This document provides information about the city of Rovigo, Italy. It discusses the location and geography of Rovigo, its history dating back to Roman times, and important landmarks such as Vittorio Emanuele II Square, Garibaldi Square, the Castle of Rovigo, the Rotonda temple, and Duomo cathedral. It also mentions notable people from Rovigo like Giacomo Matteotti, Benvenuto Tisi, Katia Ricciarelli, and Marika Zanforlin. Finally, it provides details on traditional cuisine from the area, including dishes like dark bigoli pasta and salt cod with polenta, as well as the popular prosecco wine.

1. COMENIUS PROJECT 2011-2013
“PROMOTE YOUR EUROREGION”
LICEO CELIO-ROCCATI
ROVIGO
ITALY

2. Rovigo is situated in the north-east
of Italy, more specifically in the
Veneto. The territory of the district
of Rovigo is completely flat. It
extends from the border with
Verona and Mantua to the Adriatic
coast, where the famous Po Delta is
situated. The territory is contained
between the rivers Adige and Po
which are the first and the third
most important rivers in Italy. The
climate is semicontinental with high
humidity, hot summers and foggy
winters.

3. Rovigo has its origins during the Roman time. It was named
“Rhodigium” or “Rodigo”, and it was the highest part of the
“Polesine”, the area where the town is in, and all around it
there were swamps and ponds. Rovigo has a pentagonal
shape and it was closed within the walls of the castle.
From the year 1000 Rovigo was under
the rule of the Estensi family and they
promoted the extension of the town,
that was on both sides of the Adigetto, a
small river whose name comes from the
Adige, another important river of the
Polesine.

4. Later, the town went under the
Venetian Republic with the “salt
battle”, and it stayed this way for
about three centuries. In 1800
Rovigo was conquered by
Napoleon; in this period Rovigo
changed radically: almost all the
monuments and the churches
there are now in the town
were built under the French
domination, so Rovigo had a new
social pulse, even if the economy
was still very basic.
Then, in 1815, Rovigo passed under Austrian domain: even if the gates
of the walls all around the city were broken down, Rovigo experienced
a period of flowering and renovation.
Finally, in 1866, Italy was unified, so Rovigo went back to being part of
the kingdom of Italy.

6. VITTORIO Vittorio Emanuele II’s square is one of
the oldest of Rovigo and the real heart
EMANUELE II’S of the town..
In the Middle Ages it was used as a
SQUARE meeting place for civic and commercial
activities.
In the middle stands the
commemorative statue of Vittorio
Emanuele II - the father if the
unification of Italy. The statue was built
by the sculptor Giulio Monteverdi and
placed there in 1881. At one end of the
square stands a stone column(1519)
having on its top the Lion of St. Mark, a
symbol of Venice’s domination in the
town.

7. GARIBALDI’S SQUARE
Garibaldi’s square is
Rovigo’s second most
important square and it
was inaugurated in
1896 by Giuseppe
Garibaldi. The most
important symbol of
the square is the statue
of Garibaldi mounting
his horse..
Set on a granite base decorated with reliefs and inscriptions, the
statue is of fine workmanship; under the character’s stirrups
there are two crowns placed upside down by the sculptor, as a
sign of contempt for the monarchy.

8. CASTLE OF ROVIGO
The Castle of Rovigo, built in
920, is the oldest relic of
the urban city. Originally it
included eight towers and
two drawbridges giving
access to the inside
courtyard. Today there
are two gates and
two towers, both leaning,
overlooking a small
park completely rebuilt in
2010.

9. LA ROTONDA
The Temple of the Blessed Virgin of
the Rescue, known as the Rotonda
for its circle-like shape, with the
nearby belfry by Longhena, is the
most important monumental
group in Rovigo and a highly
suggestive place for the history of
the town. The Church was built after
1594 as a votive offering to the
Virgin of Rescue for saving the town
from a plague.

10. DUOMO DI ROVIGO
The Duomo is the main
church of Rovigo dedicated to
St. Stephen, pope and martyr. In
920, the bishop of Adria (the
Diocese of the area) Paul was
allowed to temporarily move his
residence to Rovigo and build a
fort to guard against attacks of
barbarians and heretics. Short
later the building of the church
was started. The present
church is the result of various
modifications carried out over a
few centuries; as a cathedral it
was consecrated in 1461.

11. THE ACADEMY
The “Accademia dei
Concordi” was born in 1580
thanks to Count Gaspare
Campo who loved
literature, music and arts.
Since then, the
“Concordiana” has been
the heart of cultural
institutions and
associations in the town.
Nowadays it’s used as a
library and for public
readings and conferences.

12. ROVERELLA PALACE
Roverella palace was
built in 1474 by
Cardinal Bartolomeo
Roverella. Three years
later, construction was
interrupted because of
the cardinal’s death.
After many attempts at
restoration, nowadays
it houses the picture
gallery of the
“Accademia dei
Concordi”.

13. THEATRE of Rovigo
The TEATRO SOCIALE of Rovigo was
completed in 1819 by the architect Sante
Baseggio and the painter Niccolò Pellandi,
although it was rebuilt in 1904 because of
a fire which occurred two years before.
It is considered one of the most
important Italian opera houses. It
consists of stalls, a staircase, a row of
boxes, a lodge and a gallery. The
decorations are simple and elegant. On
the parapets of the lower boxes we
find eight portraits of famous men:
Goldoni, Metastasio, Alfieri, Doninzetti,
Verdi, Rossini, Bellini e Mercadante.

14. MUSEUM “DEI GRANDI FIUMI”
The “Museo dei grandi
fiumi” deals with the
development and the
diffusion of the
archaeological,
ethnographic, cultural and
environmental heritage of
the “Polesine”, which has
always been geographically
and historically linked with
the two biggest rivers in
Italy, the Po and the Adige.

15. VENEZZE PALACE
Built in 1715, it was
the seat of the
Venezze family until
their death. During
the first world war it
was used as
accommodation for
troops passing
through the town.
Nowadays it’s the
home of the public
music conservatory in
Rovigo.

16. GRAN GUARDIA
Work on the construction of the barracks of the Guards’ Corps was
started in 1853 and ended the following year, in 1854.
The building was
designed to
accommodate the local
establishment of the
Austrian army. The
project is the work of
Venetian artist Giovanni
Battista Medusa. It
bears witness to the
Austrian domination in
the town.

17. VILLA BADOER
Villa Badoer is a villa in Fratta Polesine, near Rovigo, built
between 1557 and 1563 by Andrea Palladio for the Venetian
nobleman Francesco Badoer. Villa Badoer was declared world
heritage by “UNESCO” in 1996.
Its main body stands on a
high basement with a
staircase leading to more
ramps and two lateral ones
that connect two
“barchesse” (a kind of
barns). These barns, elegant
and curved, concretely
realized by Palladio, remind
us of open arms welcoming
visitors.

18. Giacomo Matteotti
Giacomo Matteotti was born in
Fratta Polesine, in 1885.
He took part in politics with the
socialist movement.
He dedicated his life to fighting
fascism.
For Fascism Matteotti was an
inconvenient presence.
“You might kill me, but you will
never kill my ideas”

19. Benvenuto Tisi
Benvenuto Tisi was a famous 15th-
16th century painter. For a short
period he lived in Rome. There, in
1512, he worked for Pope Giulio II
and he met the
famous painter Raffaello, who
influenced his way of painting.
In 1531 he was blind in one eye
but he continued to paint until he
became completely blind (1550).

20. Katia Ricciarelli was born in
Rovigo on 18th January 1946
from a poor family. She has
Katia Ricciarelli
been interested in singing since
she was a child. She studied at
Benedetto Marcello
School of Music in Venice.
She has been
very successful in her career, as
a lyric soprano voice, and she
has made lots of concerts all
over the world.
In an interview she said: “Silence is dangerous
because it spreads like an oil blot”.

21. Marika Zanforlin
Marika Zanforlin is 26 years old and she lives near Rovigo. She’s a
skating and ice-skating champion . She has won three National titles,
three European titles and four International titles.
“Sport is a good
opportunity for
growing
physically,
psychologically
and for getting
better.”

22. Veneto’s traditional cuisine
Veneto’s cuisine can be divided into three different
areas:
• Coastal and lagoon, with a gastronomy linked
especially to fishing products;
• Inland, linked to a cuisine based on agriculture;
• Mountainous, based on dairy products.
In particular, in the area of Rovigo there are typical
products or foods such as different kinds of lettuce
from Lusia, white garlic, clams and mussels on the
coast, rice, white melon, ciabatta bread and beans.

23. A typical local menu: First Course
Dark Bigoli
Ingredients (for 2):
200 gr. of bigoli
2 medium white onions
40 gr. of salted anchovies
extra virgin olive oil
black pepper

24. Second course
Salt cod with polenta
Ingredients for 12 people:
800 gr. of salt cod
Flour
Salt and pepper
½ glass of water
1 onion
A clove of garlic
A sprig of parsley
A glass of white wine
½ liter of milk
50 gr. of butter

25. Dessert
Crostoli ( typical carnival sweets)
Ingredients for four people:
500 gr. flour
5 yolks
90 gr. sugar
Vanilla essence
2 spoonfuls of white grappa
A liter of frying oil
Icing sugar
A pinch of salt
A grated lemon

26. Wine
Prosecco
Dry white wine
prosecco wine is an
internationally famous wine
from the area of Treviso, a town
north of Rovigo