Casone of Valle Zappa: Holland in the lagoon

If you happen to travel through Campagna Lupia, make a small detour because a small treasure can be found nearby, a piece of Holland in the southern lagoon. Among fields and sandbanks, in marvelous Valle Zappa, where sea bream, sea bass and eels are farmed, sits an old and peculiar hunting lodge, known precisely, as the Casone of Valle Zappa.

Certainly, it is a rather bizarre sight! No one would expect to find a Nordic-style house in the middle of the Venetian lagoon! What leaves you speechless is the fact that despite its quirkiness, the building fits perfectly into the lagoon context giving the landscape the typical appearance of fantastic tales or Nordic sagas.

In addition to the Casone, the complex includes a wing building and a watchtower with an external spiral staircase, always equipped with binoculars to observe the surrounding landscape and the numerous species of birds that nest here. A well-kept garden surrounds the unique buildings where it is possible to find many plant species and fruit trees.

The Casone was built between 1925 and 1927 at the behest of the old owner Mario Malvezzi. The building was designed by the architect Duilio Torres who, fond of Nordic architecture, built this jewel in a northern European style, not only externally but also inside. In fact, each room is painted in a different color because the guests, who slept there at night waiting for the hunt, had to do so in the room whose color matched the hunting barrel assigned to them by the hunting chief. Barrel hunting is a method typical of the Venetian lagoon and the river Po delta.

On the façade of the Casone there is the coat of arms of the Arrigoni Degli Oddi family, owners from 1867 to 1942. In addition to this, there is also a marble plaque which recalls how Count Ettore, a famous ornithologist, killed about 51,303 birds between 1877 and 1921. Today his collection is kept at the Museum of Zoology in Rome.

Valle Zappa with its Dutch house is a wonderful place where even great figures such as Ernest Hemingway and Salvator Dalì drew inspiration. In short, a must-see corner of the lagoon: stop for a few minutes to admire the sunset over the water and if you are lucky you will be able to see hundreds of pink flamingos flying away...

Would you like to discover the wonders of the Venetian lagoon? Then don't miss our special tour ‘Lagoon trip from Jesolo Lido: bike & boat tour along the coast of the Venetian lagoon’!