Ruth Paget: Visiting Ferrara (Italy) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting Ferrara (Italy) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

My interest in France prompted me to visit Ferrara when I was in Italy with my husband Laurent recently. Ferrara under the leadership of Ercole d’Este (1433 – 1505) changed the city’s allegiances from Venice to France during the Renaissance according to the UNESCO World Heritage Site website.

Ferrara proved to be a pleasant place to walk due to the work of Biagio Rossetti (1447 – 1516). The UNESCO website relates that he built a humanist “ideal city” in Ferrara that made use of the new principles of perspective.

Ferrara did not develop from a central Roman layout as other Italian cities did. Instead its streets run parallel and perpendicular to the medieval quarter. It is easy to find your way around in this city that is located by the Po River on an ancient Roman road that leads to Padua. Defensive walls surround the city to still make you feel protected inside them.

We parked our car off the Viale Cavour – Corso Giovecca, which is the main artery through town with Corso Ercole d’Este bisecting it. Our objective was to visit the duomo, cathedral.

We walked through the town hall on the way there. According to the guide Ferrara: Art City, the Este family sought refuge in the town hall during the battles between the Guelphs, who supported the papacy, and the Ghibellines, who supported the German (Holy Roman) Emperors. The way I remember who supported whom is to remember that the “p” in Guelphs stands for supporters of the papacy. The town square had a merry-go-round set up and has a festive air for a mayor’s office.

The town hall is right across the street from the cathedral. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint George, the patron saint of the city. Saint George killed a dragon, which is symbolic of paganism. The cathedral was begun in 1135, but does not have a Romanesque façade. The pointed arches along the façade identify it as Gothic.

The interior of the cathedral is beautiful when lit by chandeliers, but they are a new addition to the interior designed by Biago Rossetti. The lights were off when we visited, but the two windows in the church cast Tenebrist glows on the architecture.

The Este Palace is just down the street from the cathedral. It is an imposing edifice that has had to withstand uprisings and not be as concerned with beauty.

There is a water-filled moat all around the Este Palace. This was an effective defense, since knowledge of how to swim was limited to the aristocracy.

Ferrara is a destination to visit for its urban planning. The principles laid down by Bagio Rossetti are still adhered to today in other cities around the world, especially the principle of planned development of urban areas.