In the part of the Delta which begins at Porto Viro and also in other wetland areas where the Po flows into the Adriatic Sea a legend has taken shape over the space of a few decades. It tells of the reptile men who have existed for thousands of years and are similar to crocodiles in human form who live in the muddy waters of the river and have webbed hands and feet, long nails, long snouts and scaly skin. The crocodile-man of the Po, of whom there are depictions created according to certain testimonies, is a slippery creature which attacks only if it has to but its appearance is terrifying.

It is rumoured that it was due to this terrible creature that the American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft was inspired to create some of the most frightening monsters in his stories. Lovecraft had experienced a mysterious stay in Loreo in 1926: there he had stumbled by chance upon a diary at a bookstall which told of the amphibian men and a secret ancient cult which took shape for millennia between the reeds and mud islands of the Delta.

If the presence of these creatures between the Delta river is certain then where they come from still has to be established: some say they are ancestral creatures who have lived on earth since ancient times when the dragons and unicorns filled the skies and woods. However others maintain that although ancient, the presence of the crocodile-men is due to colonisation by other worlds.

For information:
IAT Rovigo
Tel. +39 0425 386290
www.provincia/rovigo.it