Explore a city so lovely that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ferrara is a large city in Northeast Italy. It’s known for its many palaces and urban landscape from the Renaissance. It was that Renaissance city design that got UNESCO so interested in Ferrara. I don’t plan my trips around going to UNESCO sites. However, a place having a UNESCO site does make trip planning a much easier. You rarely can go wrong with one.
Jana Irving Starting in the main plaza, Piazza della Cattedrale. The Cathedral of Ferrara has one very interesting facade. It’s a mix of Romanesque and Gothic designs. There is a gorgeous Gothic loggia underneath that scaffolding.
Jana Irving The interior is completely Baroque due to an earlier fire. The cathedral had just reopened to visitors a few days before my visit.
Jana Irving Very, very Baroque. Not like there’s anything wrong with that.
Jana Irving The apse is just gorgeous.
Jana Irving Across from the piazza from the cathedral is the Torre della Vittoria. Love that building.
Jana Irving Continuing on to the side of the cathedral. This facade is insane.
Jana Irving I love all these brick buildings.
Jana Irving Awesome view.
Jana Irving Moving on. Ferrara was a fun city to just walk around in.
Jana Irving Look at how cute this street is!
Jana Irving Santa Maria in Vado. Gorgeous church.
Jana Irving Temple of the Most Precious Blood. According to legend, a miracle happened here involving the Eucharist. The church became a pilgrimage destination.
Jana Irving Gorgeous.
Jana Irving Museo di Casa Romei, a Renaissance palace from the 14th century.
Jana Irving The courtyard and logge (plural of loggia) were entirely decorated with frescoes.
Jana Irving The interior was also decorated with frescoes and fancy ceilings. This room was decorated with images of animals. A monkey is on the fireplace.
Jana Irving One of those fancy ceilings.
Jana Irving This room on the ground floor had some interesting frescoes depicting Sybils (prophetesses).
Jana Irving “Room of the Prophets.” According to the exhibit sign, the fresco depicts the haloed heads of the Prophets peeing out from the foliage of trees of different varieties within a garden. I’m confused as to why the Prophets were hanging out in the trees to begin with.
Jana Irving I love that little fresco at the top of the building.
Jana Irving Back at the Piazza della Cattedrale from a different direction.
Jana Irving The archway leads to another piazza, Piazza Cortevecchia.
Jana Irving Which has this ridiculous staircase.
Jana Irving Nearby is the Castello Estense di Ferrara.
Jana Irving This 14th century castle even still has its moat!
Jana Irving I actually visited the castle last, but let’s go in now.
Jana Irving Drawbridge!
Jana Irving It’s a large museum covering local history. It also has a dungeon.
Jana Irving View from a terrace.
Jana Irving Some of the rooms are decorated. Most aren’t as fancy as this chapel. (I am so glad I now have a wide angle lens for tight spaces like this.)
Jana Irving I love this ceiling.
Jana Irving The tape is helping to hold the frescoes together until they can be restored.
Jana Irving Back to where I was. Chiesa di San Cristoforo alla Certosa, a former monastery.
Jana Irving Its cloisters were turned into a pretty cool cemetery.
Jana Irving Many cemeteries in Italy have cloisters like this. Rich people with family tombs usually end up in this area.
Jana Irving You can also get a normal mausoleum.
Jana Irving A very lovely cemetery.
Jana Irving Italians really liked putting very elaborate sculptures on their tombs.
Jana Irving Amazing.
Jana Irving This is probably my favorite from this cemetery.
Jana Irving Palazzo dei Diamanti, a Renaissance era palace that now serves as a National Picture Gallery.
Ferrara is a great place to spend a couple of days. I went as a day trip from Bologna. I spent an entire day there and only visited two museums. Other museums include the Palazzo Schifanoia, another Renaissance Palace, which was closed the day I visited. Ferrara is a great alternative to larger Norther Italian cities for exploration, except for Bologna because that city is awesome.
Check out my next update where I explore the awesome city of Bologna!
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Start at the beginning of this adventure.
