What surrounds Ferrara is a land of countryside and water. The look is lost between fertile plains and farmhouses and runs to the Alpine chain, distant, jagged frame of the horizon.
One of the largest historical centers in Italy, that of Ferrara is a continuous, extraordinary discovery.
The heart of Ferrara is like a huge historic village, ideal if visited by bicycle, with which you explore the center by discovering the churches, palaces and buildings of greater value, choosing little by little what to deepen.
The bicycle allows you to appreciate the elegance of the city with the right rhythm, calming down in its relaxed atmosphere and sometimes in those silences that distinguish many of its most hidden corners.
Ferrara center – photo @atsushiotanii @yallersemilia_romagna
After leaving the bike you can then give in to some purchases in the streets of the center that from Piazza Savonarola and Piazza della Cattedrale sink in other areas of ancient Ferrara.
You can start with via degli Adelardi, which overlooks the Cathedral, and via Volpanetto, to then jump into via Contrari and continue along the beautiful via Saraceno, between craft activities and old shops.
The central Piazza Trento Trieste is also full of shops, while delicatessens, herbalists, clothing stores and shoes embellish the beautiful Via Garibaldi. The heart of the city also offers a variety of bookshops and shops of typical products where you can buy local items or specialties.
Do not miss the magnificent Estense Castle in the heart of the city, a symbol of the power of the Este family. It was the Marquis Nicolò II who began construction work in 1385. The ancient headquarters of the militia, with workshops, armories, warehouses and stables, then turned into a noble residence inhabited by the lords of the city in the upper part of the castle.
Estense Castle – photo @xpottyx @yallersemilia_romagna
The visit to the apartments, the chapel, the kitchens, the prisons and the garden allows you to deepen and relive the life of the Este court, appreciating and deepening the many facets of everyday life.
Another treasure of the historic city center is certainly the Cathedral of San Giorgio, the main religious building overlooking Piazza Trento and Trieste, once Piazza delle Erbe.
San Giorgio Cathedral – photo @g_df84 @yallersemilia_romagna
The glance is striking with the white marble façade, which also features a beautiful portico supported by two columns depicting an old man and a young man seated on two lions.
The fifteenth-century bell tower, designed by Leon Battista Alberti, is in brick and covered in limestone. The interior, with three naves, is entirely in Baroque style: to see the fresco of the Last Judgment of the apsidal basin inspired by that of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.
Among the most beautiful cities in Italy, Ferrara holds an important enogastronomic tradition where the eel occupies a prominent place, typical dish of the Ferrara area and especially the nearby valleys of Comacchio, which in these parts is also accompanied by polenta and a good glass of wine from Bosco Eliceo, a dry and lovable red wine.
Ferrara center – photo @rel0_ @yallersemilia_romagna
Villages not to be missed if you’re visiting Ferrera:
But Ferrara is also one of the capitals of Emilia-Romagna, the undisputed homeland of cured meats. In these parts the meal can also be based only on cold meats, with a rolled up bacon, garlic coppa and salami, served with vegetables in oil and onions. Do not miss out on a taste of pampepato, created in the seventeenth century by the nuns of the Monastery of Corpus Domini, the delicious sweet with an intense taste based on almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, chocolate and raisins.
