San Rocco al Porto

The name says what the village no longer has. "Al Porto" recalls the river landing that kept San Rocco tied to the Piacenza country, to which it belonged before the Po shifted its bed and left it on the wrong bank: in 1798 it was annexed to the Cisalpine Republic and has followed the fortunes of Lodi ever since. The ferry is gone, and so are the navaroli who carried people and goods from one shore to the other. The electric tramway that from 1924 to 1944 linked it to Piacenza along the via Emilia has gone too.

Then there is the rest, which passes and does not stop. The Milan-Bologna railway runs just east of the built-up area, but there is no station within the municipality: the nearest are at Santo Stefano Lodigiano and Piacenza. The north-eastern edge is cut by the high-speed line. The Autostrada del Sole crosses the municipality, but the "Basso Lodigiano" exit lies further north, in the territory of Guardamiglio. Three thousand four hundred and sixty-four inhabitants in the province of Lodi, on the northern bank of the Po, facing Piacenza.