Overview
The mainland of Venice is the territory of the city based on normal land (instead of natural or artificial islands like the most well-known parts of Venice) connected to the historical center by a long rail and road bridge over the Venetian lagoon, called Ponte della Libertà (Freedom Bridge).
Since the end of World War II, Mestre had a quick and disordered urban growth, after which Mestre constitutes a vast human settlement together with the other urban centers of the Venetian mainland (Carpenedo, Marghera, Favaro Veneto, Chirignago, Zelarino, Tessera). Being Mestre the center and the most populated area of the mainland, very often in common language the toponym Mestre is used, incorrectly, to define the whole Venetian mainland.
Mestre received the status of autonomous city (Comune) in 1923 and maintained it briefly till 1926, when was annexed to the commune of Venice.
Read more about this topic: Mestre