Rovigo

Rovigo (Italian pronunciation: [roˈviːɡo] , Venetian: [ɾoˈviɡo]; Emilian: Ruig) is a city and commune in the region of Veneto, Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, 80 kilometres (50 mi) by rail southwest of Venice and 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-southwest of Padua, and on the Adigetto Canal. The comune of Rovigo extends between the rivers Adige and Canal Bianco, 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of the Adriatic Sea, except the frazione 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 and Ferrara. Rovigo (both Rodigium and Rhodigium in Latin script) appears to be first mentioned in a document from Ravenna 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 viscounts of Rovigo built a line of brick walls in the 1130s in the name of the House of Este. 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 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, 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 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 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 in 1866; in the same year it was connected by railway to Padua, Ferrara, Verona (through Legnago), and Chioggia (through Adria). In the 1900s the first modern industries were established, the most important of which was a sugar refinery. In 1927 the territory of the comune was extended including close municipalities. 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 and it has been in Italy since 1946. In the 1950s and 1960s Rovigo had a dramatic development and it had the highest urbanization rate among the towns in the Veneto region after World War II.

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Rovigo is it’s a stopover point on The Via Romea Germanica. You can reach Civitas Vaticana - Città del Vaticano in 29 days.