The origins of Ferrara are unknown. many important cities has grown in its area since the most anciente centuries.
Important: The legendary Spina where the Etrurian were, buried for ages in the swampy water of the old delta of the river Po;
the archaeological excavations brought to light magnificent finds.

The name Ferrara appeared for the first time in the year 753 in a document of the Lombard king Astolfo; around the year 1000 the city was a fief of the Canossa.
In the year 1135 the cathedral opened dedicated to Saint George. Restored and enlarged during the centuries it now appears in all its magnificence;
It is the oldest gothic style temple in the world.

The Estensi family with a sudden attack took the place of the Guelphs around the end of the XI century and afterwards they worked a lot for the development of the city.
The “Estense” Castle (photo) was built starting from the year 1385. It is now seat of the Prefecture and the Municipal and Provincial Administration.
The Palace of the Diamonds (photo), called in this way because the marble ashlar work was made of 8500 “diamonds”, was built by Biagio Rossetti for the Duke Ercole I d’Este in the years 1493-1504; it is now the seat of the National Picture Galler

The “Schifanoia” Palace (1385) is the seat of the Antique Art Museum of the city; the Palace of Ludovico il Moro (1495) is the seat of the National Archaeological Museum.
There are many monuments to visit both in the city and in the province, “Casa Romei”, “Palazzina di Marfisa d’Este”, the “Mesola” Castle with the wood, the Pomposa Abbey and many many other monuments and interesting places.
Ferrara, city of the bicycles, organizes important events: The “Palio” in May; the Buskers in August; concerts and shows in the very beautiful Municipal Theatre.
The art of cooking of Ferrara is extremely rich in important dishes: the eel of the Comacchio valleys, the “cappellacci” with the pumpkin, the rice produced in Jolanda di Savoia and cooked in a thousand of ways, the fish of the Adriatic, the frogs, the “pincini”, the “pampepato”, the “mandorlini” of the bridge (tasty crumbly almond biscuits).
“Salama” for sauce of Ferrara.
The “salama” has to be eaten cooked in winter with a potatoes’ cream and sliced cold in summer together with figs or melon.
“Pasticcio di maccheroni”.
An antique recipe for a slightly sweet “maccheroni pasta” flavoured with a sauce of meat and spices and covered with short pastry.
Truffles.
Do you know that Ferrara and its province offer you also the wonderful truffles?
- High white (tuber magnamum): autumn.
- Pale white (tuber borchii): spring.
- “Scorzone” black (tuber aestivum): summer.
Who says that the best truffles are those from Alba? Have you never tried a high white truffle cropped under the lindens in the province of Ferrara? Where can you find it? Unfortunately only by the local “tartufini” or the great restaurants of the city or province.



Ferrara is therefore worth a stay and if you want to know more about it, please visit our site:
www.comune.fe.it/turismo

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