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Ferrara is one of the most important cities of the Italian Renaissance. Provincial capital in the Emilia-Romagna Region, a land of plains and at the same time close to the Po river, so much so that it is defined as a “city of land and water”, in 1995 it obtained recognition from UNESCO as a world heritage site for the historical centre, and in 1999 for the Po delta and its Estense delights.
Of mediaeval origin, at the end of a harsh internal struggle, the Estense family asserted itself and assumed absolute power in 1242. Thus began a period of great wealth and fortune, which lasted over three centuries. Under the Este government, Ferrara became one of the most refined cultural centres of the Italian Renaissance.
The Marquis Leonello d’Este surrounded himself with artists, writers and musicians, creating a refined circle of intellectuals at court; his brother Borso is remembered for the reclamation works undertaken in the surrounded area, for the creation of the amazing Palazzo Schifanoia, for the sumptuous hunting trips, the lavish banquets, and for the title of Duke which he was awarded by Pope Paul II, only shortly before his death. Duke Ercole I promoted theatre and chivalric literature and commissioned the imposing and innovative urban project known as the “Herculean Addition”.
The Herculean Addition transformed the city into an urban model that earned it the title of “first modern capital of Europe”: designed and built by the architect and urban planner Biagio Rossetti, the addition not only doubled the surface area of the city, but its appearance radically changed.
Among its monuments we remember the Romanesque cathedral from 1135 and the streets of the mediaeval centre; the Estense Castle of 1385, which, from a severe fourteenth century fortress, over the course of the two following centuries, transformed into the sumptuous residence of one of the most splendid an famous courts in Europe; the Delizia di Schifanoia which preserves the famous astrological cycle of the Salone dei Mesi, created between 1469 and 1470 by the maestros of the Officina Ferrarese, such as Ercole de’ Roberti and Francesco del Cossa; the Palazzo dei Diamanti, focal point of the Addition in the famous Quadrivio degli Angeli, now home to important international exhibitions of modern and contemporary  art; the mediaeval and Renaissance walls, which, subject to an impressive restoration in the 1990s, are a nine kilometre long route equipped for pedestrians and cyclists.
Ludovico Ariosto, Torquato Tasso, Giovanni Boldini, Giorgio Bassani and Michelangelo Antonioni are just some of the great intellectual and artistic personalities who were born in Ferrara, or found inspiration in Ferrara. Its cuisine and the high level of quality of life are famous, and all this can be experienced by cycling through the streets of its historical centre.