Rovigo Castle and the Donà and Grimani Towers
The two towers from which the city was born
Two leaning towers, a garden, a few stretches of wall: all that remains of the castle from which Rovigo was born, more than a thousand years ago.
Small on maps, rich in stories
A Rovigo
to discover
A town of leaning towers, of a canal buried beneath its main street, and of bishops who for a thousand years lived far from their cathedral. Here we tell what you cannot see.
History, landscapes, people, hidden wonders
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and the Column of the Lion of Saint MarkPiazza Vittorio Emanuele II (Rovigo), 2002 · Atigra · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsAtigra · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Rovigo, more than you imagine
Stories you wouldn't expect
Places, people, curiosities
La Rotonda, Temple of the Beata Vergine del Soccorso
Two octagons for a Madonna with a rose
A miraculous fresco, two octagons one inside the other, sixty years of great Venetian painting: the Rotonda is faith and Venetian power.
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and the Column of the Lion of Saint Mark
Rovigo’s drawing room and its lion restored
In 1797 the French destroyed the Lion of Saint Mark, and the column stood without its symbol until 1881. The story of Rovigo’s drawing room.
Palazzo Roverella
The cardinal’s palazzo that was never finished
A cardinal, a building site halted in 1477, a terracotta façade in the Este taste: today Palazzo Roverella is a major Veneto exhibition venue.
Rovigo Segreta
Did you know?
Rovigo of the Bishops
Rovigo of the Bishops
For a thousand years the Bishop “of Adria” lived in Rovigo. Churches, convents and archives keep this story. It begins at San Domenico, the church that shows the town only its side.
Sacred place · Rovigo
Church of San Domenico
The church that shows only its side
No churchyard, no façade: it shows the city only its flank. Behind that wall lie five centuries of hospitals, Dominican friars and markets.
Church of San Domenico- Duomo (Co-Cathedral) of Santo StefanoThe bishops’ church, with a façade never finished
- La Rotonda, Temple of the Beata Vergine del SoccorsoTwo octagons for a Madonna with a rose
- Church of San Bartolomeo and the Olivetan MonasteryFrom Umiliati wool-workers to the monks of Monte Oliveto
- Church of San FrancescoThe convent the Este family wanted
- Former Seminario VescovileThe seminary born of the Council of Trent
- Curia and Bishop’s PalaceA thousand years to move from Adria to Rovigo
Stories & legends
Legend has it…
Legends, mysteries and true stories that sound invented. Each with its share of truth.
The Banquet of San Martino
The Carbonari of Fratta and the dinner that led to the Spielberg
11 November 1818: in Fratta Polesine a patriots’ banquet ends in cheers. Then come denunciations, arrests, the Spielberg. The story of the Carbonari.
Rossini, the Cat of Rovigo
The ginger cat who became the city’s symbol
Rescued in Bosnia, adopted by a whole city: Rossini roamed Rovigo’s banks, bars and arcades, until he became its symbol.
The Madonna del Soccorso and the 115 Miracles
The popular devotion that gave birth to the Rotonda
From 1591 an image of the Virgin drew crowds of pilgrims to Rovigo. Tradition credits it with 115 wonders, and from them the Rotonda was born.
Routes
Routes
Walking routes in town and driving routes through the Polesine, stop by stop.
All routesRovigo of the Bishops
Rovigo of the Bishops
Eight stops among churches, convents and archives, all on foot in the old town. Start at San Domenico, the church that shows the town only its side. Continue to the Duomo, seat of the canons’ chapter, and to the building where priests were trained after the Council of Trent. Finish at the Rotonda, the octagonal temple built around an image believed to be miraculous.
Hidden Rovigo in an afternoon
Hidden Rovigo in an afternoon
From the square of the Lion of St Mark to the castle towers, by way of the art palaces and the main street that covers a vanished canal. A walk through the heart of the city to discover what stood here before what you see today: the ghetto, the walls, the water.
Villas, Carbonari and sanctuaries
Villas, Carbonari and sanctuaries
Heading west into the heart of the Polesine. In Fratta, Palladio’s villa and the villa linked to the Carbonari banquet of 1818. Then the basilica of San Bellino, patron saint of the diocese, the villa at Canda, the Vangadizza abbey at Badia and, on the way back, the Pilastrello sanctuary in Lendinara.
Adria and the Po Delta
Adria and the Po Delta
From the town that gave the Adriatic its name to the lighthouse where the Po meets the sea. The crypt beneath the cathedral, the chariot tomb with its horses, the cut dug by Venice in 1604 to divert the river, the ancient settlement of San Basilio and the waters of the Sacca degli Scardovari lagoon.
Along the Great River
Along the Great River
The Po shaped the Polesine and flooded it more than once. This route follows the river: the Este castle at Arquà, the villa at Polesella, and on to Ficarolo, where a medieval breach changed the course of the Po. To read along the way: the stories of the 1951 flood.
Mysterious Rovigo
Mysterious Rovigo
Less than a kilometre in the historic centre, five stops and five centuries. You start from the castle towers and end at the Rotonda, passing the churchyard where the Dometto once stood, the square that remembers a Nile explorer and the church that housed the Inquisition.
The Delta: water, land and flavours
The Delta: water, land and flavours
From the reed huts of the lagoons to the pumping station that drained the Isola di Ariano, from the mussel farms of the Sacca to the sand island of Scano Boa. An itinerary to understand how the Delta came into being, and what it tastes like.
Alto Polesine: whirlpools and great names
Alto Polesine: whirlpools and great names
An inland itinerary from Fratta to Trecenta: the village that worked ivory three thousand years ago, the market gardens born of a breach in the Adige, the Risorgimento couple, the journalist who gave his name to an international prize and a whirlpool where, they say, sunken bells ring.
Places
Places
Churches, palaces, towers, villas and landscapes of Rovigo and the Polesine, each with its own story.
Accademia dei Concordi
Four and a half centuries of books, art and concord
Born in 1580 from gatherings of men of letters in a count’s palazzo, the Accademia dei Concordi keeps the city library and a precious art collection.
The Vanished Adigetto and Corso del Popolo
The street that walks on top of a river
Corso del Popolo runs where the Adigetto once flowed. In 1937 the river was diverted, and the old river town changed its face.
Rovigo Castle and the Donà and Grimani Towers
The two towers from which the city was born
Two leaning towers, a garden, a few stretches of wall: all that remains of the castle from which Rovigo was born, more than a thousand years ago.
Places
Beyond the town
Villas, abbeys, sanctuaries, castles and the Po Delta: the Polesine few people know.
Abbey of the Vangadizza
The abbey that was both lordship and diocese
Badia Polesine is named after an abbey that was once a fief and a diocese. Its cloister, apse and leaning bell tower still hold that memory.
Adria Cathedral and the Byzantine Crypt
Two cathedrals and six apostles underground
In Adria two cathedrals face each other a few steps apart. Beneath, a frescoed chapel with six apostles keeps over a thousand years of faith.
Villa Badoer
La Badoèra, Palladio’s temple on the plain
The Polesine’s only UNESCO site: the villa where Palladio first used a temple front, with barchesse curving out like two open arms.
“The most fascinating cities are those that still know how to surprise.”— Rovigo Segreta
Rovigo is a story that continues.