Valli di Comacchio
The brackish lagoons within Parco del Delta del Po dell'Emilia Romagna represent one of the most extraordinary European ecosystems. They cover over three thousand and five hundred hectares and are a naturalistic heritage shaped both by water and by man. Valli di Comacchio look like a large lagoon overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Separeted from it by the coastal strip, they are delimitated on the north by the course of Po di Volano and on the south by the river Reno.
Already declared “Wetland of international Importance ”, they are included in EEC directives as “Sites of Community Importance” and “Special Protection Areas”for Birds conservation.
With their shallow and brackish water, Valli di Comacchio represent the ideal habitat for many species of aquatic bird. As matter of fact, these areas are important for wintering, nourishment, and nest building: Flamingos, Avocets, Spoonbills, Sherducks, Black-winged Stilts, Slender-billed Gulls, and Mediterranean Gulls are the species which can be easaily sighted out of the three hundred and twenty that have been registered. The brackish lagoons are difficult environment for plants to live in, but not for halophytes. Her the Glasswort, the Common Sea Lavander, the Sea Aster.
The lagoons, appropriately adapted by man to promote fishing, are the ideal environment for the eel, which today is still caught as it was in the past, by using fish weirs (the so-called lavoriero): an ingenious arrow-shaped system made of barriers and movable gates situated at the mouth of canals linking the Lagoons to the sea. The characteristic lodges called Casoni – fishing or watching lodges – represent examples of local architecture, indissolubly linked to lagoons and water.
The Salt Pan in Comacchio, adjacent to the core of Valli di Comacchio, consists of basins characterized by by entirely natural shapes and features, winding banks, and protruding hillocks used to collect sea water. The first evaporation took place in the ancient mouth of Po di Eridano, which flowed in the north of the Lagoons. These salt pans have now been recovered to produce salt for cultural and touristic proposal. These salt pan represents a very particular ecosystem characterized by “extreme”environmental conditions.
“Manifattura dei Marinati” situated in Comacchio historical town center, is a Park visitor center and the seat of workshop dealing with the “Traditional marinated eel from Comacchio Lagoons”.
The facilities include the Fire Room (Sala dei Fuochi), with its twelve chimneys used to cook eels, the Vinegars' Room (sala degli aceti) with tuns and barrels, the Frying Room (Friggitoria), and the so-called Calata, a landing place for boats.
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By boat you can reach three lodges in the lagoon: Casone Coccalino, with its typical watchtower where watchman lived; Casone Pegoraro and Casone Serilla a big fishing station characterized by the presence of two structures, called “cavana” and “tabarra”, the former used as a boat house or dockyard, the latter as a shed. A route witnessing the history of these places and giving the opportunity to grasp, between nature and culture, the lagoon atmosphere, admiring the vegetation and the several birds you can sight flying over your head or along the banks.
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