Comacchio -Italian lagoon town little changed over centuries
The Trepponti Bridge is Comacchio's most famous landmark; it's a bridge complex where 5 canals come together and was built in 1638; I was surprised at how many people were riding bikes since all of the bridges are made with brick steps
The 17th century Wheat Loggia was built to house the public granary on the first floor and meeting rooms for conducting business on the second floor; sitting on the main square, the loggia still attracts men who sit and drink coffee while socializing
The town, with 21000 residents (seemed like much less), could easily be seen in an hour; it lacks the monumental buildings of Venice and the charm of Burano and suffers from being in a relatively isolated location
This fish processing facility is now a museum focused on the town's former dominant industry, eel-processing; for centuries the way Comaccho workers processed, preserved and marinated eel was unaltered
The Sanctuary of Santa Maria in Aula Regia was constructed in the 17th century; since the town is surrounded by water, most of the churches are dedicated to the Virgin Mary since it was thought that she would protect them from any dangers from the water
The Chiesa del Carmine is the oldest church in town, built at the beginning of the 17th century; most of the current bridges date from the 18th century; it's tough to tell in the photo but the bell tower is leaning due to subsidence
Inside the Church of the Rosary was this statue from the 1600s of the Madonna of the Rosary; there were no Baroque churches in Comacchio with most predating that period and/or stripped of any original embellishments
This clock tower is an 1825 construction to replace the original 14th century clock tower than fell in 1814; there are many popular beaches just east of Comacchio so most visitors are day-trippers who travel by car
This impressive building was actually the Hospital for the Sick, completed in 1784; the logistics of getting to Comacchio seemed unnecessarily complicated; people at the train office said to take a bus while bus drivers said to take a train and then make one change and take a bus the rest of the way
Comacchio was founded 2000 years ago and is called 'Little Venice' because it is also built on islets connected by bridges and has retained most of its architecture over time; I was not as impressed since there were just not any impressive sights
The Cathedral of San Cassiano dates from 1740 and anchors the town's main square, Piazza XX Settiembre; the town, 30 miles east of Ferrara, is built on 13 islets connected by brick bridges
Palazzo Bellini, built in the mid 1800s, is one of the few palazzos in town and is now the public library; I can see Comacchio being among the towns where you can buy a house for $1 if you commit to repairs since there were plenty of empty properties
This seemed like a very lazy way to fish since you go out to your shack, throw the net in the water and bring it back in; the water was quite murky but I did see some crabs in it but no eels; the beaches on the Adriatic are only 4 miles east
The Porticato dei Capuccini was built in 1647 and contains 143 arches; it links the town to the Sanctuary of Santa Maria in Aula Regia; Comacchio is part of the Ferrara UNESCO World Heritage Site
This featured blog entry was written by VagabondCowboy from the blog The frugal travels of a vagabond.
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