Tourist attractions Ferrara

This Cathedral in the Romanesque-Gothic Lombard style has a beautiful tripartite façade endowed with a magnificent canopy (over the door) , decorated with a depiction of the Last judgement. You will notice on the right side of the building (where th..

With a façade embellished by bosses (8 500 “diamonds” covering its walls), this palace is the most important work by architect Biagio Rossetti , who clearly intended angularity to be the key feature. It accommodates the Pinacoteca Nazionale galler..

With its princes and patrons who were at times rather bloodthirsty (not unusual in those days), the Este family ruled Ferrara from 1208 to 1598 and certainly knew how to beautify their city. Protected by four drawbridged chatelets, the castle reflect..

A perfect conclusion to your cathedral tour is a visit to this museum which accommodates statues by Jacopo della Quercia, panels of the old organ painted by the master of the Ferrara school, Cosimo Tura (v. 1430-1495), and the magnificent 12C sc

This dwelling which has some late Gothic elements (the decorations on the ground floor of the Room of the Sibyls and the Room of the Prophets) and some Renaissance elements (the portico of the main courtyard) is a rare example of a 15C middle class h..

Bordered by palaces and magnificent houses, this shop less avenue has retained its original residential character. The cross-point with the other main street of Hercule's addition , the Angels' cross-roads (quadrivio degli Angeli), which is enrich..

Built in the late 14C and enlarged under Borso d'Este , this palace harbours the frescoes of the admirable Room of the Months . They were completed to honour this podestà, who was an effective administrator and enlightened patron. Only a part of thi..

Built in the late 15C by Biagio Tossetti but left incomplete, this palace with its attractive arcaded courtyard and lovely marble stairway accommodates the National archaeological museum which boasts a lovely collection of Attic vases and funerary ..

These three well-hidden synagogues (Fano temple, Italian temple and German temple) sharing the same building but representing separate rites were gifted to the large Jewish community (which the Este family had welcomed) by Roman banker Ser Samuel Mel..

This commercial thoroughfare, the medieval town's main street which once connected the market square (piazza Trento e Trieste) with the port of Ferrara (now replaced by the Via Ripagrande) is bordered by porched houses, which is very rare in these pa..

Giovanni Boldini who is today somewhat forgotten (1845-1931) was one of Paris's most beloved late 19C painters. In this late 16C building, oil-paintings, drawings and pastel works illustrate the Ferraran painter's development as an artist during hi..

Author of Roland the furious , and one of the first masters of Italian literature, Ariosto (1474-1533) spent all his life in the service of the Este family. His home, embellished by a garden in which the poet grew roses and jasmines, is today a cu..

This curious street is made up of volte , arches or covered passages which joined the houses of the tradespeople to their shops, which have become the emblem of medieval Ferrara.

It was Ercole I d'Este who in 1490 commissioned Biagio Rossetti to extend Ferrara northwards, creating a new area centred around two main perpendicular axes: Corso Ercole I, and Corso Porta Po, Biagio Rossetti and Porta di Mare. This large Renaissa..

It was into this town house that Marfise d'Este welcomed the Tasso who wrote Jerusalem delivered in Ferrara. Inside you will see some 16 and 17C furniture as well as some sophisticated grotesques decorating the ceiling. Do not miss the Loggia of ..

Founded in 1257 by Beatrice II of Este, this monastery is has a peaceful and serene aura about it; in the interior church there are three chapels decorated with 14-16C frescoes from the Giotto and Emilia schools.