Sailing in the lagoon, towards the Valley of the Seven Dead, between legend and mystery. We are about sixty kilometers from Venice, on the last offshoot of the lagoon before returning to the mainland and then descending south towards the varied waters of the Delta del Po that are not that far away. We are located between Chioggia and the island of Pellestrina. In the background, to the west, on a clear day you can glimpse the coast of that part of the province of Venice which now borders towards the Paduan area. To the east is the "cordon" of the islands of the Venetian coast that protect historic Venice from the ire, when it occurs, of the Adriatic Sea.

Valley of the Seven Dead

In these waters the legend of the Valley of the Seven Dead. A folktale, an ancient story and a touch of horror. With some variations according to the different places in the lagoon where it is told, but in any case with the dark and gloomy tones of the Gothic tale. Often set on the day of the dead.

The story of the seven fishermen and the child abandoned in the valley

Legend has it that on a dark and stormy night a bragozzo (a typical vessel of the upper Adriatic) was in these parts with on board seven fishermen intent on hauling the nets that were particularly heavy that evening. In reality the weight was deceptive, because it was not fishes, but the corpse of a man. They pulled him aboard, laid him on the deck and then, caught in a terrible storm, sought shelter by reaching a nearby valley in the middle of the lagoon.

They were cold, scared, tired and hungry. Seeing a cason in the valley illuminated, they left the boat moored on the shore and reached that place. Here he was a little boy with his dog. Alone, hungry and cold as and perhaps more than the seven fishermen. However, despite seeing him, they ignored him and got ready to prepare something to eat. Ready it was, they spilled a steaming polenta on the wooden table.

Ancient map of the Valley of the Seven Dead

To the boy who asked for a bite, they replied - laughing and joking - to go and call that man who was asleep (so they wanted to deceive him) in the boat. If he could get back with him, they would offer him a piece of polenta. Needless to say, the little boy went to the boat and tried in vain to wake up what he didn't know was a corpse. He explained to the seven fishermen that the man really didn't want to wake up. "Come back again - they replied mockingly - only if you show up with him will you have a piece of polenta". As it was or was not, the little boy managed to wake that man up. Easy to imagine surprise of the seven fishermen, who had wickedly scoffed at that poor innocent, when they realized that behind the boy this time there was the very body they had hauled up into the boat. Who thought he was dead and who was now alive.

Valley of the Seven Dead in the water

Amazement, surprise, a terrible fear gripped them when the man pointed the finger at each of them, listing the sins they had committed. Remembering their lack of sensitivity and compassion for the misfortunes of that poor abandoned boy they had mocked. Then he dropped them dead. All, one after the other. Only the boy and the dog were saved: the first for his innocence, the second for the loyalty he had shown him. Legend has it that the mysterious man plunged back into the lagoon and disappeared. The following morning, in that cason of the southern lagoon, the seven dead were found. And since then that area has been, for all those who sail in the lagoon, the Valley of the Seven Dead.

In the southern lagoon you can still see the ruins of the ancient Valley of the Seven Dead

Of the Valley of the Seven Dead today there is only a few heaps of stones, a few ruins that emerge at low tide and which are traces of an old settlement. But the story has always been well known, handed down by oral tradition and beyond. The writer from Chioggia Pier Giorgio Tiozzo Gobetto writes about it recently in one of his essays. "The valley is present in the lagoon documentation since the most ancient testimonies and it is reported in the cartography of the early sixteenth century. Cristoforo Sabbadino indicates it as 'Evening Valley' and a watercolor drawing of 1655 by the expert public Gio. Battista Bagatella (kept in the Historical Archives of Venice) clearly indicates the casone inside the valley ”.

book of announcement harms her without a swan

According to Gobetto, the story linked to the Valley of the seven dead would have had a certain notoriety for three main reasons. The presence of an ancient site that names this fishing valley in the center of the lagoon. The strong symbolic meaning linked to the number seven and death. Its having been revived in 1916 by Gabriele D'Annunzio who remembers her in his short story "La Leda without a swan". So much so. Between history and legend, during the day and with the sun it certainly deserves a boat ride around here. At night and in bad weather, perhaps better to give up. If not for fear of the facts just narrated, certainly because the lagoon, normally calm and peaceful, can also be very treacherous in the dark and in bad weather.

(ph credit: Facebook page The wonderful secret places of Tri-Veneto, Venice Historical Archive)

The legend of the Valley of the Seven Dead that also inspired Gabriele D'Annunzio last edit: 2021-03-31T09:00:00+02:00 da Cristina Campolonghi

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