 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| ROVIGO SITES | VENETO.ORG LINKS |  |
Where
is Rovigo? View geographic location  |
||
Hemmed in between the two longest rivers in Italy - the Adige to the north, the Po to the south - and subdivided by the flow of other waterways as well as by a myriad of canals and drainageditches, the Po Delta (known as Polesine) occupies the southern most border of the Veneto. Here, the Delta (a unique natural setting now a candidate to become a protected reserve), the flat countrysidestrewn with rural dwellings and courtyards, the larger towns with museums and other artistic expressions, and the Venetian villas all offer ideal stops on an itinerary designed to help us reconstruct the development of an ancient civilization and to allow us to become acquainted with a world complete unto itself: the Po.The provincial capital is Rovigo, where we can still find ample evidence of a town plan and road system dating back to the Middle Ages and where, above all, we can see monuments and buildings (such as the castle and the towers) which bear witness to an architectural style begun in the llth century. As that style developed, it left works carrying the signature of la Serenissima (Porta San Bartolomeo), of Biagio Rossetti (Palazzo Roverella, the Cloister of San Bartolomeo), of Sanmicheli (Palazzo Roncale), of Zamberlano ("La Rotonda," with a bell tower by Longhena), and of Frigimelica (the Duomo). In Rovigo, there functions one of the oldest Academies, that founded by the Concordi in 1580. The centuries-long dedication this academy has shown to the fields of art and culture has bestowed on the city a picture gallery (with more than 600 works of Venetian and Emilian painting from the 16th to the 19th century) - which by itself merits a visit to Rovigo -, a library with 180,000 volumes, and an archeological collection with paleovenetian, Etruscan, and Roman artifacts of very first order. In the monastery of San Bartolomeo, one of the most suggestive spots in Rovigo, we can visit the Civic Museum of the Po Delta civilization.Our knowledge can be expanded even further by a trip to Adria, fruit of the influence of three great civilizations (paleovenetian, Greek, and Etruscan), as documented by the invaluable findings in the local National Museum of Archeology. If, instead, one wishes to see more recent evidence, the Po Delta vaunts its own elegant examples of architecture. Of superior quality is la Badoera, the villa designed by Palladio in Fratta Polesine; to savour a contrast with the rustic surroundings, we may visit the Renaissance and Baronue buildings which flank the Adigetto along the Riviera San Biagio at Lendinara.