Adria
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- This article is about the town. For the asteroid see 143 Adria. For the airline see Adria Airways. For the caravan and motorhomes producer see Adria Mobil.
The Etruscan city of Atria (or Adria) underlies the modern city, three to four meters below the current level. Atria (or "Hat") gave its name at any early period to the Adriatic Sea, to which it was connected through channelsThe Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites quoting Strabo (5.1.8)), consider that Adria derived its name from the Adriatic Sea. . Atria and Spina were the Etruscan ports and depots for Felsina (Bologna).
History
The Etruscan-controlled area of the Po Valley was generally known as Padan Etruria (Padan refers to the Po River), as opposed to their main concentration along the Tyrhhenian coast south of the Arno. The Villanovan culture, named for an archaeological site at the village of Villanova, near Bologna (Etruscan Felsina), flourished in this area from the 10th century until as late as the 6th century.Mass Celtic incursions into the Po valley resulted in friction between the Gauls and Etruscans, and also intermarriage, attested by epigraphic inscriptions where Etruscan and Celtic names appear together.
Pliny the Elder wrote about a system of channels in Atria that was, "first made by the Tuscans [Etruscans], thus discharging the flow of the river across the marshes of the Atriani called the Seven Seas, with the famous harbor of the Tuscan town of Atria which formerly gave the name of Atriatic to the sea now called the Adriatic." Pliny's "Seven Seas" were interlinked coastal lagoons, separated from the open sea by sandspits and barrier islandsTwo bands of sand dunes east of the city mark the former sea front in Etruscan-Greek times, and in Roman times.(Princeton Encyclopedia). The Etruscans extended this natural inland waterway with new canals to extend the navigation possibilities of the tidal reaches of the Po all the way north to Atria. As late as the time of the emperor Vespasian, shallow draft galleys could still be rowed from Ravenna into the heart of Etruria.
Under Roman occupation the town lost importance to the former Greek colony Ravenna as the continued siltation of the Po delta carried the seafront farther to the east. The sea is now about 22 km from Adria.
Later the city was ruled by the Este family.
See also: Bishopric of Adria
Main sights
- The Old Cathedral, with Byzantine frescoes from the 8th century
- The New Cathedral, with a Byzantine art Crucifix, a Byzantine relief (6th century) portraying the Virgin and Archangels.
- The Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta della Tomba, housing terracotte sculptures by Michele da Firenze (15th century) and baptismal font from the 8th century.
Fractions
Baricetta, Bellombra, Bottrighe, Ca'Emo, Ca'Tron, Campelli,Canareggio, Canton, Canton Basso, Capitello, Case Beviacqua, Case Matte, Cavanella Po, Chiavica Pignatta, Corcrevà, Fasana Polesine, Fienile Santissimo, Forcarigoli, Isolella, Mazzorno Sinistro, Montefalche, Palazzon, Passetto, Piantamelon, Sabbioni, San Pietro Basso, Tiro a Segno, Valliera, Voltascirocco.Miscellanea
"Adria - (Acts 27:27; R.V., "the sea of Adria") gave its name to the Adriatic Sea, in Latin Mare (H)Adriaticum, including in Paul's time the whole of the Mediterranean lying between Crete and Sicily. It is the modern Gulf of Venice, the Mare Superum ('Upper Sea') of the Romans, between Italy and the Balkans, as distinguished from the Mare Inferum ('Lower Sea') i.e. the Tyrrhenian Sea (so named after the Tyrrhi, i.e; Etruscans) west of Italy."Notes
Sources
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia.
- This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.
External links
- [Northern Etruria]
- [Etruscan Engineering and Agriculture]
- [International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]: "Adria"
- [Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976:] "Adria (Atria), Veneto, Italy
| Adria | Ariano nel Polesine | Arquà Polesine | Badia Polesine | Bagnolo di Po | Bergantino | Bosaro | Calto | Canaro | Canda | Castelguglielmo | Castelmassa | Castelnovo Bariano | Ceneselli | Ceregnano | Corbola | Costa di Rovigo | Crespino | Ficarolo | Fiesso Umbertiano | Frassinelle Polesine | Fratta Polesine | Gaiba | Gavello | Giacciano con Baruchella | Guarda Veneta | Lendinara | Loreo | Lusia | Melara | Occhiobello | Papozze | Pettorazza Grimani | Pincara | Polesella | Pontecchio Polesine | Porto Tolle | Porto Viro | Rosolina | Rovigo | Salara | San Bellino | San Martino di Venezze | Stienta | Taglio di Po | Trecenta | Villadose | Villamarzana | Villanova Marchesana | Villanova del Ghebbo'' |
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