Ferrara

Just south of the castle is the Palazzo Comunale, built in 1243 r., but later rebuilt and restored many times, with the statues of Niccolò III and his second son on the facade, Borso - which, however, are 20th-century copies. The Duomo rises a little further, a mixture of romanesque and gothic styles, with a carved central portal showing St.. George (patron of the city), Madonna with Child and the Last Judgment. The interior is distinguished by the splendor of the ballroom, with shimmering chandeliers, but the real treasures are kept in the museum upstairs (codz. 10.00-12.00 i 15.00-17.00; "Optional" entrance fee). The star among the collections is a group of bas-reliefs, illustrating the works of the month, which formerly adorned the cathedral from the outside. There are also illuminated manuscripts here, two organ blinds painted by Cosimo Tura (The Annunciation and St.. Jerzy killing the dragon) and the beautiful Madonna by Jacop della Quercia.

Ercole I d Este lent his name to Corso, which runs north of the castle. He sat on the throne after the death of his father in 1441 r., who was possibly poisoned, and immediately killed everyone, that may pose a threat. The reputation of a cold man earned him the nicknames "North Wind" and "Diamond", but he undoubtedly did not fall asleep in the ashes: consolidated his power through his marriage to Lianora of Aragonese, daughter of the Spanish King of Naples, and built the northern district of the city - the so-called. The "Herculean assumption" - on such a grand scale, that Ferrara is described as the first modern city in Europe. He was not a Puritan ruler either: writers of the time celebrate many hours of feasts, when it exhibited sugar-walled castles, which the people were to cross, to reach the meat inside.
The heart of the city plan was the Palazzo dei Diamanti, a little further on the Corso on the left, named after the kara-shaped bricks woven into the facade. Today it houses the Pinacoteca Nazionale (in summer daily. 9.00-13.00 i 16.00-19.00, in winter daily. 9.30-13.00 i 15.00-18.30; 2000 L) i Museum of the Risorgimento and the Resistance (pn.-sb. 9.00-12.30 i 15.00-18.00, nd. 9.00-12.30). The museum can be forgotten, but in the richly decorated halls of the pinacotheque with carved ceilings there are works of the Ferrara and Bologna schools, e.g.. Dossi's paintings, Garofal and Guercin, and the soulful St.. Krzysztof by II Bastianino (Sebastian Philip). Around the corner, in Corso Porta Mare, there is the Civico Museo D'Arte Moderna with a small photo gallery and the Docu mentario della Metąfisica - a collection of slides showing the works of Scuola Melafisica, the proto-surrealist group, founded here in 1917 r. przez Giorgia de Chirico.

More Renaissance palaces are to the southeast of the center, in wider streets above the chaotic medieval quarter. In general, one cannot read anything from anonymous facades, at most you can see the roof garden or the courtyard behind the gate that is just closing. But a few palaces are open to the public and give some idea, what life was like for the privileged few in Ferrara's heyday. Rome House, and via Savonarola (wt.-nd. 8.30-12.30 i 15.00-18.30; 2000 L) is a building typical of its time, with frescoes and neat courtyards, and relics transferred from various local churches. Behind the palace, at number 19, there is a house, where Savonarola was born and lived for twenty years; while at the rear of the building is the Corpus Domini Church, and in it are the tombs of Alfonso I and Alfonso II d Este and Lucrezia Borgia.

In two minutes you can walk to one of the most magnificent palaces in Ferrara, Schifanoia Palace (Palace of joy) and via Scandiana. It belonged to the d'Este family and Cosimo Tura decorated it with arcadian frescoes in salone dei mesi. The curtains are down, to protect the colors, and the hall seems quiet and empty compared to that, what is happening on the walls. Borso appears in many scenes surrounded by friends and hunting dogs. There are also groups of musicians, weavers and embroiderers, at whose feet white rabbits nibble on the grass. The bands above the frescoes are adorned with zodiac signs and classic legends.

W Marflsa d'Este building on the pobliskiej Corso della Giovecca (in summer daily. 9.00-12.30 i 15.00-18.00, in winter daily. 14.00-17.00, nd. in the afternoon it closed; 2000 L; students admission free) there are more frescoes - this time by Filippi - and although the gloomy interior is much less impressive than the ensemble of Schifanoi, in summer, a loggia and an orange grove provide shelter from the heat. Toward the south, w Palace of Lodovico II Moro (pn.-sb. 9.00-14.00, nd. 9.00-13.00; 2000 L) houses the archaeological museum with the finds from Spina, a Greek-Etruscan seaport and a trading colony near Commachio, exhibited along with a boat dug in one of the prehistoric villages in the Po Delta.

Gastronomy

Just like the rest of the country, the cheapest meal in Ferrara is pizza. There are a number of good restaurants in town, but the prices are high. Lots of pizzerias can be found on via Carlo Mayr: in open hours until 1.00 Pizzeria-Gelaleria Giuseppe at number 71 pizza costs money 2000-8000 L; a very good takeaway pizza can be bought at Pizzeria Orcucci, Garibaldi Street 76. The unsophisticated Bar Trattoria Borgazzi Willman on Via Regno 31 offers a four course meal too 12000 L, and a delicious half-lunch apperativo della casa. Przy Corso della Giovecca 145 is a dingy student mensa with typical canteen lunches and dinners served six days a week, although the better alternative is probably Osteria Al Postiglione, near Corso Martin di Liberta from the eastern side of the castello. They serve homemade spaghetti there, fagioli stufati and any combinations of sandwiches on toasts, and plenty of beer and wine (open until 21.30).

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