The city that gave its name to the Adriatic
Today Adria is a small town in the Polesine, about 25 kilometres from the sea, but in antiquity it was an important port on the coast, so famous that it gave its name to the Adriatic Sea. Founded around the sixth century BC, it was a meeting point of Etruscans, Greeks and Veneti, a trading emporium where goods from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, such as painted vases, wine and oil, were exchanged with the products of the Po plain. Over the centuries the deposits of the Po and the Adige moved the coastline far to the east.
The National Archaeological Museum of Adria tells this story with finds from the city and its necropolises: a rich collection of Attic painted vases with black and red figures, Etruscan bronzes, glassware, amber and gold jewellery, and Roman objects. Its most spectacular piece is the Tomb of the Biga, an Iron Age burial with a two-wheeled chariot and the skeletons of the two horses that pulled it, found near the city. Adria also has the cathedral, with a Byzantine crypt, and the Canal Bianco that runs through the centre.
Tip: combine the visit with an excursion in the Po Delta, a short drive away; the museum is a good stop on rainy days.
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