The last big town of the Po valley, on the edge of the delta, Rovigo looks out on flat fertile meadows intersected by irrigation canals. Few tourists come here: perhaps the drab landscape puts them off. But it is a new experience to stroll the main streets and squares of a large Italian town among people totally preoccupied with local affairs. Two fine palaces stand close together on Piazza Grande (which is officially Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II): the Rovigo and the Roncale. The ‘rotonda’ shape and clean lines of the Madonna del Soccorso church with its elaborate Longhena campanile recall a Palladian villa. Its interior is a showcase of Venetian art, nothing very wonderful.

Like Ferrara, this city has had ups and downs, corresponding to the capricious switching of channels of the Po and Adige rivers. Since they have been tamed, Rovigo has prospered and is the ‘capital’ and commercial centre of the Polesine (or delta) districts.