Ferrara Things to Do

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The basilica di San Francesco was built on a pre-existing Franciscan complex in 1494. It was planned by famous architect Biagio Rossetti. Notice the frieze that divides the lower and the upper part of the façade.
There is a beautiful meadow with trees in front of the church, as you can see from my pictures.
If the outside of this basilica may not catch your attention, the interior is completely different, full of paintings and frescoes. Let's go in!

The church we see today was built in 1726 over an older church of the 13th century, of which only the bell tower and cappella Canani ("Canani chapel") remain.
Inside there are paintings by Ferrarese artists of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The floor is covered with ancient tombstones and the apse has a wooden choir built by Giovanni Baisi in 1348.

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Casa Romei is not only a beautiful high-class palace. It also houses a museum, consisting mainly of painted rooms. At the ground-floor you must admire the painted rooms of the Prophets and of the Sybils. After that, you will see the lapidarium (a collection of ancient stones) and, on the upper floor, the noble part of the building, the rooms are decorated with paintings dating of the 16th century, frescoes (13th to 16th centuries) taken from churches that don't exist any longer, and sculptures, like Alfonso Lombardi's Deposition and Saint Nicholas from Tolentino.
The lions you see in the second photo of this tip date of the 14th century and were originally located aside the entry gate of Palazzo Prosperi Sacrati (in Corso Ercole I d'Este), also known as "the palace of the two lions".
All in all, the museum of Casa Romei is worth visiting, especially if you consider the low entry fee (3 euro for adults, 1.50 for young people from 18 to 25, free for unver 18 and over 65). Unfortunately photos are forbidden and the bookshop hadn't got any books or postcards that showed the interior of the rooms when I visited it. The staff wasn't very kind either.

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Casa Romei provides an excellent example of 15th-century high-class house. It was built around 1445 by banker Giovanni Romei, husband of Polissena d'Este. The architect (maybe Pietrobono Brasavola) joined medieval and Renaissance architectural elements.
In the courtyard you can see beautiful arcades and traces of frescoes, as well as a monogram in terracotta tiles.
Inside the house there are two rooms with splendid wall paintings: the saletta dei Profeti ("Prophets little room") and the sala delle Sibille ("Sibyls room"). However, if you want to visit the palace, you need to buy a ticket, because it is a museum now.
Anyway, the fees are not high: 3 euro for adults, 1.50 for people from 18 to 25, free for under 18 and over 65.

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PALAZZO DEI DIAMANTI is the apex of the Ferrarese Reinassance architecture under Ercole I. The palace is one of the most influential Renaissance European and Italian architectures.
It was built starting from 1493 by order of Sigismondo d'Este, brother of Duke Ercole I, on a project of Biagio Rossetti.
The most striking features is the bugnato of the exterior walls: it consist of some 8,500 white marble blocks carved to represent diamonds, whence the common name. They were created by Gabriele Frisoni who made also the decoration of the balcony.
The palace was the residence of the Este's family untill Ferrara became part of the State of the Church in the 16th century.
The palace today houses the Pinacoteca Nazionale with important paintings of the 14th-15th century like Cosmé Tura.

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It is possible to make a tour of the castle visiting the kitchens, the prisons and many rooms with paintings on the roof. Very interesting are the Camera dei Giochi, the Camera dei Veleni and the Sala delle Mappe.

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In front of the Cathedral there is the Palazzo Comunale which was the first residence of the Este's family and it was restored in 1924. On the side of the building there is the Torre della Vittoria. The main gateway of the Palazzo Ducale was made under a project of Leon Battista Alberti. In the sides of the gateway you can see two pillars with statues: the statue of Duca Borso seated and Niccolò III in a horse. They are a reproductions made in 1926 because the original ones where destroyed by French in 1796.

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Along the Corso Ercole I d'este you can see the following palaces:

-Palazzo Giglioli-Varano: it is now the headquarter of the Banca d'Italia;

-Palazzo Roberti, built in the 14th century.

-Palazzo Gulinelli: it is one of the best example of restauration Neo-Reinassance.