that was mentioned in ancient sources and whose ruins and bell tower were drawn in maps from the sixteenth century.

Longo discovered a small church with three apses with details characteristic of the Early Middle Ages, and other buildings presumably meant for monastic use before the building was abandoned in the 12th century for adverse environmental conditions.

Even though the discovery was extremely significant, the site was left abandoned and forgotten for sixty years, and the structures suffered irremediable damage and were even thought to be completely destroyed.

In their 2018 excavation campaign the team of Medieval archaeologists of the Department of Humanities aimed to explore the San Mauro area in order to better understand the settling dynamics of the Northern part of this island and possibly let parts of the religious complex emerge again.

In the investigation carried out in collaboration with the City of Jesolo and the Archaeological sector of the Superintendance of the city of Venice and its lagoon a side apse was found confirming the outcome of the 1954 excavations and gathering new data investigating areas that had never been excavated before, inside and outside the religious complex, including 15 children’s and adults’ graves  in a burial ground that has only been partially explored yet.

The foundations of the bell tower made of wood and stones were also unearthed.

The San Mauro area is as a central point of the research and excavation project carried out by the team in Jesolo since 2011. This project which started in the Northern part of the island with the Mansio will cast light on the environmental and the settling dynamics that took place between Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.

The city of Jesolo announced plans to restore and promote the archaeological remains for touristic purposes and for the residents to discover the history of their city.