San Donà di Piave is the largest city in Eastern Veneto and a comune of province of Venice, in the North East region of Italy. It bounds the communes of Noventa di Piave, Musile di Piave and Fossalta di Piave, that have become in practice a part of a single urban area, also known as Città del Piave. San Donà lies on the river Piave approximately 40 km north-east of Venice and 30 km (19 mi) east of Treviso.
Seven centuries ago, during the Middle Ages, San Donà and the close village of Musile di Piave were two small communities of the wetland situated north-east of Venetian Lagoon. The “friendship pact” between the two communities combines historical fact and legend. In 1258 (according to the historian Plateo) or in 1383 (according to other scholar) the Piave River changed its course naturally. At that time the river marked the boundary between two dioceses: the Patriarch of Aquileia on the eastern side and the diocese of Torcello (Venice) on the other one. The church of San Donato (Saint Donatus), which was previously on the eastern side of the river Piave, and therefore on the side of San Donà, after the flood was on the western side of the river in the current territory of Musile di Piave. Thus the village of San Donà (whose name is the truncated form of San Donato) lost its identity symbol. Hence the compromise: San Donà kept the name of the saint, but its population must reward that one of Musile with two capons (“gallos eviratos duos”) on August 7 of each year. Moreover the community of Musile retained the right to make the traditional feast in honor of the parish patron saint.
This is the synthesis of “friendship pact”: every year on August 7, the payment of tribute is repeated. The tradition has been restored in a rich ceremony with a great attention to the historical details under the patronage of the Veneto Region.
