Goods came to Spina from all over the Mediterranean. This regular grid of canals generated a Greek-style layout, with standard rectangular blocks, similar to the nearby Etruscan settlements of Marzabotto and Forcello (Mantua), or in the colonies of Magna Graecia. The main arteries consist of wide water channels, bordered by long rows of posts, and perhaps covered by bridges and walkways.

Recent surveys have revealed a rational urban standard, with orthogonal axes with north-south orientation. The settlement was founded on several emerging islets, behind the sandy dunes housing the rich necropolis.

Despite decades of archaeological excavations, we know only about a small part of the site. The settlement was discovered in the early 1960s, during land reclamation works of the Valli di Comacchio. Founded around 530 BC along an ancient branch of the Po, it prospered for three centuries.Today the archaeological site is about 12 km from the sea, but in ancient times it was located at the mouth of the Delta, at the confluence of one of the Po's main branches and a dense network of secondary Apennine waterways.

Spina was the most important port and Athens's main partner in the northern Adriatic.

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