Mira
Discover Mira, the Veneto municipality with numerous hamlets
Hello everyone! Today I will talk about an Italian municipality located in the Metropolitan City of Venice in Veneto, Mira. With a population of 37,508 inhabitants, it is the eleventh most populous Veneto municipality and is also part of the Venice metropolitan area.
Physical geography
Mira is located along the Riviera del Brenta, between Padua and Venice, on the Strada Statale 11 Padana Superiore. This area is famous for the villas that Venetians built between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries overlooking the Brenta Canal. Among these, there are the Villa Foscari, the Villa Widmann Foscari, and the Barchesse di Villa Valmarana.
The municipal territory also includes areas of the Venice lagoon, consisting of a collection of islets connected by canals. This area makes up one-third of the municipality's surface. Additionally, the municipality is traversed by numerous natural and artificial waterways, in addition to the Brenta Canal.
History
Mira has an ancient history. In 302 BC, the historian Livy described a beach on the upper Adriatic formed by thin strips of sand and lagoons communicating with the sea through harbor mouths. Behind the body of water, there were fields where hills and a wide and deep river could be seen. This description seems to be that of the Venice lagoon and the Mira territory characterized by the presence of the Brenta River.
Anciently, the locality was called Cazoxana or Cazzozana, describing its position between woods and pastures. During the Middle Ages, the area became a river port for boatmen who connected Venice to the Brenta Riviera. The town was predominantly inhabited by boatmen and fishermen, and the only way to cross the river was with boats called burchielli.
Between the 1100s and the 1200s, the city changed its name from Cazoxana to Mira in honor of the city of Myra in Lycia in Asia Minor, where the patron Saint Nicholas of Bari was the archbishop.
The hamlets of Mira
The municipal territory is composed of numerous ancient settlements, now organized in hamlets. The municipal seat is in Mira Taglio, one of the most important hamlets in the municipality. Malcontenta is another famous hamlet located west of the Venice municipality.
Mira Vecchia, on the other hand, is a medieval site where there was a duty-free port and where the settlement was born. Other important hamlets are Mira Porte, Oriago, Gambarare, and Ca' del Bosco.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Mira is a Venetian municipality to discover, with numerous hamlets and a long history. The city is located along the Riviera del Brenta and overlooks the Venice lagoon. It is famous for the villas and barchesse built by Venetians between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Mira is also the place where the patron Saint Nicholas of Bari was the archbishop.
