Rovigo

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Comune di Rovigo
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Veneto
Province	Rovigo (RO)
Mayor	Fausto Merchiori (since June 2006)

Elevation	6 m
Area	108 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)	50,883
- Density	446/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	45.07° N 11.79° ECoordinates: 45.07° N 11.79° E
Gentilic	Rodigini
Dialing code	0425
Postal code	45100
Frazioni	see list
Patron	San Bellino
- Day	November 26
Website: www.comune.rovigo.it

Rovigo is a town in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy, the capital of the eponymous province.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Main sights
4 Frazioni
5 Twin cities
6 Sport
7 Transportation
8 See also
9 Sources
10 External links

[edit] Geography

Rovigo stands on the low ground between the lower courses of the rivers Adige and Po, 80 km by rail SW of Venice and 40 km SSW of Padua, and on the Adigetto Canal. The low ground between the lower Po and the lower Adige and the sea is known as Polesine, a name the derivation of which is much discussed, generally applied only to the province of Rovigo, but is sometimes extended to the neighborhood of Adria and Ferrara.

Ancient map of Rovigo.

[edit] History

Rovigo (Rhodigium) appears to be mentioned in a document from Ravenna dating from 838. It was selected as his residence by the bishop of Adria on the destruction of his city by the Hungarian ravagers. The current Torre Donà is a remain of the castle built in 920 by the bishop of Adria, Paolo Cattaneo. His successor, bishop Florio Cattaneo, built a line of walls in the 1130s.

In 1194 Rovigo became a possession of Azzo VI d'Este, duke of Ferrara, who took the title of conte (count) of Rovigo. The Este authority ended in 1482, when the Venetians took the place by siege and retained possession of it by the peace of 1484. Although the Este more than once recovered the city, the Venetians, returning in 1514, retained possession till the French Revolution. In 1806 Napoleon I Bonaparte created it a duché grand-fief for general Anne Jean Marie René Savary. The Austrians in 1815 created it a royal city.

The famous church "La Rotonda" in Rovigo.

[edit] Main sights

The architecture of the town bears the stamp both of Venetian and of Ferrarese influence. Main sights include:

Ruins of the Castle (10th century), of which two towers remain
Church of Madonna del Soccorso, best known as La Rotonda. If was built between 1594 and 1606 by Francesco Zamberlan of Bassano, a pupil of Palladio, to house a miraculous image of a sitting Madonna with Child carrying a rose. The edifice has octagonal plan, surrounded by a portico, begun in 1594. The original construction had a cupola, which was later substituted by a simple ceiling for static reasons. The fine campanile, standing at 57 m, was built according to plans by Baldassarre Longhena (1655-1673). The walls of the interior of the church are wholly covered by 17th centuries paintings by prominent provincial and Venetian artists, including Francesco Maffei, Domenico Stella, Giovanni Abriani, Alessandro Varotari (il Padovanino), Pietro Vecchia, Pietro Liberi, Antonio Zanchi and Andrea Celesti.
Cathedral (Duomo, entitled to St. Stephen), originally built before the 11th century, but rebuilt in 1461 and again in 1696. The art works of the interior includes a Resurrection of Christ by Palma the Younger.
Church of the Immacolata Concezione (1213).
Church of St. Francis, in Gothic-Romanesque style but with extensive intervention from the 19th century. The belfry is from 1520. In the interior are several Saints sculpltures by Tullio Lombardo (1526).
The Town hall, which contains a library including some rare early editions, belonging to the Accademia de Concordi, founded in 1580, and a fair picture gallery enriched with the spoils of the monasteries.
Palazzo Roverella, largely restored but still a good example of Renaissance architecture.
Palazzo Roncale, a fine Renaissance building by Sanmicheli (1555).
Palazzo Venezze (1715)
Pinacoteca dei Concordi ("Concordi Gallery") houses important paintings, including a Madonna with Child and Christ with the Cross by Giovanni Bellini, a Flagellation of Christ by Palma the Elder, a Venus with the Mirror by Jan Gossaert, and portraits by Tiepolo and Alessandro Longhi.

[edit] Frazioni

Barchessa Candiani, Basso Cavallo, Boara Polesine, Boaria San Marco, Borsea, Braga-Cantonazzo, Buso, Busovecchio, Ca'Bianca, Ca'Matte, Ca'Lunga, Campagna Terzi, Campagnazza, Cantonazzo, Capolavia, Ca'Rangon, Concadirame, Corte Lazzarini, Fenile Morosina, Fenil del Turco, Granzette, Grignano Polesine, Grompo, Grumolo, Le Casette, Le Giarelle, Le Sorbolaro, L'Olmo, Mardimago, Roverdicrè, San Sisto, Santa Libera, Santa Rita, Sant'Apollinare, Sarzano, Spianata.