The nature oasis of Val Grande conceals the oldest evidence of Bibione’s past. It is precisely in this strip of land between the sea and inland water areas, under the trees of the pine forest at the foot of centuries-old coastal dunes, that the only known remains of ancient Roman structures in the area can still be seen.

The area, which has been mentioned since the mid-eighteenth century for the occasional discovery of archaeological finds, was partially excavated in the 1930s and 1990s, when mosaics, stone walls and frescoed walls of some rooms belonging to a coastal villa from the Roman era were brought to light, which are today partly visible.

Since 2022, the site and the area have been the subject of a new season of archaeological and geomorphological research conducted by the Universities of Regensburg (Prof. Dirk Steuernager, Dr. Alice Vacilotto, Dr. Lorenzo Cigaina) and Padua (Prof. Maria Stella Busana, Prof. Rita Deiana, Prof. Alessandro Fontana), in agreement with the competent Superintendency (Dr. Alessandro Asta).

The current project aims at identifying new structures that will gradually clarify the plan and extension of the Roman villa, the articulation of the residential and productive spaces, as well as shedding light on historical, economic aspects, material supply basins, the particular physiognomy of the surrounding landscape, made up of land and water, and the network of commercial traffic (river, endolagunar and maritime) that must have animated the upper Adriatic coastal strip in the Roman age.