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)

In 1999 the excavation moved to the nearby “podere cimitero”, that is the site believed to be that of the early medieval baptistery and religious complex. Large tracts of the complex’s sub-foundations of stone blocks emerged still in situ. The trench built masonry sub-foundations were formed by an external facing of squared stone blocks and an internal core in _opus caementicium_. Evidence for the destruction and robbing of this structure was provided by the scatter on either side of the surviving structures of the _opus caementicium_ fill. Taking into consideration the oblique alignment of the structures, the investigation checked the possibility of the existence of this foundation, in antiquity, in the immediate vicinity of the bed of the large meandering canal, a fact which could relate the foundation to a defensive structure, given the thickness of the walls or to the creation of a new embankment. A Roman wall was found north of the trench built foundation, constituted by a substantial foundation of parallelepiped stone blocks, upon which was a wall of _sesquipedales_; this structure attests that the medieval centre overlies a pre-existing Roman settlement. Near the area of the cult buildings part of the cemetery, which must have developed around them in the early medieval period, was uncovered. Laid directly on the sandy floor of an ancient fluvial rise, the four tombs were simple depositions in graves delimited by small walls made of brick fragments and stones. The skeletons were laid out with care on an east-west alignment but had no grave goods. (MiBAC)

In 2000 more detailed research was undertaken on the areas looked at in previous years. Excavations revealed an ancient ditch, with rounded profile at the base; three early medieval burials without grave goods on an east-west alignment, delimited by bricks and partially cut by a sluice; a dry stone wall with external facing in stone blocks and loose fill on a north-south alignment; a roman wall on a lower level than the latter, constituted by limestone blocks on top of which were four course of sesquepedales bonded with mortar and with a layer of mortar on top. (MiBAC)