Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

region of

Northeast Italy Northeast Italy ( it, Italia nord-orientale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Northeast ...

, the capital of the eponymous

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Geography

Rovigo stands on the low ground known as

Polesine Polesine (; vec, label=unified Venetian script, Połéxine ) is a geographic and historic area in the north-east of Italy whose limits varied through centuries; it had also been known as Polesine of Rovigo for some time. Nowadays it corresponds w ...

, by rail southwest of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and south-southwest of

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, and on the Adigetto Canal. The ''

'' of Rovigo extends between the rivers

Adige The Adige (; german: Etsch ; vec, Àdexe ; rm, Adisch ; lld, Adesc; la, Athesis; grc, Ἄθεσις, Áthesis, or , ''Átagis'') is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the pro ...

and Canal Bianco, west of the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, except the ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of Fenil del Turco that extends south of the Canal Bianco. Polesine is the name of the low ground between the lower courses of the rivers Adige and Po and the sea; the derivation of the name is much discussed, generally applied only to the province of Rovigo, but is sometimes extended to the near towns of

Adria Adria is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po River, Po. The remains of the Etruria, Etruscan city of Atria or Hatria are to be found below ...

and Ferrara.

History

Rovigo (both ''Rodigium'' and ''Rhodigium'' in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

script) appears to be first mentioned in a document from

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

dating April 24, 838; the origin of the name is uncertain. In 920 it was selected as his temporary residence by the

bishop of Adria The Italian Catholic Diocese of Adria-Rovigo ( la, Dioecesis Adriensis-Rhodigiensis), in the Triveneto, has existed under this name since 1986. It is a Latin suffragan to the Patriarchate of Venice.Paolo Cattaneo, after the destruction of his city by Hungarian marauders; the fortifications he ordered were already finished in 945. The

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

s of Rovigo built a line of brick walls in the 1130s in the name of the

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

. The current Torre Donà is a remnant of the castle built some time in between; it is 66 m high and it may have been the highest brick

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

at that time if the date of construction is correct. In 1194 Rovigo became a formal 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 recovered the city during the

War of the League of Cambrai The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...

, the Venetians, returning in 1514, retained possession until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. In 1806 Napoleon I Bonaparte created it a duché grand-fief for general

Anne Jean Marie René Savary Anne Jean Marie René Savary, 1st Duke of Rovigo (26 April 17742 June 1833) was a French military officer and diplomat who served in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars and the French invasion of Algeria. He was Minister of Polic ...

. The

Austrians , pop = 8–8.5 million , regions = 7,427,759 , region1 = , pop1 = 684,184 , ref1 = , region2 = , pop2 = 345,620 , ref2 = , region3 = , pop3 = 197,990 , ref3 ...

in 1815 made it a royal city. 1864 5soldi Rovigo

With the fall of the 1815-1866

Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ( la, links=no, Regnum Langobardiae et Venetiae), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" ( it, links=no, Regno Lombardo-Veneto, german: links=no, Königreich Lombardo-Venetien), was a constituent land ...

, Rovigo was annexed to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

in 1866; in the same year it was connected by

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

to Padua, Ferrara,

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

(through

Legnago Legnago () is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy, with population (2012) of 25,439. It is located on the Adige river, about from Verona. Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and toba ...

), and

Chioggia Chioggia (; vec, Cióxa , locally ; la, Clodia) is a coastal town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Geography The town is situated on a small island at the southern entrance to the L ...

(through Adria). In the 1900s the first modern industries were established, the most important of which was a

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or beets into white refined sugar. Many cane sugar mills produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it more colour (and impurities) than the w ...

. In 1927 the territory of the ''comune'' was extended including close

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. In 1937 the course of the Adigetto Canal was diverted to the west edge of the town and a large avenue called ''Corso del Popolo'' was built in place of the former course. In the years 1943–1945 Rovigo was part of the Italian Social Republic and it has been in Italy since 1946. In the 1950s and 1960s Rovigo had a dramatic development and it had the highest

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

rate among the towns in the Veneto region after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Government

Main sights

Giulio-Monteverdi-Vittorio-Emanuele-II-Rovigo

Ettore-Ferrari-Monumento-equestre-a-Garibaldi-Rovigo

The architecture of the town bears the stamp both of Venetian and of Ferrarese influence. Main sights include : * Rovigo Cathedral (''Duomo'', dedicated to Martyr Pope Steven I), the co-cathedral in the bishopric of Adria–Rovigo; it was 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. * Ruins of the ''Castle'' (10th century), of which two towers remain * ''Madonna del Soccorso'': church 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 Pietro (Libertino) Liberi (1605 – 18 October 1687) was an Italian painter of the Baroque era, active mainly in Venice and the Veneto. Biography Liberi was born in Padua, his earliest training was with Alessandro Varotari (''il Padovanino''). ...

Antonio Zanchi Antonio Zanchi (; 6 December 1631 – 12 April 1722) was an Italians, Italian painter of the Baroque, active mainly in Venice, but his prolific works can also be seen in Padova, Treviso, Rovigo, Verona, Vicenza, Loreto, Brescia, Milano, and ...

and

Andrea Celesti Andrea Celesti (1637–1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, working in Venice. His style gravitated over the years from a turgid and academic weightiness to a lighter, looser brushstroke. Biography Celesti was born in Venice and i ...

. *''Immacolata Concezione'' : Church dating to 1213. * ''San Francesco'': church in Gothic-Romanesque style but with extensive intervention from the 19th century. The belfry is from 1520. In the interior are several ''Saints'' sculptures 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 example of

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

, now serves as town art gallery. *''Palazzo Roncale'': Renaissance palace (1555) by Michele Sanmicheli *''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 Palma Vecchio (c. 1480 – 30 July 1528), born Jacopo Palma, also known as Jacopo Negretti, was a Venetian painter of the Italian High Renaissance. He is called Palma Vecchio in English and Palma il Vecchio in Italian ("Palma the Elder") to di ...

, a ''Venus with the Mirror'' by

Jan Gossaert Jan Gossaert (c. 1478 – 1 October 1532) was a French-speaking painter from the Low Countries also known as Jan Mabuse (the name he adopted from his birthplace, Maubeuge) or Jennyn van Hennegouwe ( Hainaut), as he called himself when he matri ...

, and portraits by

Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

and

Alessandro Longhi Alessandro Longhi (12 June 1733 – November 1813) was a Venetian portrait painter and printmaker in etching (mostly reproductions of paintings). He is known best for his oil portraits of Venetian nobles of state. His father was the famed g ...

Villages nearby

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 Cassette, Le Giarelle, Le Sorbolaro, L'Olmo, Lusia, Mardimago, Roverdicrè, San Sisto, Santa Libera, Santa Rita, Sant'Apollinare, Sarzano and Spianata.

Twin towns – sister cities

Rovigo is twinned with: *

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, United Kingdom *

Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 73,707 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. Names The ...

, Romania * Viernheim, Germany

Sport

Stadio Mario Battaglini, tribuna Quaglio

Rovigo is home of

Rugby Rovigo stadium, 200px Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. The club was founded in 1935 by medical student Dino Lanzoni, wh ...

, the city's rugby team has won the

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019� ...

competition 13 times. The team has attracted many famous from around the rugby world, including

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player, who played for Northern Transvaal and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted ''Rugby Player of the Year'' in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987. B ...

and the coach

Carwyn James Carwyn Rees James (2 November 1929 – 10 January 1983) was a Welsh rugby union player and coach. He won two Welsh international caps but is most famous for his coaching achievements with Llanelli, the 1971 British Lions and the Barbarians, with ...

. Other practiced sports include football/soccer, swimming, handball, baseball and roller hockey. The "Rosso Blu" as the baseball team is known is at the level of Serie "A" competition. Notable American players who have played for Rovigo Baseball include: Nathan Cardella (Fresno, Ca.) and Mark Peracchi (San Francisco, Ca). Rovigo is the first Italian city to have a Gaelic football club. Ascaro Rovigo Gaelic Football Club was founded on June 2, 2011. President and founder of Rovigo GAA Raffaello Franco went to Ireland for his honeymoon that year where he watched a football game at Croke Park – he returned home with an O'Neills ball and a dream to set up a GAA club in Italy. Within two years the resulting club's football team of about 90% Italian players are going from strength to strength as they embrace every code that the GAA has to offer. The team colours are red and blue.

Transportation

Rovigo railway station, opened in 1866, forms part of the Padua–Bologna railway, and is also a

junction station ''Junction station'' usually refers to a railway station situated on or close to a junction where lines to several destinations diverge. The usual minimum is three incoming lines. At a station with platforms running from left to right, the minimum ...

for two other lines. Heading eastwards, towards

and

, is the Rovigo–Chioggia railway, and heading west, towards

and

, is the Verona–Legnago–Rovigo railway.

References

Sources

* *

External links

GCatholic the co-cathedral of St. Steven I, martyr pope

Map of Rovigo
{{Authority control Territories of the Republic of Venice