Ferrara Travel Guide: The Renaissance Bicycle City

Ferrara is one of Italy’s most liveable cities — a planned Renaissance city built by the Este dynasty in the 15th and 16th centuries, with wide straight streets, a magnificent moated castle at its centre, and a flat terrain that makes it the cycling capital of Italy (one of the highest bike-to-car ratios in the country). It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995 and receives far fewer tourists than its quality warrants.

The Este Castle

The Castello Estense sits at the physical and historical centre of Ferrara — a moated medieval-Renaissance castle begun in 1385 that served as the court of the Este lords. The interior (open for visits) includes the ducal apartments, the chapel, the kitchens, and the underground prisons where Parisina d’Este and her lover were executed in 1425. The moat, with its drawbridges and towers, is the defining feature of the city.

The Renaissance city

The Addizione Erculea — the northern expansion of Ferrara planned by Duke Ercole I in 1492 — is the most ambitious Renaissance urban planning project that survives substantially intact. Wide straight streets, palaces with gardens, and a logic of urban design 300 years ahead of most European cities.

Palazzo dei Diamanti — Named for its facade of 8,500 diamond-shaped marble blocks. Now an important modern and temporary exhibition space.

Food

Ferrara’s cuisine is Emilian. The signature dishes are cappellacci di zucca (pumpkin-filled pasta in butter and sage) and pasticcio di maccheroni (a sweet pasta pie, uniquely Ferrarese). The Friday market in Piazza Ariostea and the Mercato Coperto are the food centres.

Practical

Ferrara is 30 minutes from Bologna by fast train, 45 minutes from Venice. A flat city; rent a bicycle on arrival.