We’ve spent a few days in Ferrara in the Italian region Emilia Romagna. This is part of Italy’s rich north, a region that was in between the spheres of influence between the mighty rivals Milan and Venice, separated from Tuscany by a mountain ridge, independent for a time, then part of the Papal State.
Ferrara is not a city that you “must” see. It’s beautiful, but it is neither of antique origin nor does it contain any unique traesures of art. It’s just a nice place with an old and still standing city wall, and of course although its architecture is not outstandingly unique, this is Italy and there is an abundance of sights that would make every Austrian city of twice its size pale by comparison. With the possible exception of Salzburg, I might admit 🙂
Anyway. For us Ferrara has always been a pair of highway exits on our way to or from Bologna, Florence, Corsica, Naples and what else. We found it was time to finally not drive by, to finally visit Ferrara.
By the way, no major contemporary musican seems to be from Ferrara, this is not where Monteverdi worked and not where famous renaissance masses were composed. I didn’t find any obvious link to music in Ferrara, and therefore the next few posts will just be titled “Ferrara” with a Roman numeral attached. Neither will there be a Song of the Day. Hope you don’t mind.