The Museum of the Long Rivers that belongs to the Civic Administration of Rovigo, was officially open on April, 20, 2001. It continues and develops the activity of the former Civic Museum of Polesine Civilizations, founded in 1978. It has been using and evaluating the old Olivetan Monastery of Saint Bartholomew, since a complex and radical restoration work took place.
The Monastery was founded in the XIII century and was abolished in the time of Napoleon. Between the XVI and XVII cen. the existence of the Olivetan Order allowed the widening of the building to the present dimension, with two cloisters - one of which houses a beautiful well curb - and two courtyards. It is one of the most important architectonical complexes of Rovigo and Polesine.
The new Museum is meant to be inserted in a plan of evaluation of Polesine. It highlights the history and environment peculiarities of the territory of the province of Rovigo - hemmed in between the final stretches of the longest Italian rivers and characterized by the Po Delta. It opens a propositive dialogue and a constructive cooperation with local, Italian and European cultural institutions concerned with river environments and deltaic areas.
It is an innovative Museum that uses advanced technologies to communicate information to the public: in fact, beside the traditional series of glass cases and finds,
there are virtual reconstructions, computers, stage settings, dioramas and scale models that take the visitors to an imaginary journey through the basic stages of their history.
The general project of the Museum of the Long Rivers, supported by the Municipality of Rovigo and by the Veneto Region, together with the fruitful collaboration of the Archaeological Superintendence of Veneto, has reached so far the completion of the sections related to the Bronze, Iron and Roman Ages by presenting archaeological materials found during the explorations of the high and middle Polesine. The set up of a new permanent exhibition dedicated to the Middle Ages is currently under study.
This section will analyse the recently acquired historical and environmental knowledge related to the new hydrographic structure of the POLESINE between the VI and the XII century A.D.
The exhibits of the first three sections of the museum recall important archaeological sites covering a long period between the II millennium B.C. up to the II century A.D.
The Bronze Age section opened to the public in May 2004, the third section of the exhibition presents the POLESINE anthropization frame during Roman times, between the II century. B.C. and the II century A.D. It also illustrates the gradual expansion of the Empire and the export of the Urbe cultural, social and economic models to the conquered territories. In this section the visitor has the possibility of entering a rebuilt rustic Villa inspired by the documents found at the archaeological site of Chiusano (Gaiba - Ro). One of the rooms, organized for educational tours, is furnished with scale size models and multimedia devices showing some examples of the most known monuments of Roman architecture and of technological developments in the areas of building, hydraulic and mechanical engineering.
The research
The museum is actively involved in the archaeological and paleoenvironmental research in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendence of Veneto and with the Universities of Ferrara, Pavia, Padua and Bochum.
The POLESINE seen from the sky
Aerial photography is a basic research instrument used for reconstructing the evolution of the Padanian territory and allowing for the coordination of elements that seen from ground level appear as isolated. Regarding the Polesine, amazing results emerged after the air recognitions conducted by the Museum of the Long Rivers during its periodical flights with ultra light planes and hang gliders. The air images together with the archaeological research have contributed immensely to the understanding of the last four thousand years of the area in-between the Po and the Adige Rivers. They allow for the reconstruction of the important phases of the hydrographic evolution and of the territorial interventions carried out in antique times, among which centuriations and street tracks
On the first floor of the restored Olivetan Monastery of Saint Bartholomew there is a sixteenth-century setting, embellished with decorative frescos, that contains a surface of 2000 square metres used as exhibition area.
The old dormitory and the monks’ cells have been adapted to host the scenery, the virtual reconstructions, the computers and the show cases for archaeological finds.
The Personnel of the Museum of the Long Rivers consists of permanent staff of the Civic Administration and out house partners for the administration, for teaching, archaeological, scientific activities and for restoration work.
It collaborates with other Cultural Institutions and Associations of Polesine and with the Local Authorities, the Veneto Region, the Veneto Archaeological Objects Department, the Universities of Padua, Ferrara, Pavia, and the University of Bochum (Germany).
URL: http://www.smppolesine.it /grandifiumi /eng_pagine/home.php | Last update: 11 November 2011 06:03:44