Citytrip Bologna, Italy
May 2019



Day 5
Saturday, June 1th


Today is another day of train travelling. Fortunately public transport is excellent in Italy. We have used if before and frequently. Our objective for today is Ferrara. Unlike the other larger cities in the province of Emilia Romagna Ferrara is not located parallel to the Apennine Mountains. It is more up north in the Po Plain. It lies on the southern shores of the Po river, about 44 km north-east of the regional capital, Bologna. Depending which train you take, the train ride will take about half an hour to an hour.

 




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Train tickets to Ferrara


Train tickets to Ferrara

 




The town of Ferrara is old! It can be dated back to 600 BC. Archeological finds of the Etruscan town of Spina were discovered during drainage of the Valli di Comacchio marshes in 1922. Excavations revealed a necropolis with over 4,000 tombs. Clear evidence of a population centre that in Antiquity must have played a major role. The name Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD, when he captured the town from the ruler of Ravenna.

Most of the larger cities in Italy that we visited are simply open air museums where architecture is considered. In that respect Ferrara is no different. The architecture of Ferrara greatly benefited from the genius of Biagio Rossetti, who was requested in 1484 by Ercole I to draft a master plan for the expansion of the town. The resulting expansion is considered one of the most important examples of Renaissance urban planning and contributed to the selection of Ferrara as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 



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Street view

Street view



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Street view

Street view



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Street view

Street view



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Street view

Street view

 




When exiting the station we turn left and cross the street into the Viale Cavour. A wide and prestige′s boulevard that cuts Ferrara in two. Following this we walk right into the heart of the city with all the impressive monuments. Like the Castello Estense, a moated medieval castle in the city center with quite an number of large carps swimming around. One of them being a beautiful orange one.

 






Castello Estense di Ferrara

 



Some historic facts:


On 3 May 1385 there was a revolt in Ferrara. The people of Ferrara were driven to desperation by taxes and a flooding. This had brought ruin upon them, and they went in numbers to the Marquis Niccolò II d′Este´s palace to ask the advice of Tommaso da Tortona, the high official whom they held responsible for this situation.

Niccolò tried to calm the revolt all day, but by the evening it was clear that the people′s spirits were getting more and more angry and that the very safety of the Estensi was endangered. He therefore gave the disgraced Tommaso to the crowd, who literally tore him to pieces.

This episode, which resulted later in the death of the leaders of the revolt, convinced the Marquis that the family´s palace (which is now the Palazzo Comunale) was insufficient to guarantee the security of the nobility in the event of riots. He therefore ordered the construction of a defensive fortress on the north side of the Palazzo, entrusting the project to the architect Bartolino da Novara.

He used a pre-existing tower (the Torre dei Leoni), which was part of the defensive walls, at that period very much to the south of the present ones, running, roughly speaking, along the line of the present Corso Giovecca and Viale Cavour. The tower was joined by curtain walls to another three newly built for this project. Between the Este residence and the new fortress was built an aerial passageway to allow people to flee from one to the other.

 




 




During our visit there were festivities related to the founding of the Italian state in and around the castle. There are stands with books, toys, antiquities and foods and drinks. They have also organized some activities for children. This has drawn in a large crowed of people and resulted in the city center being a busy beehive.

After having walked around and having visited some of the monuments, we are getting hungry. When checking out some of the restaurants and there menu we decided for Ristorante Marchesi, located in the quiet Via Vignatagliata street in the former Jewish quarter. When we visited the city of Lucca during our stay in Pisa I had gnocchi for lunch, which I enjoyed. The menu here also mentions gnocchi, so that is my choice for the day. With some cold white wine of course! Ristorante Marchesi is restaurant I can fully recommend. Relaxed atmosphere, delicious food and friendly people!

 



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Lunch time

Lunch time



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Desert

Desert

 




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Train tickets to Bologna


Train tickets to Bologna

 




Then it is back to train station and Bologna. And obviously a nightcap at the NUOVO Caffé and some snacks to go with that.

 



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Bologna, signal house

Bologna, signal house



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Complimentary snacks

Complimentary snacks



 








     


















and welcome!






 







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Girolamo Savonarola (Dominican)
21 September 1452 - 23 May 1498

Girolamo Savonarola (Dominican)
21 September 1452 - 23 May 1498



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Street view

Street view



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Street view

Street view



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Coffee moment

Coffee moment