ROVIGO, a city of Italy, the chief town of a province, and the seat of the bishop of Adria, lies between the Po and the Adige, and is traversed by the Adigetto, a navigable branch of the Adige. By rail it is 27 miles south-south-west of Padua. The architecture bears the stamp both of Venetian and Ferrarese influence. The cathedral church of Santo Stefano (1696) is of less interest than La Madonna del Soccorso, an octagon (with a fine campanile), begun in 1594. The town-hall contains a library of 80,000 volumes belonging to the Accademia de' Concordi, founded in 1580, and a picture gallery enriched with the spoils of the monasteries. Wool, silk, linen, and leather are among the local manufactures. The population of the city proper was 7452 in 1871 and 7272 in 1881; the commune in 1881 had 11,460 inhabitants.

Rovigo (Neo-Latin Rhodigium) appears to be mentioned as Rudigo in 838. It was selected as his residence by the bishop of Adria on the destruction of his city by the Huns. From the 11th to the 14th century the Este family was usually in authority ; but the Venetians who obtained the town and castle in pledge between 1390 and 1400 took the place by siege in 1482, and, though the Este more than once recovered it, the Venetians, returning in 1514, retained possession till the French Revolution. In 1806 the city was made a duchy in favour of General Savary. The Austrians in 1815 created it a royal city.