Comacchio salt mine, Nature reserve in Comacchio, Italy.

The Salina di Comacchio is a nature reserve located within the Po Delta Park, consisting of interconnected salt basins and wetland areas that span across the landscape. The site features shallow rectangular ponds separated by raised embankments and walkways that guide visitors through the reserve.

Comacchio supplied salt to northern Italy since antiquity, though the basins probably lay elsewhere. In the Lombard and Carolingian periods the salt works were run by the Abbey of San Colombano di Bobbio. In the late Middle Ages Venice, the Este and Ravenna fought over them; the 17th century brought papal rule. In 1808, under the Cisalpine Republic, the salina took its present form. It became a wildlife oasis in 1979 and salt production ended in 1984.

The reserve lies in the Po Delta Park and holds the only nesting population of greater flamingo in central-northern Italy. Its brackish basins also support specialised plants such as the Venetian glasswort, endemic to the upper Adriatic. On 17 July 2011 a Bonaparte's sandpiper was ringed here, the first recorded in Italy.

The reserve covers about 600 hectares of salt basins within the Po Delta Park, and salt production there ended in 1984. The site is a protection oasis for wildlife established in 1979, so access is oriented to birdwatching rather than bathing or walking on the basins. Bring binoculars and sun protection, since the open embankments offer little shade.

The site hosts large populations of migratory and nesting birds including flamingos, herons, and cormorants that use the salt basins for breeding and feeding. This congregation of species makes it an exceptional location for bird watching and photography.