Ferrara is a unique and special place. A city of dazzling beauty where we wanted to end our on the road between Veneto and its surroundings. The historical and geographical boundaries between Veneto and Emilia Romagna are very blurred here. After all, it is to the Este family, called by the town of Este in the province of Padua around 1200 as Guelph allies in the struggles against the Ghibellines, that Ferrara owes its splendor.
On foot for one of the most beautiful cities in Italy
When the Este moved to the city, their first home was the current Palazzo Comunale and then the fortress of San Michele, now known as Castello Estense. It was the Dukes of Ferrara who made a medieval citadel that jewel of Renaissance architecture that we admire, derived from the ambitious urban project called Addizione Erculea and today on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Streets, squares and buildings in the historic center were crowded with artists such as Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca and Tiziano, as well as great writers such as Boiardo, Ariosto and Tasso who wrote verses to pay homage to the powerful Dukes of Este.
The Castle, built at the behest of Niccolò II d’Este in 1385, was a square-plan brick defensive fortress with four towers and surrounded by a moat filled with water. During the lordship of Ercole I d’Este it became the residence of the court and in 1502 it was transformed into a sumptuous Renaissance residence, full of paintings, decorations and frescoes to host Lucrezia Borgia, who arrived in Ferrara as the wife of Alfonso d’Este, eldest son of Ercole.
We arrived there from Padua on a sunny day crossing the Po Valley which in mid-October is not yet shrouded in the autumn fog. And we were immediately conquered by the magical atmosphere of this city of gardens and vegetable gardens behind the houses, within the walls that can be crossed on foot and by bicycle, the best ways to discover the magnificent capital of the Renaissance.
The enclosure with the double row of walls, external towers, a large and spacious embankment to make the troops move faster from one point to another and a huge moat, is 9 kilometers long and represents a true open-air museum of Italian military architecture.
We walked with our Otto on the stands of this ancient defensive system which is one of the most complete wall circuits that exist in Italy, also studied by Michelangelo as a high example of military art.
Starting from the wonderful garden of the Horti della Fasanara, where we were guests during our stay in Ferrara, we walked the stretch between the Torrione di San Giovanni which overlooks the monumental complex of the Certosa, the Jewish Cemetery where Giorgio Bassani is buried, the vegetable gardens in Via delle Erbe urban countryside set in the heart of the historic center and the “Urbano” Park Bassani, former hunting reserve of the Este family, up to the Porta degli Angeli, better known to the people of Ferrara as the “Casa del Boia”.
From this gate, located at the end of the straight Corso d’Ercole I d’Este, considered one of the most beautiful streets in Renaissance Europe, Cesare d’Este, the last Duke of Ferrara, went out the city when, in 1598, it was ceded to the Papal State.
To reach the heart of the historic center we traveled the entire course, overlooked by imposing buildings, passing the Quadrivio degli Angeli, with its corners the famous Palazzo dei Diamanti and the Palazzi Prosperi-Sacrati and Turchi di Bagno.
Did the walk make you hungry? We stopped at one of Birraria Giori‘s tables to taste the local piada mixed with pumpkin and stuffed with Ferrara garlic salami sitting under the castle a stone’s throw from the moat on which this jewel of Italian military architecture is reflected with the red bricks and elegant white balustrades.
Near the Palazzo Ducale which, beyond the Volto del Cavallo, hides the ancient Cortile Ducale on which the marble windows of the Este apartments open up and where the majestic Scalone, designed by the architect Pietro Benvenuto degli Ordini, stands out in one corner.
For dinner, we offer two addresses, one in the center and the other in the urban countryside. A must to taste the “coppia ferrarese”, bread obtained from the coupling of two parts of pasta that form a four-pointed fan, local cold cuts and cheeses accompanied by pinzini and salamina da sugo with mashed potatoes, cornerstones of the kitchen traditional to taste at Cusina and Butega a stone’s throw from the Duomo.
By the way, the Cathedral of San Giorgio is the main place of worship in the city and also one of its symbols with the characteristic white marble facade with three spiers. Unfortunately it is closed for restoration work started in November 2018: a good reason to return to Ferrara!
For the second gourmet break we suggest the Agriturismo Principessa Pio, a place that represents the union between countryside and city and which takes its name from its ancient owner, Princess Margherita Pio of Savoy, a Ferrara noblewoman who lived between 1600 and 1700.
In the refined restaurant, housed in the old stables of the farmhouse surrounded by 4 hectares of vegetable gardens and gardens where you can also stay, dishes based on traditional products of Emilia Romagna, organic ingredients and artisanal products are offered in a polite way.
We would like to experience the farmhouse, restored in a modern sense but without betraying its historical soul, choosing it as a base for our next foray into Ferrara and its territory still to be discovered. We hope it will happen soon!
Horti della Fasanara
Via delle Vigne, 34
Info: +39 338 1543721
www.hortidellafasanara.com – info@hortidellafasanara.com
Birraria Giori
Piazza Savonarola, 1
Info: +39 0532 209341
www.birrariagiori.it – info@birrariagiori.it
Cusina e Butega
Corso Porta Reno, 28
Info: +39 0532 209174
www.cusinaebutega.com – info@cusinaebutega.com
Principessa Pio
Via Vigne, 38
Info: +39 0532 1716378
www.principessapio.com – info@principessapio.com
