The river village of Loreo and Antiquarium

❝The picturesque village of Loreo has been the centre of intense river traffic for centuries. Despite its current position far from the sea, it is a cornerstone of the history of inland water navigation. Loreo’s fortunes were tied to those both of the Roman Empire and of Venice, and the latter’s influence comes to life in the historic centre, which is crossed by a navigable canal reflecting multi-coloured houses in a network of calle (Venetian alleys).❞

The ancient Portus Lauretis (later known as Lauretum) was built in 225 BC halfway between Adria and the sea, close to the Romea road which for centuries was the route of pilgrims and crusaders, and close to an important navigable waterway. Its history was therefore firmly linked to Venice which, from the end of the 15^th century, designated it as a military bulwark and strategic trading hub of the entire Delta, making it the protagonist of complex and deep hydraulic transformations of the territory, which are still clearly visible today.
A dense network of narrow streets leads to Piazza Longhena, the historical and symbolic heart of Loreo, which still preserves its ancient and noble appearance. Here you will find the cathedral, built in 1658 and dedicated to the Assumption, designed by the architect Baldassarre Longhena, author of the famous Chiesa della Salute (Our Lady of Health) in Venice. Not to be missed is a visit to the Oratory of the Holy Trinity, home of the Flagellant Confraternity, founded in 1603 and holder of an ancient devotional tradition.
Dressed in scarlet hooded habits, on the night of 14^th June, the "fradèi" (brothers) still repeat the annual procession that takes them to the Church of Our Lady of the Pillar (Madonna del Pilastro), one of the oldest in the Polesine area, located in the hamlet of the same name.
Overlooking the canal, in the Civic Tower of the Municipality of Loreo, is the Antiquarium museum, which presents the materials found from the archaeological excavations of the Roman rustic villa of Corte Cavanella. This large and valuable villa, which stood on a salt marsh near a lagoon and near a navigable canal that put it in direct communication with the sea, was, thanks to its particular position, a strategic trading post both for maritime-river traffic and for land traffic. It is also possible to associate this villa with the Mansio Fossis, mentioned in the itineraries of the ancient world: a posting station located along the north side of the Roman Via Popilia. A part of this small but suggestive museum is dedicated to boats and river navigation in the ancient world, in the light of the important discovery at Corte Cavanella of two Roman wooden boats.
From Loreo, the historic capital of the Delta in the age of the Venetian Republic, following the canal that crosses it, we reach Tornova, where there is a simple and elegant seventeenth-century Venetian villa, with an adjoining rural court. In Tornova you can also admire what remains of the old navigation basin, bordered by fine Istrian stone, and used by the boats of the Serenissima Republic of Venice to pass from the sea and from the coastal lagoons to the river ways of the vast inland Po Plain. A plaque bears silent witness to this dense history of trade with a table listing the price of tolls charged on transported loads.