The extreme northern Adriatic area, where the
The most ancient archaeological finds concerting the port activity in
Adria date back to the 6th century
B.C. Nothing remains of the Neolithic and Palaeolithic and there are few traces
of the Bronze Age.
However, this does not mean that the territory was not inhabited before
the 6th century B.C. as the
frequent sea breaches, floods with their alluvial deposits and bradyseism may
well have swept away or buried what remained of these civilizations under the
mud. Not only did the port have the advantage of being close to the sea, but it also lay on a
The origin of the town is a much-discussed question as our territory was
populated by several civilization, thus making of Adria a cosmopolitan town.
There are also contrasting opinions about the origin of the name. It may come
from the Etruscan word atrium, making
Adria the town of the sun or of the east. As a matter of fact the Etruscans,
like all the ancient civilizations, used to orient the vestibule of their
temples and tombs towards the rising sun.
The basic population of Adria and
of its territory was likely to be Paleo-Venetian. With the coming of the Greeks
at the beginning of the 6th century B.C. the development of the town
boomed. They probably did not settle down there but merely made Adria an
emporium, the starting-point of good towards the hinterland. At the end of the 6th
century B.C. the Etruscans arrived in
search of the power they had lost on the southern Tyrrhenian coast. Unlike the
Greeks, their major concer was land-reclamation. Perhaps they connected the
five Po mouths by a transversal canal thus making inland navigation between
Adria and Mantova possible. The decline of the port began in the second half of
the 5th century B.C. because of the growing development of Spina.
After a Syracusan period, the Celts settled down here without bringing
about substantial changes. They ended up living in harmony with the local
civilizations. In the II century B.C. the Romans settled down peacefully. In 49
B.C. Adria became municipium of the Camilia tribe. They must have held Adria in
high consideration if they equipped it with a road network as is witnessed by a
milestone discovered in 1844 next to the Basilica of the Tomb. It is possible
to read the name of the consul, Publius Popilius,who ordered the via Popilia;
linking Rimini to Aquileia, to be built in 132-131 B.C. the other significant
aspect of the Roman civilization was the continuation of the land-reclamation
works begun by the Etruscans. The first century A.D. saw the peak of prosperity
for Adria followed by its slow decay as the Roman Empire declined.
It is difficult to trace the history of Adria from the decline of the
Between the 5th and 6th centuries, after a short
Gothic domination, the relations between
The tragic events which characterized the long Gothic-Byzantine
domination, epidemics and floods such as the Rotta della Cucca (589),
heightened the importance of the bishop.
Towards the end of the 7th century, when the Franks yielded the Exarchate
grounds to the Pope, the bishop of Adria, as a direct representative of the
Pope and heir to the ancient Roman municipium, assumed the dual spiritual and
temporal authority.
With the decline of the bishops and the birth of the Comunes, Adria
enjoyed a certain autonomy. Towards 1100 the town was problaby ruled by its own
statutes and councils.
As a result of the ruinous Ficarolo Breach, which occured in the mid-12th
century, the Delta assumed its present aspect.
With the Estensi of Ferrara (13th-16th centuries),
land-reclamation works were carried on.
Nevertheless a real solution to the hydraulic problems was not attained.
After having become the battle -field
between
The Venetians were interested in the Polesine because it bordered on
The most important intervention was the Taglio di Porto Viro
finished in 1604 wich diverted a
The soul of the conspiracy was Angelo Scarsellini, backed up by the
students Bortolo Lupati, the bold Pietro Pegolini, Dr. Alfonso Turri, Don
Costante Businaro and the count Lavia. In 1866 the Polesine came to be part of
the Kingdom of Italy.
The second half of the 19th century was
characterized by mechanical land-reclamation works made possible by
increasingly powerful hydraulic machines.
At the same time cultural and social initiatives
became more frequent. But, above all, means of communication improved, solving
the problem of isolation and contributing decisively to developing trade.
Between the end of the 19th century and the First World War, Adria
became a corn market.
Besides corn, wheat, oats, rice, fruits, poultry and eggs were traded.
Goods were unloaded at the S. Andrea bridge, where the canal was deep enough to
sustaine the weight of boats, and stored in the warehouses standing along the
riviera.
During the early post-war period
and during Fascism the town continued in its role as a trade center but the
Second World War curbed its development: roads were in bud condition, means of
transport were inadequate and bridges were destroyed. The slow economic
recovery came to a halt because of the flood of 1951 that provoked an exodus
without return of many inhabitants. In order to improve economy the Ente Delta Padano divided the vast
estate into small farms which were mostly assigned to labourers.
In recent years Adria has recovered its ancient vocation of trade
centre, as is testified by Il Porto, a
complex consisting of more than forty shops.
In addition to large-scale distributions, small and medium activities
still exist in the heart of the town.
The resources of the town are trade, farming, handicraft, services and
tourism.
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