Day trips by car / Comacchio and its beaches

Half day History Art Nature

Pomposa and Mesola: the abbey of musical notes and the Este castle

Pomposa Abbey with its 1063 bell tower and 14th-century frescoes, the Este Castle of Mesola and Torre Abate.

Along the Via Romea, towards the Po. Pomposa was an island between the branches of the river and the sea, with a Benedictine abbey where the monk Guido d'Arezzo gave names to the musical notes. Further north, on the edge of the Bosco della Mesola, the last Duke of Ferrara had a hunting lodge built that worried Venice.

L'Abbazia di Pomposa con il campanile — Photo: Patrice78500, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Length from Bologna6 h 25 Long half day
Driving3 h 25 · 230 km there and back
Visits and stops3 h 00
When to goAll year round (the abbey is closed on Mondays)

Long half day: leave early or skip one visit.

The plan from Bologna

08:00
Leave Bologna for Pomposa Abbey1 h 25 driving, 100 km
09:25
Pomposa Abbey1 h 30 of visits: Pomposa Abbey, Palazzo della Ragione
10:55
Drive on to Mesola15 min driving, 12 km
11:10
Mesola1 h 00 of visits: Castello Estense della Mesola
12:10
Drive on to Torre Abate10 min driving, 6 km
12:20
Torre Abate30 min of visits: Torre Abate
12:50
Drive back to Bologna1 h 35 driving, 112 km
14:25
Back in Bologna

Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.

What you will see

1Pomposa Abbey

Pomposa Abbey 70 min

The church of Santa Maria was consecrated in 1026 and has the appearance of a Ravenna basilica, with the atrium decorated in terracotta and marble by master Mazulo. Inside you'll find the mosaic and marble inlay floor, laid between the 6th and 12th centuries, and walls covered with 14th-century frescoes by the Bolognese school, with the Christ in Majesty by Vitale da Bologna in the apse. The bell tower, 48 metres high, dates from 1063: as you climb, the windows increase from one to four, to lighten the tower and carry the sound of the bells far and wide. In the monastery are the Chapter House and the Refectory, frescoed by artists close to Giotto, and the Museo Pomposiano. Here Guido d'Arezzo gave names to the notes: ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la.

Closed on Mondays (open only for worship); on Sundays from 11am to 12pm the church is reserved for Mass. From September 2026 there is building work in the nave: some parts cannot be seen.

Palazzo della Ragione 5 min

Opposite the abbey, the palace where the abbots administered justice over the monastery's lands.

Viewed from outside.

2Mesola

Castello Estense della Mesola 45 min

Built between 1578 and 1583 for Alfonso II d'Este, the last Duke of Ferrara: square plan, four crenellated towers and surrounding porticoed buildings, halfway between fortress and luxury villa. It is one of the Este Delizie in the UNESCO site of Ferrara and the Po Delta. It was enclosed by nine miles of walls in a large hunting reserve, and Venice feared that the Este were preparing a new port city. Inside you'll find the exhibition on the Este dream and the Museum of the Wood and the Mesola Deer.

Closed for works until the end of August 2026, reopening not yet confirmed: ask the Mesola tourist office before going.

3Torre Abate

Torre Abate 20 min

A 16th-century hydraulic work commissioned by Alfonso II to drain the valleys: beneath the tower building five canals pass under vaulted ceilings, closed by Vincian gates that the water pressure itself keeps shut. When Venice moved the mouth of the Po in the 17th century, it became a guard post. Today it stands in the middle of a stretch of water and reed beds, near the Bosco della Mesola.

Always visible from outside, free.

Tips

The Bosco della Mesola, the holm oak reserve on ancient dunes where the Mesola deer live, has its own opening days and times: check before adding it to your itinerary.
On the first Sunday of the month the abbey is free: there are more people, so the morning visit is better.

The same trip from other towns

How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.

Ravenna, Faenza and Cervia

Rimini and the Riviera

Forlì and Cesena

Bologna and its province

Comacchio and its beaches

Pesaro and Fano

With your own car

Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town

This trip with a driver

Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.

Ask Romagna Transfer

More trips in the Comacchio and its beaches area

All the trips

Trips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.