The Museum of the Court, whose ethnographic section was officially opened on August 8th, 1998, stands in a territory that was sea-covered until the last ice age (about 10000 years ago).
Then, in the millenniums, the huge mass of alluvia carried downstram by the Po, gradually forced back the sea, creating new lands.
A rapid advancing of lands in this area took place after 1604 when, with the “cut of Porto Viro”, The Venetian Republic detoured the Po mouth towards south-east, because they feared the filling up of Venice lagoon.
More or less in the same period lots of wealthy Venetian families arrived in south Polesine (such as: the Contarini, the Venier, the Donà).
They colonized the whole region, swampy for the most part, undertaking great work of drainage that ended last century.
The Po Delta is still one of the largest and most beautiful humid areas in Europe, but it has not been properly evaluated up to now.
In 1537 the abbot Trevisan, at the time owner of the land where the Museum stands, gave his daughter Mary to the Venetian nobleman Paolo Cappello as his wife. He was given the estate as a dowry, and from that moment it was called “Polesine dei Cappello”.
The complex of the Court of Cappello of the XVII cen., was originally enclosed with a brick wall. In the north side there is the manor house, close to a long court labourer’s cottage, the warehouses and the imposing shed (used as a barn and a stable). The villagers called the shed “Vatican” (probably for the old contiguity with the dwelling of abbot Trevisan).
Between the two buildings there is the main entrance gate, where we can still see the Cappello’s coat of arms.
Beyond the gate you can catch sight of the oratory of Saint John the Baptist, built in XVII cen., and a bell tower.
In the south-east there are the remains of a tower. It was originally a four-storey building and was used as a bastion and as a carrier pigeons’ site.
The Museum is located in two farm houses of XIX cen., situated on the sides of an entrance gate leading to the Court.
The building on the left hosts the ethnographic section, with the reconstruction of a farm house with a tavern attached.
The building on the right hosts the naturalistic section and the history of Cappello’s Court.
The Museum is still new, it is growing thank to the villagers’ contribution, they make it more and more complete with objects and with their experiences of life.
The Museum is a property of the Civil Authority of Porto Viro (Rovigo) that set up a special Board at the Councillor’s Department of Tourism
It is run, by agreement, by the Cooperative Tourism & Culture, and it is included in the net of CeDi (Educational Centre of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage Department), that cooperates with lots of Boards, such as the Civic Authorities, the Province, the Government offices, the State Archive, the schools and other museums of the provinces of Rovigo, Padua and Ferrara: Museum of Long Rivers (Rovigo), Septem Mària Museum (Adria – Rovigo), Naturalistic Museum of Villa Beatrice (Baone –Padua), Geopalaeontological Museum of Cava Bomba (Cinto Euganeo –Padua), Museum of River Navigation (Battaglia Terme – Padua), Civic Museum of Natural History (Ferrara), Environmental Education Centre (Mesola – Ferrara), Museum of the Vessel (Comacchio - Ferrara).
URL: http://www.smppolesine.it / corte /eng_pagine/home.php | Last update: 05 August 2011 03:08:11