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| Reviews and photos of Rovigo attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Rovigo sightseeing. Rovigo Map |
 | Rovigo Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 46 |  |
Porta San Bartolomeo ("Saint Barthelemy's gate"), commonly named Porta San Bortolo, was built in the 14th century and today it is the only medieval gate left of those that composed the walls. It connects the homonymous quarter to Piazza Merlin and, across the arches, to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and Piazza Garibaldi.
The first photo was taken from via Miani, the second from piazza Merlin (unfortunately a lorry spoiled the romantic atmosphere the gate suggests). Leave a Comment
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Here are the most famous monuments of Rovigo: two medieval towers (Due Torri), once part of the castle, built before the 10th century. The higher one (50 metres) is named Torre Donà and the lower one Torre Grimani. They are located in the public gardens, in the Corso del Popolo (the main street of Rovigo), but the gardens are not as beautiful. Torre Donà is populated by pigeons and jackdaws, which made it not so attractive as it would be. There is a pigeon in the last picture, maybe you can see it if you enlarge the image. Leave a Comment
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The castle of Rovigo already existed in the 10th century, according to a bull by Pope John X and a deed of gift dating of 6th December 955, that ended up with the words actvm in castro Rhodigo feliciter.
The castle belonged to the bishops. In 1138, Bishop Florio Cattaneo had the town surrounded with new one-mile long walls. These walls had four gates flanked with towers and protected with banks and ditches, in Italian fosse. This explains the name of the Chiesa delle Fosse ("Church of the Ditches").
The castle looked like a fortress. The bishops lived on a rock close to the main tower (today "Torre Donà", see next tip).
Today little remains of the castle: the walls in ruins, the main tower, the cut tower (torre mozza) and two out of the six gates of the walls, i.e. San Bartolomeo and Sant'Agostino (see tips). Between the two gates, in via Ponte Roda, you can still see one of the towers built under Florio Cattaneo, today called Torre Pighin.
The city hall has passed a project to recover the ruins of the bishop castle and works started in May 2006. The foreseen cost is estimated around 100 million euro. I hope that when works have finished, the castle will attract a lot of tourists. Leave a Comment
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Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, commonly referred to as "Piazza Vittorio" is the most famous square of Rovigo and it has been for centuries the centre of the political, economical and cultural life of the town. It is surrounded on three sides by beautiful palaces that have always had a great relevance:
- Palazzo Nodari, seat of the city hall;
- Palazzo Roverella, the new seat of the art gallery of the Accademia dei Concordi and of temporary exhibitions;
- Palazzo Roncale;
- Accademia dei Concordi, that hosts an imposing library and was the seat of an art gallery with the most comprehensive collection of Polesan artists (now at Palazzo Roverella);
- Gran Guardia, an impressive building with a conference rooms (I have to photograph it).
In the middle of the square, you see the marble statue of Vittorio Emanuele II, the first King of the Italian Kingdom from 1861 to 1878 (third photo of this tip).
To sum up, Piazza Vittorio is the heart of Rovigo and of its Venetianness: in case you doubted if Rovigo lies in Veneto or in Emilia-Romagna (a lot of Italians don't know it), a great Saint Mark's lion gives you the answer: this was definitely Venetian land and we should be proud of this heritage! Leave a Comment Address: Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
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Here are more photos of the beautiful Leone marciano, i.e. Saint Mark's lion, the symbol of the Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia. This lion's tail is down, which means Rovigo was a peaceful town. In war areas, lions were built with their tail up. On the book that the lion holds, there is written PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEVS ("Peace to you, Mark, my evangelist").
The column was erected by Venetians after the Cambrai war in 1519. Unfortunately, Napoleon didn't pass across Rovigo without leaving his mark: the French occupying troops chiseled all Saint Mark's insignia off and removed the original lion, replaced with a new one by Paduan sculptor Natale Sanavio in 1881. Leave a Comment
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The Loggia dei Notai ("Lawyers' loggia"), better known under the Venetian name of Palazzo Nodari should have been built in 1428-29 or, in any case, at the beginning of the XV century. Behind the facade, which was remade along the following century, there is a hall where lawyers used to work, that has given the palace its current name.
The Virgin with Child locate in the middle of the loggia was made by Veronese Guido Mauro around 1590. The large hall has beautiful paintings by local artists, but I have never seen them carefully and I don't know the opening hours in case you would like to visit the inside.
Apart from the facade, you should watch the arches of the lower porch, a true masterpiece of elegance and harmony.
On the left of the palace stands the clock tower typical of any Venetian square, built between 1763 and 1790 on a design by Veronese architect Pietro Puttini. Later on, the original dome was eliminated and a modern clock was inserted. Leave a Comment Address: Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
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Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi is the second most important square of the town, very close to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. It is dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi, also known as Hero of the two worlds, who played a very important role in the unification of the Italian peninsula under the Kingdom of Sardegna that became Kingdom of Italia and is commemorated here with a bronze equestrian monument.
You can see many ancient and beautiful buildings in this square:
- Caffè Borsa, one of the oldest cafés in Rovigo;
- Camera di Commercio ("Trade Chamber");
- Teatro Sociale, the main theatre (more about it in its own tip). Leave a Comment Directions: close to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
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Teatro Sociale was built in 1817-19 and is the most important theatre of the town: both drama and opera are performed there. The top of the facade has five bas-relieves representing the different components of theatre and opera: masks and musical instruments (you can see them in the following tip).
The inside is very beautiful: you can see paintings portraying the most famous opera musicians, like Verdi, Rossini and so on. The author was a relative of my grand-father, who is himself a very good painter.
The opera and drama seasons take place from October-November to March-April but I'm always sad when I go there (I used to go to the theatre before starting university) and I see that 90% of the spectators are aged people. Young people never go to the theatre and this theatre is very often half empty. Leave a Comment
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Palazzo Roncale is located a bit out of Piazza Vittorio, but it is the most relevant building of the square. It was erected around 1555, when the homonymous family, who moved from Bergamo to Rovigo in the 15th century, enjoyed its greatest prestige. Giovanni Roncale wanted a wonderful palace that could show the power of the family; to have it built, he addressed himself to one of the best architects of the time, Michele Sanmicheli from Verona.
The palace has many features typical of Venetian buildings, but its form is irregular, due to the location: the Roncales, despite being very powerful, couldn't have their palace built in a more central part of the square. However, some restorations made at the beginning of the 20th centuries deeply alterated the lateral facade.
Henri III de Navarre, king of France and Polska (Poland), was hosted in this palace in 1574. Leave a Comment Address: Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
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Porta Sant'Agostino or Porta Augustina is the one of the two remaining gates of the city, although it is not as old as Porta San Bortolo. There still is an authentic piece of medieval wall close to it, as you see in the first photo, on the right. The third picture was taken from the opposite side and you can see the bell tower of the old seminar behind the gate. Leave a Comment
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on May 14, 2006
