San Donà di Piave The name of San Donà di Piave derives from S. Donato’s chapel. Because of a flood of the Piave, in 1250, this chapel was transferred to the area of Musile, from the left to the right side of the river, leaving its name to a wide territory which was called "Terra di S. Donato". In the Roman age the territory of S.Donà, between the southern border of the Venetian plain and the lagoon, was already inhabited and there was also a coastal road, Via Annia, which crossed the Piave a little south of the present railway bridge and crossed the Grassaga with a stone bridge the traces of which had been found but were then lost. After the decline of Eraclea, the territory of S.Donà was divided between the Venetian Doges and the Patriarch of Aquileia. Yet this division did not mark a real border so the two parts of the territory shared events. During the Venetian domination, the territory was first let and sold to the noble Trevisan family. But the land was impoverished by the floods and by the intervention of the Venetians who wanted to preserve the lagoon. Yet S. Donà grew so much tha,t at the fall of the Republic of Venice, it had 5,000 inhabitants. In the meantime important works of reclaiming began, at first thanks to private intervention and then mostly thanks to mutual trust enterprises whose benefits are evident in the productivity of the area and the definite elimination of malaria. The works of reclaiming constituted an essential economic operation that not only transformed the appearance of the whole territory, but indirectly also of the town. The whole eastern part of the Venetian province was involved in this enterprise but we can say that San Donà was the major centre so San Donà has the right to host a museum dedicated to it. Under the Napoleonic administration, San Donà saw an increase of her administrative function, it became a Municipality in 1806, Notarial Seat in 1807 and in 1808 the seat of a Vice Prefecture, from which the municipalities on the right side of the Piave depended. Under the Austrians S. Donà held its position in the district and became the seat of the district commissary too. The urban growth continued after the annexation to Italy. In 1875 a bridge was built on the Piave and in 1881 the railway that linked San Donà to Venice was inaugurated. The interlude of the First World War with the establishment of the front on the Piave close to the town caused not only the interruption of any economic progress, but also the total destruction of San Donà which nevertheless took up its ancient role again with courage, so that today it is the biggest centre of the lower Piave zone.