Ferrara
Ferrara is a city, an archiepiscopal see in
Emilia-Romagna,
Italy, capital city of the
province of Ferrara.
It is situated 50 km north-northeast of
Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the
Po river, located 5 km north. The town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the
14th century, when it hosted the court of the
house of Este.
 |
Street in the Renaissance town center. |
Modern times have brought a renewal of industrial activity. Ferrara is on the main rail line from
Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to
Ravenna,
Poggio Rusco (for
Suzzara) and
Codigoro.
The origin of Ferrara is uncertain; it is unlikely that it occupies the site of the ancient
Forum Alieni, as some suppose. It was probably settled by the inhabitants of the
lagoons at the mouth of the Po. It appears first in a document of the
Lombard king
Aistulf of
754(?), as a city forming part of the
Exarchate of
Ravenna. After
984 it was a
fief of
Tedaldo,
count of
Modena and
Canossa, nephew of the emperor
Otto I. It afterwards made itself independent, and in
1101 was taken by siege by the countess Matilda. At this time it was mainly dominated by several great families, among them the
Adelardi (or Aleardi).
In
1146,
Guglielmo Adelardi, the last of the Adelardi, died, and his property passed, as the
dowry of his niece
the Marchesella, to
Azzo VI d'Este. There was considerable hostility between the newly entered family and the
Salinguerra, but after considerable struggles
Azzo VII Novello was nominated perpetual
podestà in
1242; in
1259 he took
Ezzelino of
Verona prisoner in battle. His grandson,
Obizzo II (
1264â€"
1293), succeeded him, and he was made perpetual lord of the city by the population. The house of Este was from henceforth settled in Ferrara. In
1289 he was also chosen as lord of
Modena, one year later he was made lord of
Reggio.
Niccolò III (
1393â€"
1441) received several
popes with great magnificence, especially
Eugene IV, who held a council here in
1438. His son
Borso received the title of
duke for the imperial fiefs of Modena and Reggio from emperor
Frederick III in
1452 (in which year
Girolamo Savonarola was born here), and in
1471 was made
duke of Ferrara by
Pope Paul II.
Ercole I (
1471â€"
1505) carried on a war with
Venice and increased the magnificence of the city.
During the reign of Ercole I, one of the most significant patrons of the arts in late
15th and early
16th century Italy after the
Medici, Ferrara grew into a cultural center, renowned especially for music. Composers came to Ferrara from many parts of Europe, especially
France and
Flanders;
Josquin Des Prez worked for Duke Ercole for a time (producing the
Missa Hercules dux Ferrariæ, which he wrote for him);
Jacob Obrecht came to Ferrara twice (and died during an outbreak of
plague there in
1505); and
Antoine Brumel served as principal musician from
1505.
Alfonso I, son of Ercole, was also an important patron; his preference for instrumental music resulted in Ferrara becoming an important center of composition for the
lute.
Alfonso married the notorious
Lucrezia Borgia, and continued the war with Venice with success. In
1509 he was
excommunicated by
Pope Julius II, and he overcame the pontifical army in
1512 defending
Ravenna.
Gaston de Foix fell in the battle, in which he was supporting Alfonso. With the succeeding popes he was able to make peace. He was the patron of
Ariosto from
1518 onwards. His son
Ercole II married Renée, daughter of
Louis XII of France; he too embellished Ferrara during his reign (
1534â€"
1559).
His son
Alfonso II married Lucrezia, daughter of grand-duke
Cosimo I of Tuscany, then Barbara, sister of the emperor
Maximilian II and finally
Margherita Gonzaga, daughter of the
duke of Mantua. He raised the glory of Ferrara to its highest point, and was the patron of
Tasso and
Guarini, favouring, as the princes of his house had always done, the arts and sciences. He had no legitimate male heir, and in
1597 Ferrara was claimed as a vacant fief by
Pope Clement VIII, as was also
Comacchio.
During the reign of Alfonso II, Ferrara once again developed an impressive musical establishment, rivaled in Italy only by the adjacent city of Venice, and the traditional musical centers such as
Rome,
Florence and
Milan. Composers such as
Luzzasco Luzzaschi,
Lodovico Agostini, and later
Carlo Gesualdo, represented the
avant-garde tendency of the composers there, writing for gifted virtuoso performers, including the famous
concerto di donne — the three virtuoso female singers
Laura Peverara,
Anna Guarini, and
Livia d'Arco.
Vincenzo Galilei praised the work of Luzzaschi, and
Girolamo Frescobaldi studied with him. Visitors came to hear the spectacular productions of the Este musicians, the activities of which mostly ceased in
1598 with the demise of the Este court.
A fortress was constructed by
Pope Paul V on the site of the castle called "
Castel Tedaldo", at the south-west angle of the town. The town remained a part of the
states of the Church, the fortress being occupied by an
Austrian garrison from
1832 until
1859, when it became part of the
kingdom of Italy.
The town is still surrounded by more than 9
kilometres of ancient walls, mainly built in the 15th and 16th centuries[
1].
The most prominent building is the square
Castello Estense, in the centre of the town, a brick building surrounded by a
moat, with four towers. It was built after
1385 and partly restored in
1554; the pavilions on the top of the towers date from the latter year.
Near it is the
hospital of Santa Anna, where the poet
Torquato Tasso was confined during his attack of insanity (
1579â€"
1586).
The
Palazzo del Municipio, rebuilt in the
18th century, was the earlier residence of the Este family. Close by it is the cathedral of
San Giorgio, consecrated in
1135, when the
Romanesque lower part of the main
façade and the side façades were completed. It was built by
Guglielmo degli Adelardi (d.
1146), who is buried in it. The upper part of the main façade, with arcades of pointed arches, dates from the
13th century and the portal has recumbent lions and elaborate sculptures above. The interior was restored in the
baroque style in
1712. The
campanile, in the
Renaissance style, dates from
1451â€"
1493, but the last storey was added at the end of the
16th century.
 |
Castello Estense |
A little way off is the
university, which has faculties of
law,
architecture,
pharmacy,
medicine and
natural science; the
library has valuable
manuscripts, including part of that of the
Orlando Furioso and letters by
Tasso. In the university took their degree
Nicolaus Copernicus (
1503) and
Paracelsus.
Ferrara has many early Renaissance palaces, often retaining
terracotta decorations; few towns of Italy as small have so many, though most are comparatively small in size. Among them may be noted those in the north quarter (especially the four at the intersection of its two main streets), which was added by Ercole I in
1492â€"
1505, from the plans of
Biagio Rossetti, and hence called the
Addizione Erculea.
Among the finest palaces is
Palazzo dei Diamanti, so named for the
diamond points into which the facade's stone blocks are cut. It houses the National Picture Gallery, with a large collection of the school of Ferrara, which first rose to prominence in the latter half of the
15th century, with
Cosimo Tura,
Francesco Cossa and
Ercole dei Roberti. Noted masters of the 16th century
School of Ferrara (Painting) include
Lorenzo Costa and
Dosso Dossi, the most eminent of all,
Girolamo da Carpi and
Benvenuto Tisio (il Garofalo).
The
Archivio Storico Comunale contains a relevant amount of historical documents, starting from 15th century. The
Archivio Storico Diocesano is more ancient, mentioned in documents in
955, and contains precious documents collected across the centuries by the clergy. Many libraries also enrich this town, which possesses a cultural heritage of extraordinary importance.
Other sights include:
* The
Cathedral (
12th century)
* The historical
theatre * The
Certosa * The church of
San Francesco (by
Biagio Rossetti)
* The church of
San Benedetto* The church of
Santa Maria in Vado* The church of
San Domenico * The church of
San Paolo * The church of
San Giorgio * The Renaissance church of
San Cristoforo* The
Palazzo Schifanoia, built in
1385 by
Alberto V d'Este. It includes frescoes depicting the life of
Borso of Este, the signs of the
zodiac and
allegorical representations of the months. The
vestibule was decorated with
stucco mouldings by
Domenico di Paris of
Padua. The building also contains fine choir-books with miniatures and a collection of coins and Renaissance medals.
* The
Palazzo della Ragione ("Palace of Reason"), built in
Gothic style in
1315-
1326 (the original one has been destroyed during
World War II).
* The simple house of
Ludovico Ariosto, erected by himself after
1526, in which he died in
1532.
Ferrara hosts also some
synagogues and a
Jewish Museum, in the heart of the mediæval centre, close to the cathedral and the Castello Estense. This street was part of the
ghetto in which the Jews were separated from the rest of the population of Ferrara from ca.
1627 to
1859.
Tha famous friar
Girolamo Savonarola and the musician
Girolamo Frescobaldi were both born in Ferrara in
1453, as well as the painters
Giovanni Boldini (
1842) and
Filippo de Pisis (
1896).
Apart Tasso and Ariosto, the other notable Renaissance writer
Matteo Maria Boiardo worked here. The list of painters and artists living in Ferrara must be completed with the names of
Andrea Mantegna,
Giovanni Bellini,
Leon Battista Alberti,
Pisanello,
Piero della Francesca,
Rogier van der Weyden,
Battista Dossi and
Titian of course.
The
Ferrara Bible was a translation of the Old Testament into
Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish) by Sephardic Jews and dedicated to Ercole II.
Ferrara was the seat of the famous novel
Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini, by
Giorgio Bassani, and of its movie adaptation by
Vittorio De Sica (
1970).
Wim Wenders and
Michelangelo Antonioni's
Al di là delle nuvole (
1995) and
Ermanno Olmi's
Il mestiere delle Armi (
2001), about the last days of
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, were also shot here.
The
Palium of St. George is a typical medieval feast held every last Sunday of May. The
Buskers Festival is a non-competitive parade of the best street musicians in the world. In terms of tradition and dimension it is the most important festival of this kind.
After the municipal elections on
June 12th and
13th 2004, the division of the 40 seats in the Ferrara city council was as followed:
*
Democratici di Sinistra - 15
*
Forza Italia - 8
*
Alleanza Nazionale - 6
*
La Margherita - 2
*
La Rosa nel Pugno - 2
*
Io amo Ferrara - 2
*
Rifondazione Comunista - 2
*
Comunisti Italiani - 2
*
Verdi per la pace - 1
