The Island of the Sun sits between lagoon and open sea: Grado sheltered the people of Aquileia fleeing the invasions, and the basilica of Sant'Eufemia, with sixth-century mosaics and its field of sarcophagi, keeps that early-Christian aura. The old town is a Venetian tangle in miniature, all lanes and beach sandals.
The south-facing beach takes sun all day long — hence the nickname. On July's first Sunday, the Perdon di Barbana carries the Madonna in a procession of boats to the sanctuary island in the lagoon: faith and seamanship in a single photograph.
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📅 Every year, on 12 July; the Perdòn de Barbana on the first Sunday of July
Grado's patrons are Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus, on 12 July, but the tradition that defines the town is the Perdòn de Barbana: the Madonna carried across the lagoon by a cortege of flower-decked boats.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Grado, but an easy day trip away.
