World Cup of Folklore™ - Jesolo, Italy

               Jesolo is in the Veneto region of Italy. This coastal town is very popular with foreign tourists, especially Germans and Austrians, and also with the Italians and it is one of the longest beaches in Italy, stretching over 13 km. It has a wide range of hotels, shops and attractions next to the beach. It is also very close to Venice and its lagoon and many other interesting places in North-east Italy.

The origin of Jesolo dates back at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, when barbarian tribes such as the Huns invaded Italy from north-east, forcing the population to move towards the swamp area near the sea. Most of the original inhabitants came from the Roman town of Opitergium (today’s Oderzo). They were all forced to move where now the Venetian Lagoon is, settling down on the small islands and eventually founding towns like Eraclea and even Venice itself. At the beginning of its history Jesolo was called “Equilium”, from the latin word “equus” which means “horse”. This was probably due to the fact that they were horse breeders. The people there had to fight and claim land to the sea. This process took centuries under the control of the Venice Republic and it literally transformed the territory for example by changing the course of rivers Sile and Piave. The beginning of Jesolo as a touristic town dates back to early 20th century, but it was only after the Second World War that the beach town started developing. Unfortunately, at that time there was no regulation and many buildings and hotels were constructed on the seafront. This prevented Jesolo from having a proper seafront like you can see in many other coastal towns around Italy and the world.