In ancient times the present day territory of Jesolo was a lagoon, inside of which were a handful of small islands.
Of these, the island named Equilium by the Romans was the largest: the area's original inhabitants were part of the Heneti or Veneti, who were famed throughout the Mediterranean basin as excellent horse breeders; the place name of Equilium therefore derived directly from these noble animals (equus = horse).
The Heneti peoples were on good terms with Rome and relished the help of the powerful city in keeping the invading Galls at bay. In return for Rome's favours the Heneti's allowed the Romans to peacefully settle in the area which is today known as Veneto.

The Romans colonised the entire area, building roads, bridges and villages; they divided arable land into segmented lots, carried out land reclamation works and contained and re-routed waterways. As shown by the numerous archaeological remains found in the area, the island of Equilio was colonised by the Romans. With the event of Christianity, the San Giorgio in Pinedo Monastery and the Marcelliano hermitage were founded between the 3rd and the 4th century, on an island bearing the same name in honour of Saint Mark.

The fall of the Roman Empire heralded a period of unrest: barbaric tribes had been taking over bordering areas for sometime and finally broke through invading the area's plains. Inland city inhabitabts found safe refuge on the islands of the lagoon: in this way Oderzo's inhabitants founded Eraclea on the island of Melidissa and Jesolo on the island of Equilio.

Due to its particular geographical setting, Jesolo found itself in the centre of Northern Adriatic maritime commerce and trading: protected by the lagoon its development continued undisturbed, culminating in the status of Bishopric.

The growing importance of Jesolo brought about clashes with Eraclea, its powerful neighbour. During the late Middle Ages these two cities clashed frequently , sometimes one side would win and vice-versa,up until both sides were practically destroyed. Repeated wars, the flooding of the Sile river and the invasion of the Francs all provoked the downfall of the thriving port of Jesolo, which even lost its title of Bishopric at the beginning of the 12th century. This dramatic situation continued to degenerate resulting in the three most difficult centuries lived through in the whole of Jesolo's history.

By the end of the 15th century Jesolo was reduced to a handful of practically uninhabited rural houses. The numerous churches that once assisted the area's inhabitants were by then in ruins and could no longer guarantee the religious needs of the few remaining inhabitants. To remedy the situation and attract new people to the area, the Venetian Patriarch Soranzo financed and erected a church on his own land, which was later dedicated to San Giovanni Battista and elevated to the status of parish church.

All around the church a village developed called Cavazuccherina: to insure that the area became lived in, the Venetian Republic carried out land reclamation works and re-routed the nearby river Piave. During the 17th century similar works were carried out to divert the river Sile.

Cavazuccherina survived for various centuries, but reached municipality status only at the arrival of Napoleon in 1806.With the fall of Napoleon the dominating Austrians created a consortium for the development of lagoon territories which were reduced to no more than marshland: the Passarella Consortium was established. The annexation to the United Kingdom of Italy however, could not aid the existent situation and First World War only seemed to add frustration to the damage. Cavazuccherina was put under constant fire during the war and the remaining population had to be evacuated.

Peace brought with it reconstruction of the area , land reclamation works recommenced carried out by the Basso Piave Consortium for land reclamation works. Cavazuccherina's Consortium was divided up between the Cavazuccherina basin and the Cà Gamba basin.
The "Great reclamation works" took place between 1920 and 1930: cultivation of corn, maize and sugar-beet were introduced into the area. Later fruit tree crops and vineyard were added to the local productions.
In 1930 the municipality was renamed with the ancient name of Jesolo and in 1936 the localities of Marina Bassa and Spiaggia were also renamed Lido di Jesolo.

The municipality's agricultural rebirth coincided with the "rediscovery" of Jesolo and the first heliotherapy centres were established. The area's first hotels and restaurants were erected in the thirties: Jesolo's growth was put on hold with the onslaught of the Second World War, but at the end of fighting Jesolo's development recommenced at an higher rate.
Today, Jesolo is famed for its spelndid sea waters and for being Italy's first city to have its beaches extended for 15 kilometres.

Here the holiday maker and sun-seeker is assured by a multitude of receptive structures including modern hotels, holiday residences, apartments and campsites.

Opportunities for enjoyment are unlimited. Among the artistic and natural beauties of the area, not to be missed are the splendid fishing lagoons, inhabited by rare and precious fauna species. The Antiche Mura or Ancient Walls area must for all those art and archaeology lovers: these are the remains of the ancient Santa Maria di Equilium cathedral which was erected on the foundations of the pre-existent religious building dedicated to San Mauro: of the cathedral only the foundations are still visible today, but these are enough to reconstruct the sumptuous building's floor plan and layout. The layout with its triple apes is in fact similar to that of the Basilica of Saint Mark's in Venice. Excavation works carried out in the area have brought to light fragments of floral paving mosaics dating 6th - 7th century.

To all the territory's beauties, the numerous events held here, sports facilities available and the six ports ready to welcome incoming tourists must be added. And not to be forgotten is the cordiality and hospitality openly offered by the Jesolo's local inhabitants as well as its top quality cuisine which is accompanied by good quality local wines.