Chioggia, Diocese of

CHIOGGIA, Diocese of. - City in the Venetian lagoon south of Venice, founded on two main islands and other smaller ones. It is the fossa Clodia of Pliny, the Clugia of the Middle Ages.

In 452 the inhabitants of Este and Monselice took refuge there. It was occupied by the Goths and the Lombards; it was ruined in the 9th century by King Pepin, and later by the Genoese. It took a bitter part in the war between Genoa and Venice between 1378 and 1381.

The diocese has an area of about 1,000 sq km and a population of 150,000 inhabitants, all Catholic; it has 47 parishes, 100 diocesan priests and 21 regulars (1948). It is a suffragan of Venice.

The origins of the diocese are uncertain. Among its bishops are remembered the Dominican Marco Medici (1578), theologian of the Council of Trent, and his successor G. Fiamma (1584), a skilled orator. The Cathedral dates back to the 11th century, but in its present form it was reduced by B. Longhena (1663-74); its patrons are Sts. Felix and Fortunatus. Other churches are St. Dominic, rebuilt in the 18th century, that of the Most Holy Trinity, the small Romanesque church of St. Nicholas; St. Andrew with a Romanesque bell tower, the oratory of St. Martin (1392) with an octagonal dome and paneled decoration. - See Pl. XCV.

Enrico Josi