Portogruaro is a handsome river town in the eastern corner of the Veneto, near the border with Friuli, built around a long curving stretch of the river Lemene. It was for centuries an inland port of Venice — barges loaded with grain and timber from the Friulan hills brought their cargoes down here to be transferred to seagoing ships — and the medieval and Renaissance town that grew around the trade has survived remarkably intact.
The old centre stretches for nearly a kilometre along both banks of the river, joined by graceful brick bridges. The main street, Corso Martiri della Libertà, runs through long stone arcades with frescoed and crenelated palazzi on both sides, almost all of them in good condition. The leaning Campanile of Sant'Andrea tilts visibly against the duomo and the old water mills on the river by the cathedral, with their rotating wooden wheels and a population of swans, are one of the most photographed views in the eastern Veneto.
The town is also a natural base for the surrounding country. Three kilometres south, the Roman city of Concordia Sagittaria preserves the basilica and baptistery of one of the most important early Christian sites in northern Italy, sitting on top of the forum and baths of a Roman colony. The Adriatic beaches of Bibione and Caorle are twenty minutes south by car, the lagoons of the Veneto Orientale spread between, and the Friulan wine country begins immediately to the east. Portogruaro is more rewarding than most guides give it credit for.