Emilia-Romagna · Ferrara
Comacchio
A canal town on thirteen islets, with brackish lagoons that hold three hundred bird species.
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 24 min from Bologna
- Population
- 22,017
Known for
EEL FISHING
Eel has anchored the local economy since the Middle Ages; the Manifattura dei Marinati restored the seventeenth-century works where the catch was grilled and marinated.
VALLI DI COMACCHIO
Brackish lagoons of around 11,000 hectares with over 300 bird species, including resident pink flamingo colonies, inside the UNESCO Po Delta site.
TREPPONTI
Five-staircase bridge of 1634, designed by Luca Danese of Ravenna, joining the centro storico to the navigable canal that runs out to the sea.
IGP ZONES
The commune also lies inside the Asparago verde di Altedo and Salama da sugo IGP production zones.
When to visit
Best · May–Sep
- J8°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J27°
- J29°
- A29°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 29° and coldest in January at 8°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Cassiano di Imola, 13 August
Why come
Comacchio sits at sea level fifty kilometers east of Ferrara and forty south of the Adriatic delta proper. The town passed through Etruscan hands, then Byzantine rule under the Exarchate of Ravenna, then the Duchy of Ferrara, then Papal government until unification, a succession that left the centro storico layered rather than uniform. The lagoons that surround it formed from tenth-century subsidence and later silting, and now run as a protected area inside the UNESCO inscription that covers the historic Ferrara plain, linking the town to the wider delta rather than setting it apart.
The old town itself is water-built: thirteen islets tied together by bridges, canals threading between the Loggia del Grano and the Loggiato dei Cappuccini, with the bridge acting as the hinge where the inland waterways meet the canal running out toward the sea. What the layers of rule left behind in stone, the lagoon and the tides have kept in motion around it: a town whose center is inseparable from the water that surrounds it, built up in pieces by whoever governed it at the time.
The Sunday letter
Comacchio is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Comacchio comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Comacchio in our articles
The best coastal towns within two hours of Padua6 towns, Comacchio among them.
The best towns that cure their own meat within two hours of Padua6 towns, Comacchio among them.
The best hot-spring towns within two hours of Rimini7 towns, Comacchio among them.
The best hot spring towns in Emilia-Romagna8 towns, Comacchio among them.
How to get there
From Bologna (BLQ), about 1h 21m by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 hours away.
By car from the centre of Padua 1h 43m.
Coming by train into Ravenna? Comacchio is about 42 minutes away by road.
What to see
Ponte dei Trepponti
Built around 1638 by Luca Danese of Ravenna, the bridge is the meeting point of three internal canals with the canal Pallotta and the symbol most visible from the water.
Valli di Comacchio
The lagoon opens flat to the horizon at the edge of the Po Delta, its surface broken by fishing stations and the pink of the resident flamingo colonies.
Museo Delta Antico
Archaeological museum opened in 2017 inside the eighteenth-century Ospedale degli Infermi, with finds from the Etruscan necropolis of Spina.
Manifattura dei Marinati
The restored works retain the original Sala dei Fuochi, where the eel catch was grilled over open fire before marination.
Centro storico on canals
Old town built on thirteen islets joined by bridges, with the Loggia del Grano and the Loggiato dei Cappuccini lining the central canals.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Comacchio fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Through the year
What happens here
Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.
Festa di San Cassianopatron saint's feast
usually held in August. TrovaSagre
Eel Festivalfood festival
usually held between September and November. sagritaly.com
Sagra dell'Anguillafood festival
usually held across September and October. itinerarinelgusto.it
Living here
- Population 22,017
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Bologna, 1 h 21 min drive
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 24 min drive
Thermal baths in town: Centro del Benessere Termale "Thermae Oasis" SPA.
Common questions
- What is Comacchio known for?
- Comacchio is a canal town on thirteen islets, with brackish lagoons that hold three hundred bird species.
- Where is Comacchio?
- Comacchio is a comune in the province of Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna, at 0 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Comacchio?
- Bologna (BLQ), about 1h 21m by car.
- How long is the drive from Padua to Comacchio?
- About 1h 43m by car.
- When is the best time to visit Comacchio?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 10 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Comacchio?
- Yes. Festa di San Cassiano, Eel Festival and Sagra dell'Anguilla. August is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Comacchio?
- Gallipoli, Roseto degli Abruzzi and Polignano a Mare.
- How many people live in Comacchio?
- 22,017 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 0 m
- Population: 22,017
- Surface area: 284.13 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
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