Castello and other Rovigo, Italy Things to Do Tips

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 whole castle area is under work, within major renovation works of the Corso del Popolo street. It looks like the result will be good: hopefully it will be eventually possible to climb to the top of the higher tower (as it was when my dad was a child); this could contribute to the development of tourism in Rovigo.

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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.
My father told me that, when he was a child, people could climb to the top of Torre Donà. Hopefully, when the current works are finished, this will be possible again...

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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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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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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!

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Address: Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II

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.

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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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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 located 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.

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Address: Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II

You must have a look and possibly take a picture of the wonderful sottoportico (this noun refer to the porch under a loggia: can anyone suggest the English equivalent?) of Palazzo Nodari with its imposing arches and the elegant balustraded staircase.
One of these arches (I think it is the one in the second picture) is named "the arch of failed students", as it seems that students who walk under it will fail the current school year. I heard this story at school and I don't believe it so much, but some superstitious students may think it is true.

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Address: Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II

The Accademia dei Concordi is the oldest academy of Rovigo and one of the most important of the region. It hosts a library and has many rooms with beautiful paintings. I suggest you should visit it if you can. Moreover, it used to house a remarkable collection of paintings by local artists, but they were moved to Palazzo Roverella in October 2007.
The neoclassical facade of the palace (see photo), located at one corner of the square, next to Palazzo Nodari, was made by local artist Sante Baseggio in 1814.

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Address: Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
Directions: next to Palazzo Nodari
Website: www.concordi.it