Theme parks in Lignano, learning with fun

(Photo for courtesy of Erika Zucchiatti)

For all children that spend the holiday in Lignano Sabbiadoro, there is not only the wonderful sea with the soft sand, where to build castles and tracks for marbles. The city built for them and their families also some theme and amusement parks, to spend entertaining days and evenings with the whole family.

Lignano counts 6 parks located along the entire city, which differs for the type of offered park (theme park, amusement park, zoo) and for the age at which they are dedicated.

Parks where children can have pure fun are the Luna Park Strabilia, the water park Aquasplash, the amusement parks Gommosi and Junior Park. Besides these amusement parks, there are also two parks that have developed an educational and nature-based tourism, as well as a family tourism. These are the Zoo Punta Verde and Gulliverlandia.

Let's start with the these two, that offer their guests green areas with the opportunity to learn about the environment, history and geography.

The Parco Zoo Punta Verde is located in Lignano Riviera, in the nature and it was born in 1980. the whole park covers an area of 18 hectares in a large bend of the river Tagliamento, which characterizes the vegetation and the beautiful landscapes.

The zoo is a unique space, where you can pass from one area to another in a natural way, with the gradual change of vegetation and habitat through paths and small bridges, that cross lakes and canals full of aquatic plants with wonderful colours. The zoo is now home for 1500 animals belonging to 200 different species and for all animals, the staff constantly recreate the right habitat in a wider area as possible.

Every summer there are also some activities for the public to teach the respect for the environment and also to learn about the different animals. Children can take part in a sort of summer camp, where through the play, learn many about nature and animals.

Days dedicated to the meetings with the lemurs, the ring-tailed monkeys, enjoyed a great success.

The second theme park is Gulliverlandia in Lignano Pineta, behind another famous park, Aquasplash. Gulliverlandia is recent: it was founded in 2000 with the aim to offer an educational theme park, offering games and rides in different areas divided into historical periods and geographical areas. In each area there is a structure that, through descriptives material, pictures and films, explains the period or the continent that you are visiting.

You pass from Volcano Rapids with dinosaurs, to the medieval area with knights' tournaments, from ruins Maya crossed by a train to the most important monuments in the world. The biggest attractions, however, is the Aquarium: passing in a glass tunnel under the sea level, you can admire rays, sharks and moray eels. And in the same area there are also the tropical fishes.

In these two parks in Lignano Pineta and Lignano Riviera not only children, but also adults can have fun and be surprised watching the beautiful animals or reading some particular information about dinosaurs or about the ways of life of Maya.

Endless fun in the amusing parks

Children in Lignano Sabbiadoro have the opportunity to have fun in every moment: with the good weather on the beach and, when it is cloudy or to end the day, have at disposal a great number of green parks with swings and slides and also equipped playgrounds and amusement parks.

In the whole city there are green areas where children can have fun with swings, slides and other attractions, while parents take a rest on the benches. In city centre in Sabbiadoro there the small parks in Parco San Giovanni Bosco, a meeting place for all the young guests of the city and also for the inhabitants. In the centre of the pedestrian zone, it is a very good point where to relax children and make new acquaintances.

In Lignano Pineta there are two beautiful parks immersed in the pine wood, suitable not only for children, but also to anyone want to take a walk in the quiet nature or do some sport thanks to the fitness paths. The best known is the Hemingway Park, named after the American writer, who visited Lignano and called it "the Florida of Italy", and it is located between Corso degli Alisei and Via Tarvisio. The second one is the Parco del Mare (Sea Park), where there is the playground I Gommosi, and overlooks the sea promenade. In addition to attractions for children, here there are also some paths with benches and drinking fountains and fitness trails with directions on how to practice the exercises. A nice way to spend a couple of hours in the middle of the coolness of the pines.

For the playgrounds, Lignano offers several parks, equipped with attractions, relaxation and refreshment points.

The Luna Park Strabilia, born in the fifties, is in Lignano Pineta along Viale Europa and counts about 60 rides. Easily reachable thanks its locations, it offers children and adults the opportunity to spend a funny evening among the several rides: slide, roller coasters, roller coasters for kids, house of ghosts, pirates' boat and Ferris wheel are only some of the attractions. In an amusement park can not fail the white, pink and blue icing sugar.

Aquasplash has been the first aquatic park in Italy. Built in 1985 in Lignano Pineta, near the entrance of the seaside resort, it offers many attractions on the water. Even here, children and adults find slides of every type, the artificial wave pool, the pyramid of rope, the water mushroom, but also beautiful green areas where lye in the sun or take a nice pick-nick. In addition to attractions, there is a fast-food restaurant, a café and a souvenirs shop. Aquasplash is a must for every tourist on holiday in Lignano Sabbiadoro!

The last park in Pineta is I Gommosi, inside the Parco del Mare: dedicated to young children, it is in a wonderful green area and offers inflatable slides and castles. While children jump on clowns, giraffes and dinosaurs, parents can enjoy a refreshing drink on the benches in the shade of the pines.

In Lignano Sabbiadoro there is the Junior Park, a park for children of different ages, that offers also parents the opportunity to spend a pleasant afternoon or evening in a parks a short walk from down-town and beach. In fact, its positions is enviable: at the beginning of the pedestrian area of Sabbiadoro and few steps from the beach. In addition to the attractions as train, canoe on the waters, small go kart, trampolines and motorboats, Junior Park offers also a snack bar and a fast-food restaurant where enjoy a good pizza.

Ports

Lignano peut vanter un concentré de "marines" ou petits ports touristiques qui ne trouve rien de semblable ni dans l'Adriatique, ni dans la Méditerranée entière, aussi bien pour la diversitè des réalisations, que pour les positions et la dotation de services. La Marine Porto Vecchio est la plus vieille de Lignano Sabbiadoro, construite dans les années '30 comme hydrobase militaire, elle a été complètement restructurée récemment par l'A.A.S. grâce aux contributions régionales; elle demeure toujours la marine la plus animée et pittoresque, avec l'embarcadère des bateaux de ligne à moteur, la flottille de bateaux de pêche, la Délégation de Plage de la Capitainerie du Port, la siège du Y.C.L et de la poissonnerie communale. Au côté de la MARINE, à l'Ouest, il y a le petit port pour les petits bateaux des résidents, avec les typiques "casoni" (abris bâtis sur la lagune) des pêcheurs, où on peut goûter les plats traditionnels de poisson, tandis-qu'à l'Est, au bout de la péninsule, pays dans le pays, s'élève l'ensemble imposant et articulé de Terra-mare, avec le grand porte touristique de Marina Punta Faro , équipé avec les services et le sporting club avec ses colonnes, qui reproduisent celles de la ville voisine d'Aquileia et qui se reflétent dans la grande piscine. Trois ports, trois atmosphères.

Mais, en parcourant Lignano à reculons, aux bords du fleuve Tagliamento, à Riviera voilà deux autres très belles réalisations: Marina Uno , la première marine née en Italie avec un but exclusivement touristique, elle a été enrichie par un hôtel invitant et par des autres restaurants et résidences, dans les eaux donnant sur cette marine on a toujours organisé les compétitions mondiaux inshore de motonautisme.

En remontant le fleuve, Marina Punta Verde , un petit bijou équipé avec tous les services et inséré dans la nature à l'abri du grand Parc Zoologique avec son restaurant et ses bungalows, qui s'inspirent aux traditionnels casoni (les habitations typiques de la lagune environnante) et les petits complexes de maisons au groupe. Vers le nord se trouve Marina Azzurra, encore en train d'être complétée, avec deux petites MARINES et des ensembles résidentiels nommés "Nautels ".

L'ensemble des petits ports qui peuvent fournir amarrages à plus de 5.000 bateaux n'est pas tout ici. Dans le département, dans le territoire administré par la mairie de Latisana, situées donnantes sur la lagune de Marano, se trouvent les MARINES de Marina Capo Nord et Porto Punta Gabbiani et l'ensemble des services nautiques et résidentiels d'Aprilia Marittima est une destination très connue aussi parmi les matelots d'outre-Alpes. Pour compléter la description, il faut mentionner le port de pêche de Marano Lagunare et le petit et suggestif Marina Stella le long du fleuve homonyme.

Cette brève description du nautisme de Lignano ne serait pas complet, si on ne mentionne pas les activités sportives gérées par les différents clubs. Le premier était le Y.C.L, qui fut fondé en le 1956 avec le nom de Club de la Voile, dont la présidence a été alternativement confiée pendant les années à M.Bertoli, à M.Manfredi Englaro, à M. Marchetti, à M.De Minicis et à M.Pujatti, ce club organise même des régates et des manifestations nautiques de niveau international et il publicise, au moyen de son calendrier qui range ensemble touts renseignements intéressants et utiles pour le navigateur, les activités sportives et les compétitions de pêche organisées par les autres plus récents clubs de la zone C.V.A.M, C.N.M.U, C.V.M.P.F, ainsi que celles des clubs limitrophes S.N.S.G et S.C.A de Grado et des autres de la XIème zone F.I.V.

Pendant la nuit il est recommandé d'ammarer au Phare Punta Tagliamento; ensuite il faut suivre une route comprise entre Nord-est et Nord-Nord-Est de la bouée foraine de signalisation (qui peu visible pour ceux qui amarrent en suivant des routes comprises dans le quatrième cadran parce-qu'on peut facilement confondre avec les lumières de la ville) et à partir de cette bouée il faut suivre une route à 348° sur la balise lumineuse (lumière verte) qu'il faut laisser sur la droite (en entrant) à une distance pas supérieure aux 200 m.

El est très important de ne pas essayer l'entrée en Lignano si la mer est très agitée à cause du vent Sirocco, ni l'entrée dans le fleuve Tagliamento si le mer est agitée par Bora ou Sirocco.

The Enviroment

Lignano lies on a peninsula shaped by the mouth of the Tagliamento river and by the ancient net of the Adriatic streams, between the open sea and the Lagoon of Marano, along the northern shore of the Venice Gulf. 8 kilometers of thinnest sand right in between the sea and the thick pine-wood, which covers almost the whole peninsula. The luxuriant vegetation of Lignano is characterized by autochthonous plant species native to the region or here growing since ages: rows of holm-oaks all along the beach-walk, house black pines and seeds black pines, lime-trees, Siberian elms, birch trees, platans, horse-chestnut trees. Very interesting is the keeping of remarkably big oaks inside the town as witnesses of that part of the environment which has now disappeared. Landscapes all around the lagoon of Marano are made of land and water, a life element the presence of which as sea, river, or lagoon had a deep impact on the shaping of environment, lifestyle and business in Lignano.

The Marano Lagoon, which laps the west shores of the peninsula, is an area endowed with a extraordinary beautiful landscape and it constitutes an ecosystem of great environmental value because of its rich wildlife made up by very rare species, of its resistant marshy vegetation and of the peculiar fishermen abodes called "casoni", which were built with reed and which remind us of the old material culture of the lagoon, an evidence of a lifestyle and traditions the origins of which are lost in the past times. Within its jagged coast characterised by little islands and docks, this lagoon preserves vestiges of an ancient history, traces that are clearly noticeable in the valuable venetian-style town centre of Marano, a traditional fishermen's settlement dating back to the beginning of the 19th century and still enclosed within its old fortress walls. Many rivers flow into the lagoon of Marano, which is also crossed by a thick net of channels. All these rivers, which are rich of water and navigable from the lagoon up inside the plain, do actually spring on the surface in the area between the hilly part of the region the fertile lowlands, which are called "Bassa Friulana" and are characterised by geometrically designed farm estates, simple shapes and wide open spaces.

The River Stella offers a particularly evocative landscape and enchanting surroundings, where a regional natural park is about to be created. Its mouth lies under a particular environmental tutelage because it is a shelter and breeding-ground for local migrating as well as settled water wildlife species, besides there are also birdwatching equipped locations. This really unique environment is actually a further invitation to discover Lignano from a completely new point of view, to plunge deep inside the colours of Lignano's broad spaces, to be under the spell of its wonderful summer look or enchanted by the sad beauty of its winter, deeply enjoying all these sensations just like the young Carlino (the hero of "Confessions of an Italian", a book by the italian writer Ippolito Nievo) did when he discovered the misterious blue space called "sky", which was striped but transparent and which spread itself beyond "green blossoming plains crossed by very wide channels (...) that were flowing down to a much broader water plain on the background of which there were little mountains occasionally crowned by bell-towers"...

Plage

Typique plage Adriatique de sable fin et doré, la plage de Lignano couvre environ huit kilomètre (de l'embouchure de le fleuve Tagliamento à le port de plaisance “Terra Mare” donnant sur la lagune) et a une profondeur d'un minimum de 80 mètres à un maximum de 150 mètres.
Accès à la plage est gratuit.
Les soixante hectares de plage, équipées avec cabines, chaises longues et parasols, offrent una large gamme de location de matériel à des prix différents. A Sabbiadoro il y a des parties de plage où est possible installer le matériel pour la plage (à retirer dans la soirée).
Les clients ont accès à douches avec eau froide et chaude (ces dernières avec l'achat d'un jeton). Tous les bureaux sont équipés avec des allées spéciales pour permettre d'atteindre les parasols et la mer facilement aussi pour les personnes handicapées et les mères avec poussettes. Pour les enfants et leurs mères, à Lignano Sabbiadoro sont à disposition “Mothers Room”: chambres avec eau chaude, douche pour le bébé et chauffe-biberon.
Activités récréatives et gymnastique pour les enfants et les adultes sont organisées à la plage par les différent équipes d'animateurs.
La Beach Arena (à Sabbiadoro), structure métallique avec environ 3000 places, est le théâtre d'importantes manifestations sportives internationales et des spectacles.

Story

Records of Lignano previous to 15th April 1903 are only hardly enshrined in written documents, they are rather embodied in the shapes of this tough territory and its landscapes, which remained unchanged outside the main streams of history over the centuries. The only few signs referring to Lignano are to be found on ancient maps, where it is described merely as a physical existing piece of land, an "empty" area between the "political" area belonging to the Republic of Venice and the ancient fortress town of Marano, which represented the very last strategic defense line, the outer border of the areas under the hegemony of the "Serenissima" (i.e. the Republic of Venice). Between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries the peninsula of Lignano appeared for the first time on the accurate plans carefully drawn by the so-called Water wise experts (Venetian magistracy appointed to guard the delicate breath of the lagoon environment, of vital interest for the "Serenissima"): 8 or 9 sets of dunes shaped by the winds, the tangled and moved net of canals, the sandy stripe of beach resulting from the ancient weaving of the sea, the winds and of the river Tagliamento. A thick wood of black-pines, holm-oaks, holly...a handful of houses on the edge of a slight lagoon slope, some single "Casone", a fishers shelter, and after 1500 a little church...

A kind of "no man's land" that should somehow give shelter to a handful of fishermen, raft-building craftsman, farmers "whose faces bore clear signs of malaria", swamp and lagoon free hunters, horse breeders; Those horses belonged to a wonderful horse breed and, according to the tradition, they used to live free and wild in the pinewood as very well described by the writer Elio Bartolini in a passage of a poetic writing of his: "Nearby the beach surrounding the main mouth of the Tagliamento River, the horses are watered until cooling before they run back to hide in the woods, the pleasure they get makes them shake their manes and scourge their own flanks with their tails". However, the history of Lignano is embodied also, and perhaps much more meaningfully, in its name - which bears the suffix "anum", thereby clearly proving the existence of a human settlement on the peninsula since the roman age.

A written document dating back to the V century reports of a "shore called Lignano", i.e. belonging to a man whose name was Lunius. An estate not directly linked to the land nor to farming activities, but rather -as argued by Luciano Bosio- aimed to providing the hinterland with everything that sea and lagoon could offer, i.e. fish preservation, production of garum (a peculiar fish sauce) and especially salt, which has always been an economic resource of the utmost importance. A little wharf, which was connected with the lagoon lying behind and with the hinterland plain through the many rivers flowing into the lagoon. This territory was so rough that even the local tradition still maintains "Lignano" to come from "Lupignanum": place infested with wolves, while the place name "Pineda" is thought to mean "wood forest". Those woods usually arrived from "Carnia" (the mountain area of the region), they were leaded along the Tagliamento river by the "zatars", the old raft-drivers that steered trunks along the Tagliamento river down to its mouth, where they were collected on venetian "trabaccoli" (a kind of ship) and hence brought to the Venice arsenal, where wood was always badly needed and it was brought there from all Venice possessions. In 1420 Lignano too became part of the possessions of the Republic of Venice, which gave it over to different noble families, as it was usual in the feudal system.

Among these noble families, the Vendramin Family, which was at that time dominating over Latisana and descended from the "dogi" (the highest political authority within the Republic of Venice), was the only one to bind tightly its name to Lignano by having the little nice "Church of Saint Zachary" built right in the core of the tiny farmers'village of Lignano Pineta, probably around the second half of the 16th century. This little church, which actually marked the Vendramin's possession on Lignano, had not been built for the almost meaningless settled community (3"foci" - fireplaces, i.e. houses in 1466; 2 houses, 8 people "aged enough to receive the Holy Communion" and some children in 1648), but rather for the far more important group of fishermen and boatmen who often stopped in this area.

Actually, the harbour of Lignano was strategically important as a key access in order to reach by ship the sea area facing Marano which meanwhile had been transformed into a fortress that was to become the keystone of Venetian supremacy on the Adriatic sea. Therefore, only in connection with the far more important town of Marano, Lignano happened to be mentioned in documents concerning medieval and modern history. After a long series of skirmishes between Venice and the Habsburg Empire (in consequence of which a little fortress had been built ad the edge of the peninsula in order to protect the "harbour"), Lignano was not acknowledged within the Vendramin Family'possessions any more, in fact it became "Terra del Dogado", i.e. part of the military possessions of the Republic of Venice, directly managed by the so called "Council of Ten". Meanwhile, time passed in Lignano without leaving any significant sign, everything but the seasons, that changed one after the other, remained the same. During the Age of Napoleon a further little bunker was built to support the implementation of the Continental Blockade against England in 1812. At the same time, all around the little fortress of the "harbour Lignano" some people were settling down: in 1813 there were 70 inhabitants, among which police officers stationing in Lignano and a sanitary supervisor. All this remained unchanged, like floating in time, until the beginning of 20th century, when Lignano definitely committed itself to tourist industry.

Tratto da "MINIGUIDA PER ERUDITI E GAUDENTI" by kind concession of Luigi De Minicis