Ferrara - Abbazia Santa Maria di Pomposa

North of Comacchio lies the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria di Pomposa (founded in the seventh century), of importance during the Middle Ages but abandoned in the 17th century because of the prevalent malaria. The church, built in the eighth-ninth centuries and enlarged in the 10th-11th centuries, has an impressive atrium and a campanile 48m/158ft high; inside are a mosaic floor and 14th century frescoes. Near the church are the chapter-house with well-preserved frescoes, the refectory (c. 1420) and the Palazzo della Ragione (now a college of agriculture).