The History of the Valley

For centuries, this stretch of coastline was known as Pigneda, Pineta, or Pineda Destra, names inspired by the vast coastal pine forest that once characterized the area. The name Bibione, by which the town is known today, was introduced in the mid-20th century, drawing on ancient Venetian chronicles that referred to an early maritime settlement located here.
The earliest documented record dates back to 1439, when Doge Francesco Foscari granted the publicly owned lagoon territory between the Livenza and Tagliamento rivers to the inhabitants of Caorle. At that time, Caorle was the only Venetian settlement along this stretch of coast.
In 1480, excavation began on the Cava Canal, designed to connect the Lugugnana Canal to the Tagliamento River. This was considered a strategic project to facilitate inland navigation and, in effect, it turned what is now Bibione into an island.
About fifty years later, the entire area was confiscated by the Council of Ten and placed under the authority of the Venetian Arsenal. On 7 October 1534, Doge Andrea Gritti ordered that the land be preserved or restored as woodland through the planting of oak trees and other species. Timber was a vital resource for Venice, essential for shipbuilding and the strength of the Republic.
Around 1543, the land was sold to the noble Venetian Cappello family, who in 1574 transferred ownership to the Venetian nobleman Antonio Molin. Under his direction, a new navigable canal known as “Cava Nuova” was completed in 1593. However, it was soon abandoned due to repeated silting caused by river flooding.
For more than 150 years, the Molin family retained ownership, and the area underwent few significant changes. In 1760, Lorenzo Molin, then owner of the Pigneda estate, discovered masonry remains near what is now Val Grande. Believing them to be the ruins of an ancient convent nestled among the dunes, he named the site Mottaron dei Frari. Only much later was it identified as the remains of a Roman maritime villa. It is also believed that in earlier times a sacred site dedicated to Santa Maria della Luvigiana stood near present-day Baseleghe, adding further depth to the area’s long and layered history.

We gain a vivid glimpse of how this area once appeared thanks to the writings of the Venetian historian Jacopo Filiasi. In his work Memorie storiche de’ Veneti primi e secondi, he described the landscape in these evocative terms:

On the deserted sands stretching between the lagoons of Grado and Caorle rose extensive coastal pine forests — dense and vigorous maritime pines that beautified the land and provided abundant resources for its inhabitants. The ancient tribunes and doges hunted wild boar, martens, pheasants, and peregrine falcons there. These woods were perhaps in large part offshoots of the celebrated Selva Caprulana, where even the wild goat once roamed…
A misguided private interest destroyed those pinewoods, of which only a few remnants can still be seen here and there beyond the Tagliamento, where a vast and solitary plain of nearly 5,000 fields is still called Pineda.”
Filiasi’s account paints a picture of a once rich and thriving coastal forest ecosystem — a landscape shaped by nature, tradition, and, over time, human intervention.

In 1813, following the death of Vettor Molin, the last member of the noble Venetian Molin family, ownership of Pigneda passed to the Giusti, Pisani, and Cappello families.
A few decades later, in 1850, Count Francesco Giusti of Padua — son of Paola Molin — sold his share of the estate to Angelo and Giovanni Costantini of Burano. The Costantini brothers subsequently acquired full ownership of Pigneda and worked to improve the lagoon landscape for fish farming. At the same time, they established a free-range horse breeding operation.
Less than thirty years later, on 4 March 1879, the Costantini family sold the entire estate to Count Antonio Caccia of Trieste. The Count continued developing the lagoon-based fishing activities and secured exclusive rights to catch juvenile fish, to the detriment of the fishermen’s consortium of Caorle.
Upon Count Caccia’s death in 1893 in Lugano, Switzerland, his will stipulated that the entire Pigneda estate be donated to the Municipality of Udine. Half of the proceeds from the property were to be allocated to charitable works for the poor and for local kindergartens. However, usufruct rights were granted to his stepson, Captain Ugo Bedinello.
Unfortunately, in the years that followed, the area fell into neglect, further compounded by looting during the Austrian occupation of 1917–1918 in the First World War.
In 1925, following the death of Captain Cavalier Ugo Bedinello, the Municipality of Udine became the sole authority responsible for the estate. Official reports from that same year describe the area as being in a serious state of decline.
In 1926, the Municipality transferred the land to three companies: S.A.C.A., S.A.F.F.A., and S.A.PI.DE. S.A.C.A. worked to reclaim and cultivate portions of the land; S.A.F.F.A. established poplar plantations; and S.A.PI.DE. developed the first road network and built the earliest residential units for tourism, initially intended for workers from the Zanussi factory in Pordenone.

In 1927, S.A.PI.DE. sold the current Val Grande and Vallesina for 1,230,000 lire to Luigi Zoli and Carlo Pellegrini. Pellegrini later bought out his partner, becoming the sole owner.
Other parcels of land were transferred during the 1930s by the Municipality of Udine to the Association of Veterans and Former Soldiers, the Municipality of San Michele al Tagliamento, and the private individual Zelindo Mecchia. However, the lands that make up today’s Val Grande and Vallesina remained in the Pellegrini family until 1939, when they were sold to Count Gerolamo Nani Mocenigo of Cervarese Santa Croce, Padua.
Count Nani Mocenigo immediately initiated major hydraulic works, also activating the San Michele al Tagliamento reclamation consortium, with the projects completed eight years later, in 1947. After the Count’s death, the property passed to his heirs, eventually coming into the possession of Giacomo Ferri de Lazara.
In 1952, the division of the estate formerly known as Pineda Destra began, marking the early development of the tourist area and the community of Bibione. Today, Val Grande remains under the ownership of the Ferri de Lazara family. Over the decades, the area was mainly used as a fishery and hunting reserve, with partial tourist access only in recent years, thanks in part to the management involvement of the Carrer family.