The castle towers, the Rotonda, the palaces on the main square and the bishops’ churches: a guide to what to see in Rovigo, drawn from the Rovigo Segreta place guides.
Rovigo can be walked in a few hours, but it is understood slowly. It is a lowland town, born around a castle on an old course of the Adige, grown under the Este family and transformed by more than three centuries of Venetian rule. No single monument sums it up: it has towers that lean, a canal vanished under the main street, an octagonal temple full of Venetian painting, Renaissance palaces and an academy that keeps four and a half centuries of books and art.
In this guide you will find the most important places in the centre, in an order that roughly follows a walk: from the castle towers to the square, from the palaces to the churches, out to the gates and the walls. Each stop links to its own place guide, with photographs, sources and a position on the map. Periods and addresses are those given in the place guides; opening hours and tickets change often, so always check them with the managers before your visit.
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.
Rovigo Castle and the Donà and Grimani Towers See on the map
Castello, mura e Torre Donà (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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.
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and the Column of the Lion of Saint Mark See on the map
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (Rovigo), 2002 · Atigra · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Where notaries wrote down the city’s business
Under these Gothic arches Rovigo’s notaries were at work before 1286. And the tower still carries the bell of the old castle.
Loggia dei Nodari and the Civic Tower See on the map
Torre civica e Loggia dei nodari (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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.
Accademia dei Concordi See on the map
Accademia concordi rovigo · Atigra · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
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.
Palazzo Roverella See on the map
Palazzo Roverella (Rovigo) · Szeder László · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The palazzo that hosted a King of France
Attributed to Michele Sanmicheli, in 1574 it welcomed Henry III, King of France and Poland. Today Palazzo Roncale opens its rooms to exhibitions.
Palazzo Roncale See on the map
Palazzo Roncale - Rovigo - Michele Sanmicheli · Pivari · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Frescoes, famous guests and lecture halls
The last Venetian governor, Emperor Franz Joseph and Garibaldi all stayed here. Today Palazzo Angeli’s frescoed halls are home to students.
Palazzo Angeli, lato Corso del Popolo (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The bishops’ church, with a façade never finished
The bishops of Adria prayed here for a thousand years. An octagonal dome, an unfinished façade, 16th-century treasures: Rovigo’s co-cathedral.
Duomo (Co-Cathedral) of Santo Stefano See on the map
Duomo di Rovigo, facciata · Atigra · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
A thousand years to move from Adria to Rovigo
The Bishop of Adria lived in Rovigo from the 10th century, but the Curia only followed him in 1909. The story of a move that took a thousand years.
Palazzo ex Vescovado (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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 See on the map
San Domenico (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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.
La Rotonda, Temple of the Beata Vergine del Soccorso See on the map
The convent the Este family wanted
Behind a Neoclassical façade hides the Gothic convent founded by Obizzo II d’Este: the oldest religious foundation still active in the centre.
From Umiliati wool-workers to the monks of Monte Oliveto
Umiliati, Olivetan monks, an altarpiece by the painter to His Britannic Majesty and a cloister that tells of great rivers: this is San Bortolo.
Church of San Bartolomeo and the Olivetan Monastery See on the map
San Bartolomeo, vista dal piazzale (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The best-preserved gate of the old walls
Ghibelline battlements, noble coats of arms and the groove of a portcullis: Porta San Bortolo is the most intact of Rovigo’s old gates.
Porta San Bortolo, known as “il Volto”
Porta San Bortolo, vista centro città · Threecharlie · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
In the footsteps of the walled city
Streets still named “Mure”, a watchtower turned home, gates torn down in the 1800s: a walking loop around Rovigo’s old walled city.
Rovigo’s Walls, Torre Pighin and the Lost Gates See on the map
Torre Pighin (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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.
The garden that guards a vanished citadel
Where the garden of Piazza Merlin lies today stood Rovigo’s Jewish ghetto, demolished in 1930. The story of a community and a lost citadel.
The Former Jewish Ghetto and Piazza Umberto Merlin See on the map
Piazza Umberto Merlin 2014-02-16 (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The stage of Gigli, Tebaldi, Callas and Pavarotti
Gigli and Tebaldi made their debuts here; Callas and Pavarotti sang here. The Teatro Sociale, reborn in Liberty style after the 1902 fire.
Teatro Sociale di Rovigo See on the map
Teatro Sociale, Rovigo · Threecharlie · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A fish market dressed as a Gothic palazzo
Outside, a small Neo-Gothic palazzo; inside, cast iron and glass as in 19th-century Paris: the Pescheria Nuova is a surprise on Rovigo’s Corso.
Pescheria Nuova See on the map
Pescheria nuova (Rovigo) · Threecharlie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
If you have one day, the simplest way is to follow the walking route Hidden Rovigo in an afternoon: it starts from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, passes the Loggia dei Nodari, the Accademia dei Concordi and the Roverella, Roncale and Angeli palaces, reaches the castle towers and the walls, then follows the trace of the Adigetto to the former ghetto and the Teatro Sociale. You can spend the morning on the churches with the route Rovigo of the Bishops, which links San Domenico, the cathedral, the seminary, the curia, San Bartolomeo, San Francesco, the Chiesetta del Cristo and the Rotonda. Both itineraries stay in the historic centre: in one day they let you see the essentials without rushing. If you prefer a plan built around your interests and the time you have, try the custom itinerary.
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.
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.
Rovigo is also the gateway to the Polesine. A few kilometres away, Fratta Polesine keeps Villa Badoer, the area’s only UNESCO site, and Villa Grimani Molin Avezzù, linked to the story of the Carbonari. Adria, the town that gave its name to the Adriatic, has the National Archaeological Museum and the cathedral with its Byzantine crypt. Towards the sea opens the Po Delta, with the Sacca degli Scardovari and its stilt huts. You need a car to reach these places: the routes Villas, Carbonari and sanctuaries and Adria and the Po Delta line them up in a day.
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 villa on the water where the Carbonari dined
A few steps from the Badoèra, a villa almost on an island. Here, in 1818, a Carbonari banquet opened a stirring chapter of the Risorgimento.
The chariot, the three horses and the town that named a sea
Three harnessed horses and a 3rd-century BC war chariot: in Adria’s museum the Etruscan town that gave the Adriatic its name resurfaces.
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.
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.
The Black Madonna born of a stormy night
A small dark olive-wood statue, a stormy night and a spring that still draws pilgrims: the story of the Black Madonna of Lendinara.
A tower, a moat and a secret passage never found
A crenellated tower, a moat and a courtyard of thirteen arches: in Arquà a 12th-century castle endures, with the legend of a secret passage.
The lagoon of mussels and stilt huts
Stilt huts mirrored at sunset, a PDO mussel and an oasis reborn among the reeds: the Sacca degli Scardovari, the watery heart of the Delta.
Rovigo can be visited all year, but October has something extra: since 1482 the city has held the October Fair, which once filled the squares with oxen and horses and today brings the funfair and the Ottobre Rodigino. In the warm months the Po Delta and the Sacca degli Scardovari offer sunsets over the water; on foggy days, typical of the plain, the city of towers and arcades has a charm of its own. Festivals and traditions of the area are collected in the calendar: the dates of each edition must always be checked with the organisers.
Rovigo railway station has trains to Padua, Venice and Bologna and local lines to Verona and Chioggia. From the station the historic centre is reached on foot, and it is explored on foot: distances between the square, the towers, the palaces and the churches are short. For places in the Polesine a car is more convenient. Opening hours and tickets for museums and churches are not given in this guide because they change often: check them with the managers. To find your way, use the map of Rovigo, which shows every place in our guides.
In one day you can walk the historic centre: Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II with the column of the lion of Saint Mark, the Loggia dei Nodari, the Accademia dei Concordi, Palazzo Roverella, the castle towers, the cathedral and the Rotonda. The routes “Hidden Rovigo in an afternoon” and “Rovigo of the Bishops” bring the main stops together.
Yes, especially if you are looking for a quiet city of art. Rovigo has more than a thousand years of history, the picture gallery of the Accademia dei Concordi, the exhibitions at Palazzo Roverella and the Rotonda, decorated by sixty years of Venetian painting. It is also the ideal starting point for the Polesine and the Po Delta.
Nearby are Villa Badoer in Fratta Polesine, the only UNESCO site in the Polesine, the National Archaeological Museum and the cathedral of Adria, the Abbey of the Vangadizza in Badia Polesine, the Pilastrello sanctuary in Lendinara and the Po Delta with the Sacca degli Scardovari.
The best known are the Rotonda, the Temple of the Beata Vergine del Soccorso, the Cathedral of Santo Stefano, the church of San Francesco from the late 13th century, San Domenico and San Bartolomeo with its former Olivetan monastery. You will find them all on the “Churches of Rovigo” page.
The two castle towers, Torre Donà and Torre Mozza, both lean because of the weight of their bricks on the soft, marshy ground on which the castle stands. It is neither intentional nor a spell: the story is told in “The Two Leaning Towers”.
Rovigo station has trains to Padua, Venice and Bologna and local lines to Verona and Chioggia. The historic centre is a walk from the station.
