Things to see in Ferrara
Many of the landmarks in this fascinating little Emilia-Romagna town have links with the eccentric Dukes of Este, the somewhat chaotic aristocracy that ruled the town and had their court here in the Middle Ages. The Este were a major power during the Renaissance and enthusiastic patrons of the arts, commissioning pieces by artists including Mantegna, Jacopo Bellini and Pisanello, and poets such as Torquato Tasso and Ariosto. The lack of an heir in the 18th century forced the Estes to hand the town over to the Papacy. The once thriving town fell into neglect, with deserted streets and fouled up canals, a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Today though, Ferrara is a tidy little city, the hub of a productive and affluent fruit picking area. And of course, being in Emilia-Romagna it has superb food and some very good restaurants. It’s also the birthplace of one of the world’s great film directors, Michelangelo Antonioni and the home to the Ferrara Balloons Festival, one of Europe’s biggest hot-air balloon shows.
* The Castello Estense, sits within a moat in the centre of town. Built in 1385 to protect the ruling Este family from their rioting subjects, it’s a massive brick building (lauded as a triumph of military engineering in its day. It was restored in 1554, at which point the pavilions atop the building’s towers were added.
* The medieval town walls, more than 9km of them, and mainly raised by the Este in the 1400s and 1500s.
* The Palazzo Municipio, built in 1243, and with statues of Nicolo III and Borso, sons of the first Este ruler of Ferrara, Nicolo II. These are merely 20th century reproductions of earlier statues, though you wouldn’t know it. Within is the Piazza Municipio, a very pretty courtyard.
* The Duomo is a cathedral in a mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The carved central portal by Wiligelmus, who also created Modena cathedral, was created over a century from the mid-1100s. Superb carving of The Last Judgement - suitably grotesque with tortured figures being punished in Hell and rising from their coffins.
* The Museo della Cattedrale has a set of bas-reliefs showing the labours of the months, a typically medieval motif. These were rescued from their former home on the exterior of the Duomo. See also the illustrated manuscripts, illustrated organ shutters by Cosimo Tura, the first of St George slaying the dragon, another of the Annunciation, and a Madonna by della Quercia.
* The Jewish Museum, with guided tours only, so check for times and dates. Ferrara, like so many Italian cities, has a small and very long-established Jewish community. There are a number of synagogues too.
* The shopping centred on the warren of alleyways that comprise Ferrara’s medieval heart: including the attractively tumbledown facades of the Piazza Trento e Trieste, the Via San Romano and the Via delle Volta.
* Pinacoteca Nazionale: this museum has works from the Bologna and Ferrara schools, including paintings by Garofalo, Dossi, Guercino and Sebastiano Filippi.
* The palaces: The Palazzo Schifanoia, or ‘Palace of Joy’, was the grandest of the Este palaces, with fresoes by Cosimo Tura depicting the Este court at the centre of an Arcadian idyll. The strangely tranquil Salone di Mesi or ‘room of the months’ is kept shuttered to stop the frescoes fading. The main player within these frescoes is Borso, son of Nicolo II, out hunting with dogs and members of the court. The Palazzo di Marfisa has frescoes by Filippi, while the Palazzo di Lodovico Il Moro has the archeological museum. See too the Palazzo dei Diamanti, from the diamond-shaped bricks studding its facade.
* Monastero di Sant’Antonio in Polesine with frescoes and paintings after Giotto. You have to knock at the door of the monastery to be admitted by the nuns. A truly lovely place.
* The Ferrara Balloons Festival only started in 2005 but is growing very quickly. Each September the balloons make a spectacular sight above the towers of the medieval city.
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