Ferrara is located just between Veneto Region and Emilia-Romagna Region in a baricentric position, from where, by superhighway or railway, many important places can be very easily reached, as well as the Apennines and the seaside.
Ferrara has been an important medieval centre and one of the most gorgeous courts of the Renaissance. His harmonious and inimitable face arises from the plot of shady and irregular roads of his medieval quarters and the luminous and geometrical spaces of the Renaissance age. The town is enriched of splendid palaces, houses, churches, squares, roads, gardens and of works of art preserved in his innumerable museums, which constitute one of his bigger attractions. It is a town to be lived walking, finding out in every corner his character of Capital of the Renaissance and gathering from this glorious past the reasons for its present.
Ferrara is very interesting both under the urbanistic and architectural point of view, surrounded by very beautiful town walls, is easily practicable on foot and on bike, and very well connected to other important historical towns of northern and center Italy: Venice, Padua, Verona, Mantova, Bologna, Ravenna, Florence ...
In 1995 Ferrara was designated by the UNESCO as "worldwide property of the Humanity" as wonderful example of town planned in the Renaissance and still well preserved.
It is well connected by the motorhighway and the railway line to Bologna, Padua, Venice: it takes 1 hour of train to arrive from Ferrara to Venice, on the “Grand Canal”……!
In Bologna (at 45 km from Ferrara 0,5 hours with the train and bus)is operating an International Airport connected to many European towns, and with also intercontinental connections.
It was in the Renaissance that Ferrara reached his maximum brightness below the Dukes of Este, whose exponents erected important historical monuments (the Castle, Diamond’s Palace- that lodges international reputation painting Exibitions- Schifanoia Palace etc …).inserted in a very interesting town-planning organization called the "Herculean addition". which comprises a square (Piazza Ariostea) in which it was celebrated, and it celebrates also today, the historical Palio, the oldest race of horses in the world (1259) , and a street (Corso Ercole I° d,Este) which is considered one of the most beautiful on the world.
Also in the evening the town can offer pleasant moments. The dishes typical of the kitchen of Ferrara in the restaurants and inns placed in the narrow streets of medieval epoch can be tasted; near the splendid romanic-gothic Cathedral several wine cellars are found, among which the more ancient of the world, “at Brindisi” (frequented in 1435 by famous personalities as Cellini, Titian Vecellio, Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso), and to finish the Municipal Theatre in front of Estense Castle, rich of high-level events both for the prose and dance and the music, while, the loving of the jazz, can taste a good glass of wine in the Tower of the walls, seat of a famous Jazz-Club.
Ferrara is seat of one of the most ancient Italian universities (in 1503 Nicolò Copernicus received there the University degree) and it was an important economic centre.
The town is also connected by a cycle track to the Po river, the most important of Italy, characteristic for his delta, which offers marvellous naturalistic views.
Outside of the town are also the numerous summer residences of the Estenses and museums which remember the ancient origines of this zone of Italy, where in old times lived the Etruscans.
Finds of the greco-etruscan town of Spina, whose importance, as commercial emporium and point of meeting of the Greek and Etruscan civilizations, is testified by the presence of many objects of several origin, some of very skilled manufacture.. Finds include a time span from the last decades of the VI Century b.C. up to the half of III Century a.C.
Ferrara is also place of a Road Musical Festival, which in September recalls tourists from all Europe, and which animates the roads of the town both in the day and at night. During the summer it is always easily possible to reach well known bathing resorts on the Adriatic Sea or to do excursions on the near Tosco-Emilian Appennines
