Tom`s travels: Ferrara (25/09/2018)

After finding out that there was a cheap bus by the company Marino bus from Vicenza to Ferrara I did not hesitate in taking the chance to see this city which I always managed to postpone visiting. After taking the early ride from the bus station I reached the destination 2 hours later. After heading towards the old town, which is extremely large, I passed by the Church of San Domenico, finding out only once in front of it that it was closed still due to the earthquake which had hit the area in 2012. I continued on and walked through Piazza del Municipio, a small square which used to be the courtyard of the Palazzo Municipale, one of the first ducal residences of the house of Este. Built during the 13th century the main facade on the other side, facing the Piazza Trento e Trieste is from that period while the rest was refurbished during the 15th century including the Scalone d'Onore built in 1481 as a majestic entrance staircase. The palace now serves as the city town hall and faces the Cathedral which I then proceeded to visit. Built during the 12th century it features a beautiful Romanesque white marble structure while the interior was highly refurbished during the 17th century in the Baroque style. Unfortunately, the facade which was the epitome of the Romanesque part of the complex was covered in scaffolding due to ongoing restructuring. I was a bit upset but nonetheless decided to at least see the inside. As mentioned, the interior was a fully Baroque style, made after a fire which damaged the earlier structure in the 18th century. After visiting the cathedral I then decided to walk further and walked along a street called Via delle Volte. This medieval street used to be a typical feature of the city and only this one has survived intact through history. As its name suggests it consists of a tight alley which features several arched buildings covering the street along the way. After reaching the end of the street I then walked a little further and eventually arrived at the Monastery of Sant'Antonio in Polesine set in the southeastern end of town right by the city walls. It is a very ancient church, built during the middle ages by Augustinian Hermits on an island surrounded by the Po river. As time passed and the city of Ferrara grew the river was moved north and thus the monastery came into the city limits. The present structure of the building is from the 17th century and in a Baroque style with several features from its earlier times. Access inside was not simple, I luckily arrived at the right time, in fact, I was supposed to ring a bell and wait. A nun then came to open and I asked if I could visit the church's interior; she agreed and then led me to the monument. She gave me a tour of the church and of the amazing frescoes of the school of Giotto, made around the 14th and 15th centuries. Stories from Jesus' young age and his passion stood alongside other less religious ones which were becoming quite in vogue in that period. As the nun spoke the bell rang again so she left me alone for a little bit while she checked who had arrived. I took the chance then to admire the frescoes closely and take lots of pics, which I assumed was forbidden as they would probably wish to sell their postcards and gadgets instead. After the old nun came back, she finished the explanation and then let me exit outside of the monastery. From there I headed through some streets and reached the church of Santa Maria in Vado, dating to the 15th and 16th centuries. Inside is a beautiful mix of Renaissance and Baroque style with lavish marbles and colorful paintings. The church is also an important pilgrimage site due to a Eucharistic miracle which occurred in 1171 when the blood spurted from the host during mass. I also had a look at the Renaissance cloister which held the typical form of the arches so common in this area. After that I then headed north and reached Casa Romei, a 15th-century palace holding a museum. The palace was built by a merchant who married into the Este family and was able to transform his residence into a lavish mansion. The museum, in fact, consisted of the palace's rooms, several of which with most of the original decorations and frescoes, with some archaeological and medieval objects on display. I enjoyed admiring the interesting mix between Gothic and Renaissance structures and features. After the visit to the museum, not far ahead, I then entered the Basilica of San Francesco, also receiving some renovations due to the earthquake, it was partly open and I could admire the nice Baroque interior. From there I then continued on and after a bit of walking reached the Palazzo dei Diamanti, built at the end of the 15th century and one of the most celebrated examples of Renaissance palaces all over the world. It is noteworthy for its peculiar form consisting of an exterior wall made of some eight thousand white and pink marble blocks in the form of diamonds, hence its name. The palace was part of a larger urban design which took place around 1492 when, due to the growth of the city, Duke Ercole I d'Este had the architect Biagio Rossetti redesign the whole area to the north of the city. The medieval walls were torn down and planned buildings and streets were laid out following geometric lines, a Renaissance novelty compared to the intricate streets of the middle ages. This plan was celebrated as the so-called Addizione Erculea, from the duke's name, as used as an example of urban planning all over Europe. I then decided to enter the palace and visit the National Gallery hosted on one half of the Palace. As I entered, I found out though that large part of the exhibition was closed off due to restructuring and that meant just that just four rooms were open for visits. Nonetheless, the tour was nice and started with a large room consisting of paintings from the 13th and 14th centuries some of which were frescoes from the local church, and then continued on to later paintings from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries made by local artists. As I finished the tour I then headed back out and walking further reached the Ferrara Charterhouse. As I approach, though, I found out it was also closed due to renovations which meant just admiring its Renaissance structure from the outside. The church was part of a large complex which consisted of the monumental cemetery thus allowing me to circle the church and admire the view. I was starting to get hungry so I decided to head back to the core of the city where I stopped at a small kiosk called Mordicchio which served the typical pancotta, known as piadina in the rest of Italy. I took one with cheese, a local salami, and rucola and took it to go. I walked then again through the medieval Via delle Volte and reached then the National Archaeological Museum. Hosted inside a large and impressive Renaissance palace called Palazzo Costabili, it is considered as one of the city's major attractions. Its large collection of objects comes mainly from the digs of the ancient city of Spina, a very important Etruscan town in the area and a major commercial hub. As I walked through the rooms I admired the many interesting objects, from Greek vases to typical Etruscan bronze jewelry. I also admired the rooms themselves which many still had the original frescoes and decorations from the Renaissance period. The main floor on the second floor also hosted a nice display of old and new maps of the area made during the Fascist period. As I walked back down I then visited probably the most beautiful room in the palace: the Sala del Tesoro, as it is known. The ceiling features a beautiful and impressive trompe-l'oeil from 1506 and painted with extreme detail and wonderful colors. Right next to it, another room contained, in a dark setting, the remains of two well-preserved pirogues dating to the 4th century B.C. As I then walked through the palace's gardens I met two Brazilian ladies who were surprised in hearing me speak Portuguese so well and asked a bit about the city and the surroundings as they were just passing by. I told them it was a very nice city and luckily devoid of nearly any tourists, particularly at this time of the year. After finishing to visit the museum I then headed out and in the direction of the main square. After passing by the Cathedral once again, I reached the impressive Castello Estense, a peculiar medieval castle sitting in the middle of the city and still surrounded by its original moat. Built during the 14th century, it consists of a large fortified central block with four corner towers. As I crossed the drawbridge, I bought the ticket and entered the building. Being it the most famous attraction of the city meant that it was full of tour groups, mostly consisting of old people from the surrounding region, so that meant I had to push through to be able to continue on. The tour started at the ground floor which consisted of four gothic rooms and the kitchens. Then through a narrow corridor, I then continued on and entered the rooms which once served as the castle's dungeons which had seen also important figures of the time imprisoned there too. A stairway then led upstairs to a small terrace known as the Garden of the oranges, because of the fact that as it is nowadays, a group of orange trees was kept here to take advantage of its southernly position. The view from there was also really nice being able to see the square adjoining the Palazzo Municipale. Once back inside, I then continued on through more rooms including the Ducal chapel, and other rooms named following their use. These were a big contrast to the spoil and gothic rooms from downstairs as these ones, being on the so-called piano nobile, were used by the Dukes and thus lavishly decorated in the Renaissance style. I then reached a part which enabled one to go up one of the four corner towers, however, that required an extra ticket and that meant pushing my way backward through large groups to reach the ticket office and back up there. I decided to skip as also the last entrance up the tower was closing in the next five minutes. I had toured the whole complex and was happily satisfied with the visit. It was time for me to head back out and to the bus station where I then caught the bus which brought me back home.