At the origins of its name there are many legends, one comes from the Etruscan period, which used the name Atrium, which in that period designated the whole area east of the sea and the city of Adia.Later also the Greeks began to use the term Adrias Kolpos, that is gulf of Adria, to indicate the upper part of the Adriatic Sea.

Other sources say that the name of the city gave rise to that of the Adriatic Sea, to which the town is now connected through the picturesque White Canal. The first traces go back to some stilt houses of the X and VI century BC, built by the Venetians in these marshy and unfriendly lands.

Over time it became a major port and contact point for trade with the Etruscans and Greeks, thus becoming one of the most important ports in the Adriatic. Trade relations continued to grow, and it soon became a very important port between Central Europe and the whole Mediterranean, including the east and Alexandria in Egypt.

A few centuries later it was conquered by the Celtic populations, coming from the region of Gaul, as evidenced by some tombs. In the following centuries the city went with losing importance, the progressive entirely of the Po Delta and the Sermide route, which modified the course of the Po river, led to the departure of the city from the sea and the difficulty in accessing the port area.

Visiting it you will find yourself in front of a typically Venetian scenery, thanks to the alleys, the elegant buildings and the suggestive White Canal that characterize it.

To see we find the Church of Santa Maria Assunta della Tomba, whose baptismal font dates back to the 8th century and its bell tower, which according to popular tradition before the reconstruction in 1928, a signal beacon of the ancient Roman port stood in its place. We also find the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is the spiritual center of the entire Polesine territory, enriched with important works of art related to worship and which preserves a Byzantine bas-relief.