Points of interest

The wide area of San Biagio di Callalta (48 sq km, divided into seven hamlets: Spercenigo, Olmi, San Martino, Cavrie, Rovarè, Fagarè della Battaglia, and Sant’Andrea di Barbarana) is dotted with some valuable Venetian villas. Among them, we recall Villa Navagero-Erizzo in Rovarè built at the end of the 17th century, Villa Mariani and Villa Marzotto-Caotorta in Spercenigo, Villa De Rossi in Cavriè.
The municipal territory also hosts many small churches and religious chapels, which reflect the devoutness of these communities to the Catholic faith. Notable among them are: the Redentore Church in Nerbon (at the beginning it was devoted to San Sisto Pope patron saint, and was erected in around 1200 from the Venetians, while they were running away from the lagoon city infested with the plague), the Church of San Floriano in Olmi (13th century), the oratory of San Martino, and the oratory of Spercenigo, the country Church of San Menna in Cavriè (earliest evidences date back to 1330), the ancient Church of Pieve di San Biagio (built at the end of 1300 but today is unfortunately inaccessible).
The Memorial and Military Shrine “Eroi del Piave” stands in the area of Fagarè della Battaglia, along the Postumia state road. It was built in 1919, the year following the end of World War I, and it’s the first monument dedicated to the victory of the “Piave”. The original work initially included four marble bas-reliefs by the Triestine sculptor M. Mascherini, and which were inspired by some episodes of the war: May 24, 1915 – Italy’s entry into the war; October 24, 1917 – Enemy barbarism on the ground of the Homeland; June 15, 1918 – “Di qui non si passa”/They shall not pass; November 3, 1918 – Triumph of the Italian arms.
In 1935, the original monument was enclosed in the center of a large exedra or curved portico with nine arches and with as many radial naves. These are hosting on the walls the marble loculi, where are collected the remains of 5191 identified soldiers and 5350 unknown soldiers who fell in the First World War. There are also two gold medals for Colonel E. Paselli and Major F. Mignone. Five other gold medals, whose bodies have not been identified, are named in an inscription. Lieutenant Edward McKey, an officer of the American Red Cross and a personal friend of the well-known writer Ernest Hemingway, is buried in the shrine. In his memory, Hemingway wrote a poem, the which text is visible in the central chapel of the monument, sculpted in iron by the sculptor Simon Benetton. A large plaque in the central chapel lists the 27 soldiers honored with the gold medal for military valor, who fell on the “Piave” River in the sector of the Third Army.
In the Memorial’s Garden, are preserved some fragments of a wall on which some unknown individuals wrote the two famous phrases during the Battle of the Solstice (June 15-24, 1918): “It is better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep” and “All heroes. Either the Piave or all slaughtered”.
The marble stele of the standard-bearer, in the center of the Garden, commemorates the fallen of World War II. Inside the monument, you can visit a small museum, also created with numerous donations from veterans, containing uniforms, weapons, ammunition, and documents.
The “Piave” River, a precious place from a natural and environmental point of view, is remembered by Italians as the sacred river of the homeland, to which the famous song “La leggenda del Piave” is dedicated. A torrential river that, during World War I, was the scene of fierce battles; one of its floods, in the autumn of 1918, sealed the definitive victory of the Italian front. In the locality of Sant’Andrea di Barbarana, are still visible some military trenches dating back to the Great War.
World Police Museum: In the former railway station of San Biagio di Callalta, you can visit this original police museum which includes a wide collection of uniforms, hats, emblems, commemorative coins, model cars, and other items belonging to police forces from around the world.