AD AQUAS GRADATAS
(Grado) Italy.
The first port for ships on the Natissa (Natisone) en
route to Aquileia, the most renowned commercial center in N Italy during the Roman period. Although the
city was not autonomous its commercial importance is
attested by frequent finds of tablets, sarcophagi, sculpture, as well as the bronzes that adorned its villas. The
remains of one of these villas has come to light on the
islet of Gorgo.
At the beginning of the 4th c. A.D. a castrum was
erected at Grado with four or five gates protected by
polygonal towers, one of which is still visible above
ground.
In 452 Niceta, Bishop of Aquileia, took refuge briefly
at Grado and also in the 5th c. began the construction
of Grado's first Cathedral, the first church of S. Maria
delle Grazie, and the Baptistery.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
C. Costantini,
Aquileia e Grado (1916);
G. B. Brusin,
Aquileia e Grado (1947); V. Degrassi,
“Esplorazioni arch. nel territorio della laguna di Grado,”
Aquileia nostra 21 (1950) coll. 5-24; 23 (1952) coll.
27-36; M. M. Roberti,
Grado (1971);
CIL V, 84.
L. BERTACCHI
