Grado has had a long and rich history. It begins in Roman times when Grado was a fortified Roman castrum and the foreport of the nearby prosperous town of Aquileia. Numerous mosaics, inscriptions and other artifacts found on the island attest to Grado's Roman history. However, it is in the fifth and sixth centuries that Grado's achieves her renown. Grado became the seat of a Christian Patriarch, the head of many bishops, when, after the invasion of the Germanic Lombards in the sixth century, the Patriarch of Aquileia, like so many of his fellow citizens, fled the mainland for the island of Grado. Grado's two ancient churches, like much of the architecture of the Old Town, date to this period.
In the later Middle Ages, Grado became increasingly oriented towards Venice, under whose protection and influence she became. By the 15th century, when Grado's title of Patriarch was finally abolished, Grado had returned to being a small, seaside fishing town, but with a proud and glorious past. With the fall of Venice in 1797, Grado passed briefly to the French and then to the Austrian Hapsburgs, who in the 19t century developed Grado's beaches and spa into a world-class resort.
Today Grado is connected to the Italian mainland by a causeway and frequented by Italians and Central Europeans who visit Grado for its charming and historic Old Town, quaint fishing port, and celebrated beaches. Grado, the most important island in the Gulf of Trieste, with its climate, its hotels "fin-de-siècle", its historical buildings and its beaches. Boat rides to Island Grado from the harbor of Trieste. ( tickets retour 6 € ) Grado has a historic and charming Old Town with quaint cafes, restaurants and shops, an Old Port still active with fisherman, several large pedestrian zones for shopping or strolling, subtropical vegetation and world-class beaches. The town was recently awarded the prestigious 'Regina delle Spiaggie' (Best Beach in Italy) and has won the celebrated Europe's Blue Flag award for hospitality and cleanliness ten years in a row.
