Pomposa Abbey

A masterpiece of Roman art, the massive bell tower of Pomposa Abbey, 48 metres high,  heralds its arrival from afar. Dating back to the 6th- 7th Century it was the site of the first Benedectine monastic Community in the Insula Pomposiana, a wooded island surrounded by two branches of the river and protected from the sea.

The Pomposa monastery welcomed illustrious figures of the time such as Guido d’Arezzo, the monk who invented musical writing based on a 7-note system.

The Church of Saint Mary features a Giotto – inspired fresco that forms part of one of the most famous collections in the province. You can also admire the wonderful mosaic floor with inserts of prized marble that date back to between the 6th and 12th Centuries.

The Cloister, the Palace of Reason, the Refectory, the Chapter and the Pomposa Museum with its finds from many disappeared abbeys, are on the side.

Opening time:

The Abbey complex is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 8.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. (ticket stall closes at 6.45 p.m.).

Closed on Monday.

The Church is open every day at the same time as the  Abbey complex.

Tickets:

. Full from Tuesday to Saturday € 5,00

. Full every Sunday and religious holidays € 3,00

. Reduced rate tickets (for over 18 and under 25, for the resident in the European Union only) from Tuesday to Saturday € 3,00

. Reduced rate tickets (for over 18 and under 25, for the resident in the European Union only) on Sunday and religious holidays € 1,50

. Free admission under 17

. Every Monday  the Church is free

. Every first Sunday of the month, the visit to the Abbey complex is free

Information:

Tourist Information Office of Pomposa Abbey

Via Pomposa Centro, 1 – 44021 Pomposa di Codigoro (FE)

Phone: 0533 719110

E-mail: iat.pomposa@comune.codigoro.fe.it – info@deltawelcome.it

Facebook page: PomposaAbbaziaIat and Deltawelcome

The Bishop’s Palace

The Bishop’s Palace, built in the 10th century,  was named  Domus Dominicata .  Around 1700, the use of the building was conceded to the family of Count Cestari of Chioggia, and in 1732, it was restored in Venetian style. After the second half of the 19th century, the Cestari family gave it to the Bishop of Comacchio, which explains its present name: the Bishop’s Palace. The building is now  the “Giorgio Bassani” Library of Codigoro, where is kept a special collection of works of the ferrarese writer.

Information:

Giorgio Bassani Library

Riviera Cavallotti, 27 – 44021 Codigoro (FE)

Tel. 0533 729585 – 729586

Sito web: Codigoro – Bishop’s palace

Codigoro Pumping Station

The pumping station of Codigoro is one of the most important example of industrial hydraulic archeology in Italy. The first pumping station was built in the middle of the eighties, when it was begun the work of the draining of thousands of hectares of brackish soil. The second hydrovor, the most magnificient in Europe, was built in 1911.

Information:

Codigoro Pumping Station

Via per Ferrara, 2 – 44021 Codigoro (FE)

Sito web: Ferrara – Hydropower Plants

Garzaia

The Garzaia of Codigoro, known as the “City of herons”  is  one of the largest and  most significative colonies of herons in northern Italy. It’s a small wood of about 8 hectares where herons, little egrets, great white herons, night herons and gray herons live. This naturalistic area is located betweeen the sugar factory, now closed, and the pumping station.

Information and guided visit:

Oasis Naturalistic Garzaia of Codigoro

Via per Ferrara, 18 – 44021 Codigoro (FE)

Mobile: 349 3592339; FB page: Oasi Garzaia

Bosco Spada

Bosco Spada is an area of about 10 hectares, whose width extends until Pomposa Abbey. This forest is what remains of a holm oak scrub, which rose up on a sandbar known as  Celletta. The  small Spada Wood is completely free  and accessible through many dirt tracks.

Oasi di Canneviè e Porticino

The Oasi di Canneviè and Porticino are 64 hectares small brackish valleys considered one of the most suggestive areas of the Park. A small number of purple herons, little bittern and great reed warblers nest here. Particularly characteristic of the area are the fishing house of Porticino and the old fishing station at Canneviè. It’s free and  open every day from sunrise to sunset.

Tower of Finance

The current building, located in a more internal position compared to the previous Este era was commissioned by Papal States in 1739 and built for the armed defense of the harbour and to excercise  control trafficking at the mouth of Po di Volano. It’s free to visit during exibitions and  events.

Chiavica dell’Agrifoglio

Chiavica dell’Agrifoglio is one of the oldest hydraulic buildings that can still be seen today in the province of Ferrara. Built to clean up the waters of the Galvano canal, it was built in 1600 and enlarged in 1700 on a bend of the Po di Volano, replacing the Chiavica Volano destroyed in 1672 by the storms.

The Mouth of Po di Volano

The mouth of Po di Volano consists of  reed thickets and brackish valleys. It’s the ideal nesting place for many birds as coot, moorhens and mallard duck.  The vegetation in characterized by rushes and reeds.