
Rovigo (, ; ) is a city and
commune in the region of
Veneto
Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...
,
Northeast Italy
Northeast Italy ( or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a Italian NUTS level 1 regions, first level NUTS region and a European ...
, the capital of the
eponymous province.
Geography
Rovigo stands on the low ground known as
Polesine, by rail southwest of
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
and south-southwest of
Padua
Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...
, and on the
Adigetto Canal. The ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' of Rovigo extends between the rivers
Adige
The Adige is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the province of South Tyrol, near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland, and flows through most of northeastern Italy ...
and
Canal Bianco, west of the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
, except the ''
frazione
A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') 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 consolidat ...
'' 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
Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...
.
History
Rovigo (both ''Rodigium'' and ''Rhodigium'' in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
script) appears to be first mentioned in a document from
Ravenna
Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) 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 during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
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,
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. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty.
In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...
s of Rovigo built a line of
brick
A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
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 Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
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
Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...
, 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. In 1806
Napoleon I Bonaparte created it a
duché grand-fief for general
Anne Jean Marie René Savary. The
Austrians
Austrians (, ) are the citizens and Nationality, nationals of Austria. The English term ''Austrians'' was applied to the population of Archduchy of Austria, Habsburg Austria from the 17th or 18th century. Subsequently, during the 19th century, ...
in 1815 made it a royal city.

With the fall of the 1815–1866
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, Rovigo was annexed to the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
in 1866; in the same year it was connected by
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
to Padua, Ferrara,
Verona
Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
(through
Legnago), and
Chioggia (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 sugar extracted from beets into white refined sugar.
Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it color ...
. In 1927 the territory of the ''comune'' was extended including close
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
. 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
The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...
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 in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, 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. ...
rate among the towns in the Veneto region after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Government
Main sights

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
A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...
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
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
, 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.
*''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
Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...
, a ''Flagellation of Christ'' by
Palma the Elder, a ''Venus with the Mirror'' by
Jan Gossaert, and portraits by
Tiepolo and
Alessandro Longhi
Alessandro Longhi (12 June 1733 – 8 November 1813) was a Venice, Venetian portrait Painting, painter and printmaker in etching (mostly reproductions of paintings). He is known best for his oil portraits of Venetian nobles of state. Like Seba ...
.
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 was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
, United Kingdom
*
Tulcea
Tulcea (; also known by #Names, alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 65,624 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. It is one ...
, Romania
*
Viernheim
Viernheim () is a midsize industrial town on Mannheim's outskirts and is found in the Rhine Neckar Area, Rhine Neckar agglomeration and economic area. It is the second biggest town in Kreis Bergstraße, Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. Since ...
, Germany
Sport
Rovigo is home of
Rugby Rovigo
Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10 (rugby union), Serie A Élite. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto.
Overview
The club was founded in 1935 by medical ...
, the city's rugby team has won the
Top10 competition 13 times. The team has attracted many famous from around the rugby world, including
Naas Botha and the coach
Carwyn James.
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
Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
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
Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...
– 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 for two other lines. Heading eastwards, towards
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
Chioggia, is the
Rovigo–Chioggia railway, and heading west, towards
Legnago and
Verona
Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
, is the
Verona–Legnago–Rovigo railway.
See also
*
Baseggio Family
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of Adria-Rovigo
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