Ariano nel Polesine has 4,554 inhabitants and is the southernmost comune of the Veneto, on the island of Ariano, inside the Po delta. Its shape is almost a geographical joke: it stretches for some forty kilometres, from Santa Maria in Punta to the sea, but in its last stretch it is only a few hundred metres wide, and at Ca' Vendramin it narrows practically to the embankment alone. The most singular thing, though, is another: its land is still growing. After the Porto Viro cut, the work with which the Venetian Republic diverted the Po and which was finished in 1604, the delta has gone on advancing, and together with Porto Tolle and Porto Viro this is the only Italian territory that is still getting bigger.
The name comes from Atria, that is today's Adria, the Etruscan city that also gave its name to the Adriatic Sea. In Roman times the via Popilia passed through here, and the Peutinger Table marks a posting station at this very spot. Recent excavations in the Polesine have turned up deposits of Baltic amber: a strong sign that the port of San Basilio, together with Adria and Spina, was one of the terminals of the amber road, the one that ran from northern Europe down to the Greek colonies. And then there is the cold: in January 1929 the Po froze, and photographs of the time show people and carts crossing it on foot over the ice.
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📅 Every year, on 5 August, included in the town feast
Ariano nel Polesine celebrates Saint Mary of the Snows on 5 August, the parish's patronal feast included within the town feast. The co-patron, Saint Cajetan, is celebrated on 7 August.
📅 Every year, on 7 August, with the Ariano Fair since 1690
Ariano nel Polesine celebrates its co-patron, Saint Cajetan of Thiene, on 7 August, with the Feast and Fair of Ariano capoluogo. The Fiera di Ariano, of medieval origin, was established in 1690.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Ariano nel Polesine, but an easy day trip away.
