The ancient city dedicated to the Emperor Heraclius, Civitas Nova Heracliana is situated on the border between the comuni of San Donà di Iave and Heraclea, in the area of Cittanova.
In 1998 during a preliminary morphological study, aimed at highlighting any physical anomalies in the terrain, the area near the right bank of the ancient riverbed was found to be rich in finds which indicated occupation of the site between the 1st century B.C. and the 5th century A.D. The finds included baccellated cups of Aquileian production (1st century B.C.), a medium sized brass coin attributable to Maxentius, numerous fragments of open forms (patere) in African terra sigillata D and fragments of North African spatheia. Excavations uncovered a tank with walls and floor of compact light brown plastic clay within which was conserved a deep well built of curved bricks without mortar. Excavation of the well shaft did not produce any dating elements but reached the bottom which was formed by a piece of Istrian limestone with a central oval hollow. This served for the collection and periodical cleaning of the sand which formed a natural filter for the well water. The second area investigated was named the “Byzantine pottery ditch” as it contained of pottery with graffito slip beneath a glaze, attributable to the Byzantine production at Corinth in the second half of the 12th century. It was possible to see that in the 7th century an intervention of land reclamation had been necessary on the canal bank. This layer of inert material comprised fragments of Roman brick, African and Middle Eastern amphorae, coarse ware pottery (jars and basin-lids). The new brick embankment, delimited along the canal bank by a series of oak piles driven into the terrain, was constructed at the time of the foundation by Emperor Heraclius. The bed of this secondary canal underwent further interventions during the centuries which led, at the end of the 12th-beginning of the 13th century, to the canal bank having a new line, delimited by a vertical and horizontal wooden structure, the bedding for which was created using ceramic material. This included fragments of imported pottery from Persia, Byzantine graffito and painted pottery, graffito pottery “delle origini” and glazed and coarse local wares. (MiBAC)