Rovigo Things to Do

The rooms of the monastery house the Museo dei Grandi Fiumi ("Museum of the Big Rivers"), that gathers archaeological finds from all the Polésine, Rovigo's province, a territory between the two longest Italian rivers: Po and Adige. In the future, the collection is expected to be completed with a new section about early Middle Ages.

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These pictures show the cloister, that is traditionally said to have been built by Biagio Rossetti. In the middle of the courtyard there is a harmonious well-curb (first photo), attributed to Sansovino, built in Corinthian-like style.
The second photo show the bell-tower of the church, which will be described in the following tip.
The walls of the cloister are full of stones with the names of the benefactors who contributed to the maintenance of the monastery, like the one you see in the third picture.
The fourth and fifth photos show the colonnate of another inner courtyard.

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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).

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These pictures show what remains after the demolition of the ghetto, been re-adapted to house flats.
The ghetto was built in the heart of the town in 1606 following a wish of Pope Paul V. It was the largest construction in Rovigo at that time. It was (one of) the most characteristic ghetto(s) in Italia. It was a fortress including the synagogue, shops, houses, the market; it was like a mysterious town within the town, with small gardens, narrow streets and gates on the ancient marble gates that were once closed when the night came. Above the main gate, still standing, a stone with a Latin inscription, today illegible (see the second picture), reminds that the authorities of Rovigo wanted the Jews to be forced to live within these walls, so that the Christian religion couldn’t be damaged by their company. The inscription was written in 1627 by podestà Marino Zane.
The ghetto was demolished in 1930. Today you can see the church of San Domenico, inserted in the area of the ghetto, maybe built on the same place as the synagogue.

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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.

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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.

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The square you see in this photo is officially called Piazza Merlin, but everybody knows it with the previous name of Piazza Roma. It was built at the place of the ghetto, demolished in 1930. On the side you see if you give your back to Porta San Bortolo, you can notice what remains of the ghetto and the building of the covered marketplace (mercato coperto). In the middle of the square there is a fountain with some trees where children have fun.

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Here you see the statue of Vittorio Emanuele II, King of the Regno di Sardegna (the Savoy Kingdom including Piemonte, Savoie and Sardegna) from 1849 to 1861, when he became the first King of Italia. He died in 1878.