Mira

Situated in the low-lying plains between Mestre and Padua, Mira is a densely populated municipality created in 1867 when the towns of Oriago and Gambarare were fused. The Town Hall is in Mira Taglio, 6 metres a.s.l. at the point where the Naviglio del Brenta branches into the Taglio di Brenta. Mira comprises a series of hamlets scattered along the stretch of the Naviglio going from the Venetian lagoon to Dolo.
The origins of the settlement’s name are uncertain. Some believe that it originates from the cult of St Nicholas, bishop of Myra (an ancient city in Lycia - now in Turkey), that became popular here after the translation of the saint’s relics to Bari in the 11th century. In fact, it seems that the Corbelli, a prominent local family of merchants with vast estates in the local area participated in the enterprise, later building a church in honour of St Nicholas.
Dating to the Roman period, the town was included in the local centuriation system (the Roman system of land division). In the Middle Ages, it developed considerably, becoming an important river port on the route from Padua to Venice.
Its period of splendour is symbolised by the patrician villas that were built throughout the area between the 15th and 17th centuries. Some of the finest examples were built along the banks of the Riviera del Brenta.

AREA (sq.km)	99,14
POPULATION *	35.355
DENSITY (inhabitants/sq.km)	357,60
OECD rural area (density < 150 inhabitants/sq.km)	NO

* Inhabitants as of 21/10/2001, date of the 14th Population and Housing Census, ISTAT (Italian National Institute of Statistics).

Sites worth seeing:

• Duomo di Gambarare
• Villa Mocenigo (open to the public)
• Villa Allegri, Pasquali (open to the public)
• Villa Stella, Gradenigo, Fossati (open to the public)
• Villa Bon, Varisco, Tessier (open to the public)
• Presbytery in Mira (open to the public)
• Villa Contarini (open to the public)
• Villa Contarini, Pisani, called “dei Leoni” (open to the public)
• Ca’ Dolcetti (open to the public)
• Villa Foscari, called “La Malcontenta” by Andrea Palladio (open to the public)
• Villa Franceschi, Bianchini, Patessio (open to the public)
• Villa Lanza (open to the public)
• Villa Margherita (open to the public)
• Villa Moscheni, Volpi (open to the public)
• Villa Olanda (open to the public)
• Villa Pio (open to the public)
• Palazzo Scheid, Solveni, Gardani (open to the public)
• Villa Seriman, Foscarini Widmann-Rezzonico (open to the public)
• Villa Corò-Silvia (open to the public)
• Barchesse in Villa Valmarana (open to the public)
• Ca’ Zago (open to the public)
• Palazzo Zollio (open to the public)
• Villa Michiel, Venier, Contarini (open to the public)

Only villas with fixed opening times are listed here.

http://2010.comune.mira.ve.it