Small Towns Among Reclaimed Lands: New Urban Settlements in the Po Delta Region

The contribution aims to reflect on the small settlements that arose in the Modern Age in the Basso Polesine region in Veneto. In this area, the course of the Po River generated lands that for centuries were subjected to land reclamation and water regimentation operations. The most important municipalities in Basso Polesine originated during the Venetian republic period: the interest of many noble families intensified from the be-ginning of the 17th century, after the detour of the Po River through the Porto Viro Cut (1600-1604). Between the 17th and the 18th centuries, the Venetians’ investments in the Po Delta were accompanied by the construction of villas, called Ca’, to manage the territory: in some cases communities sprang up around them and over the years they turned into small towns. These spaces were connected to Venice, where the central power remained and the owners continued to live. Using sources and historical carto-graphy, the paper proposes an analysis of the organization of this region, which was inserted in the shadow of a well-structured network that referred for a long time to Ve-nice and after its fall to the rich bourgeois families who acquired the lands. Only a few villas became towns: among the most interesting examples, Porto Viro, formed by the municipalities of Donada (Donà family) and Contarina (Contarini family), and Porto Tolle, having as its municipal seat the village of Ca’ Tiepolo, will be considered.

Giulia Becevello, Piccoli centri tra terre di bonifica: nuovi insediamenti nel territorio del Delta del Po in "STORIA URBANA " 177 Suppl./2024, pp 43-68, DOI: 10.3280/SU2024-Aisu20135