comacchio
After its early occupation by the Etruscans and the Gauls, Comacchio was annexed by Rome. Under Emperor Augustus, who ruled Rome from 27 BCE to 14 CE, a canal was dug to deepen its lagoon.Comacchio enjoyed prosperity under the Goths and the Lombards, and became the seat of a duchy. When the Franks descended into northern Italy in 756, their king, Pepin the Short, included Comacchio in his famous donation of land to Pope Stephen II, a grant later confirmed by Pepin's son and successor, Charlemagne. In 854 Comacchio was sacked by the Venetians, who destroyed it in 946. The Holy See later acquired the city and presented it to the archbishopric of Ravenna.But Emperor Rudolf I conferred it on Obizzo IV d'Este of Ferrara. In 1508 it became Venetian, but in 1597 was claimed by Clement VIII as a vacant fief. In 1598 the Papal States again acquired Comacchio and retained it until 1866 when it became a part of the Kingdom of Italy.Since then, most of the swamp land has disappeared, leaving ground for the expansion of agriculture, and creating new zones for dwellings. Comacchio was once home to a factory for sugar refining, which closed in 1988.
