What to see in Comacchio, an itinerary to discover little Venice, with its valleys and islets separated by canals, including the places of greatest interest, including Lidi Ferraresi, the loggia of the wheat, the clock tower and the Cathedral of San Cassiano.
Tourist information
Located in the province of Ferrara, Comacchio is an incredibly suggestive place, famous for its eel-populated valleys and for the panoramic views it offers.
Some consider it a small Venice, as it is built on thirteen islands separated by canals and joined by eleven bridges.
Comacchio was very important during the Middle Ages, thanks to its naval fleet, which was one of the largest in the Adriatic.
Today Comacchio is a famous place for fishing for eels and oysters, with a tourist flow focused mainly on the Lidi Ferraresi, or its seven hamlets located along twenty-five kilometers of coastline.
Among the places and monuments to visit in the historic center are the Merchants or Wheat loggia, the fourteenth-century Clock tower and the Cathedral of San Cassiano, dating back to the eighth century but rebuilt in 1600 on a project by Angelo Cerutti.
What see
The Comacchio Cathedral, dedicated to San Cassiano, has a beautiful facade made almost entirely of brick, except for the capitals, the pilasters, the plinths of the pedestals and the middle cornice, which are all made with Istrian stone.
Next to the cathedral stands the bell tower, built on a project by the architect Giorgio Fossati in 1751.
The interior of the single-nave cathedral includes six chapels on each side, inside which are preserved valuable paintings by artists of the Bolognese school of painting, the wooden crucifix by the Ferrarese sculptor Germano Cignani and the sculpture of Saint Lucia, school work Venetian.
The apse is very interesting, embellished by a remarkable eighteenth-century marble altar, including winged angels and a wooden statue of the patron San Cassiano.
In the apse there is the wooden choir, equipped with a double order of stalls and donated by the bishop of Arcano.
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Above the entrance portal is the organ, built in Modena in 1728.
The church of Santa Maria in Aula Regia includes a convent, where the Marian Museum of Contemporary Sacred Art is located.
The archaeological area of Spina is located about twenty three kilometers from Comacchio, an ancient sixth century Etruscan center located at the mouth of the Po.
