Caorle is a small city, but in every season it fills up with tourists. The old town centre is still structured as a little Venetian corner, with its coloured houses, "calli" and "campielli". In summer there are many activities for families on the long beach and also in the caprulan lagoon (one of the examples of Venetian lagoons), where many characteristic "casoni" stand (the huts where fishermen lived in the winter while fishing).
Cathedral
The Cathedral of St. Stephen is the most important monument of Caorle ; built in 1038, it is a particular example of Romanesque and "Byzantine-Ravennate" style. Its façade is simple; near the central door there are two bas-reliefs (left St. Agatonico, right St. William); the interior is organized with a nave and two side aisles, divided by pillars and columns which support semi-circular arches, and it has a truss-beam roof. There are many masterpieces of the Venetian school of art; the most important piece is The Last Supper, painted by Gregorio Lazzarini (master of the famous painter Tiepolo). The central apse has the remains of a seventeeth-century fresco; above the see there is the "Pala d'oro" (golden altar-piece), given by the queen Catherine Cornaro when, after a shipwreck, she found refuge in the Caprulan coasts. It is made up of a set of six panels, two for the Annunciation (Archangel Gabriel and Blessed Virgin Mary) and the other four for the prophets and Christ. From the roof, a fifteenth-century crucifix hangs above the modern high altar (the ancient one was sold along with many others; only four altars remain today).
Outside, the characteristic bell tower, of 1048, rises to a height of 48 meters. It is a typical example of romanesque style, but it has a cylindrical structure, and it is surmounted by a cone-shaped cusp, that makes it unique in the world.
Belonging to the cathedral, there is the liturgical museum, inaugurated on September 13, 1975 by Patriarch Albino Luciani (future Pope John Paul I) in the old bishops' chapel; it keep vestments, altar cloths and holy vessels of the Caprulan bishops, and of the Pope John XXIII, who was very attached to Caorle since he was also Patriarch of Venice . When he became Pope, his servants were two Caprulan brothers. In the museum, there are also a precious silver "Capitular Cross", six icons of the apostles (which formed the ancient iconostasis, painted by Venetian school of art in XII - XIII centuries, and a silver-gold reliquary, said of "the most precious Blood", which, according to tradition, contains a lot of ground where the bleeding Jesus Christ passed before he was crucified. Another important piece of the museum is the St Stephen reliquary, that contains the skull of the Saint, Patron of Caorle .
Blessed Virgin of the Angel church
The church of Blessed Virgin of the Angel is built on a little promontory on the sea. In ancient times, the church had three naves, but the sea repeatedly destroyed one of them. So in eighteenth century the church was rebuilt, with the structure that it has today. The legend says that one day a number of fishermen saw a light on the sea; when they approached it, they found a statue of the Virgin Mary with Child, and they carried it to the shore. The bishop and the townspeople tried to carry the statue to the cathedral but it was very heavy; so the bishop called a group of children (because of their innocence) and they succeeded in carrying it to the nearby church of Archangel Michael (for this "Virgin of the Angel").
Devotion to the "Virgin of the sea" is very important for Caprulan people; to her are dedicated two festivals: the annual "feas
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