La Loggia del Grano e la Torre Civica

In the centre of the city in Via Ugo Bassi one can see the Civic Tower an the Wheat Loggia. At one time the Tower and the Loggia stood between the magnificent Piazza Bridge which was demolished in 19th century. Beneath this arched bridge the water flowed from San Pietro crossing the town from north to south into Carmine Port in Valle Isola.  The waterways while following their course have their own names. The largest canal in the centre was called Marchesina Canal as was the street parallel to it (now called Via Edgardo Fogli). Here was the seat of the temporal power of the governon and spiritual power of the Bishop of Comacchio. 

Loggia del Grano, is one of the first papal works of the 17th-century renovatio urbis, it was built during Cardinal Giacomo ‘a legation (1615-1623).

Istrian-stone columns and brick pillars supported the rectangular hall of the granary the on upper floor. The simple brick-faced exterior has neatly framed square-cut openings that lighten its appearance. It has recently been attributed to the Ferrarese architect Giovan Battista Aleotti, known as Argenta.

The tower may be the 19th-century reconstruction of an ancient 14th-century tower that collapsed in 1816. Set in the semicircular niche is a beautiful stone statue of the Madonna and Child, perhaps from the seventeenth century. The tower has been equipped with a mechanical clock since 1872.