Oasis of Ca' Mello

Route details Recommended period Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Phone+39 0426 81150
To be travelled on foot.

If you long to discover breathtaking scenery, take the route that leads to the Oasis of Ca' Mello, a freshwater wetland of around 40 hectares, located in the southern part of the Delta of the Venetian Po. This important natural area for the conservation of biodiversity stretches out to where the basin of the mouth of an old stream of the Po, now inexistent, was once situated and has existed for just over 300 years. 

The easily accessible route leading to the oasis winds among thick reed-beds and aquatic plants whose flowers paint the inviting landscape in summer: yellow bladderwort - a rare carnivorous plant - white elder flowers, violet sea aster and blazing red Salicornia veneta - a precious species endemic to the northern Adriatic lagoons. Waterfowl have found their ideal breeding and feeding habitat here. If you wait patiently in the special bird watching shelters, with a little luck herons, ducks, moorhens and coots, night herons, egrets, bitterns, reed warblers and great reed warblers will show up to honour you with an up-close glimpse of nature. If you look up, you will be likely to see hen harriers flying over the reed-beds in search of small prey.

Protected flora and fauna and unspoiled nature make for a day of detoxification and a retreat from the traffic and noise of the city. As yet untouched by mass tourism, the 'Oasis of Ca' Mello can be visited on foot, by bicycle or boat. Do not forget to go to the Visitor Centre, located in traditional houses (grata tera, in local dialect) where the peasants of Basso Polesine once lived. The recently restored Centre holds a permanent exhibition that tells the story of the oasis.



Don’t forget to visit the Centro Visite, situated in traditional houses (grata tera, in local dialect) where the peasant farmers of the Lower Polesine once lived. Recently renovated, the Centro hosts a permanent exhibition that tells the story of the Oasis.