Parco del Delta del Po

Comacchio

Fishing, Fish and eel growing, cane working and salt production were the sources of its prosperity and non prosperity, caused by the unequal struggle with its most powerful rival, Venice.

Disagreement between Ravenna and Ferrara, Comacchio after a brief period of being a commune became part of the Estes.Then became part of the Pontifical State that in the 1600's was the climax of its urban renaissance.

Even if the land reclamations of the second post-war period have modified in a consistant way the plant of the city, its still strongly characterized by water, by the canals that take the place of the roads,by the bridges that join the districts, by block houses that face the canals and hide the passage ways that go to the inside courtyards where a time was used for the recuperation of the boats and sewing of the fishing nets.

The light shaded pastel colors of the small buildings is a feature of the lagoon maritime city that are sometimes interrupted to give place to the illustrious episodes of the civil and religious architecture going back since the 1600's and1700's.

From these there's the St. Cassiano Cathedral with an original steeple. (XVII century)

Other cult places are the Chiesa (church) del Carmine, the Chiesa del Suffragio and the Chiesa del Rosario and the Chiesa of S. Maria found in Aula Regia, joined to the historical center by the long archway of the Portico of the Capuccini.

Another interesting building is the loggia del Grano, a 1600 public goods warehouse, not far from the XIX cent.Torre dell'Orologio (Clock tower)

Joined by the Bridge of the Sbirri, rise the Ex hospital of St. Camillo (XVIII cent.) and the Bellini Palace (XIX cent.), the main cultural activity center of the city, where a great Roman ship found in a recent campaign digging is perserved.

The Trepponti is the most picturesque bridge of Comaccchio designed by the architect Luca Danese and near it rises the beautiful Pescheria "fish market"(1600). The Trepponti bridge is the point of confluence of five canals and is the symbol of the city with wide stairways and mighty arches.

There are numerous attractions near Comacchio: The Archeological Zone of the Etruscan Era (the town of Spina zone,a Greek-Etruscan emporium flourished between the VI and III B.C.),Roman (along the Argine Agosta, a road that links Comacchio with the hamlet Anita of the commune of Argenta, running through the valley waterways and the land reclamation of Mezzano),Paleochristian (old Pieve of St. Maria in Padovetere findings); the beach resorts of the seven Comacchian lidi (maritime towns), Lido di Volano, Lido delle Nazioni, Lido di Pomposa, Lido degli Scacchi, Portogaribaldi, Lido degli Estensi and Lido di Spina. they are found along over 20 kms. of sand coasts that in the extreme north and south present environmental situations of great relief, like Volano and the Vene of Bellocchio at the Reno's mouth; the extraordinary Comacchio Valleys that is made up of 10,000 hectares of waterways, salines and dossi that represent what rests of the large lagoon that surrounded it until 100 years ago or so. They are visited by a guided route that winds for some casoni of the old valley building and admire a winning panoramic of the Argine Reno, that is found in the southern part of the coast and can reached on foot or by bicycle.

Trepponti

It's formed by five wide stairways with arch curves on canals with on top an Istrian stone columns and two small towers. It was used to join the inside canal net with the ones that went to the sea.

On the bottom of the bridge there's a small square where an old pescheria (fish market) can be seen and not far away the Bridge degli Sbirri another singular handmade structure projected by Luca Danese.

Ex Hospital of St Camillo

The central part of the front in portico style, with four big brick columns that hold a triangular gable. It has two steeples and a small church dedicated to St. Peter.

Bellini Palace

Portico of the Capuccini

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