Ferrara is a quiet, human-sized and lively city, where you can stroll peacefully, on foot or by bicycle, experiencing magical atmospheres at every step.
This route is dedicated to those who want to discover the lesser-known corners of the city, mysterious places tied to events that reemerge from the past to unveil secrets and curiosities: from Vicolo del Chiozzino to the “devil's paw print” on the side of the Church of San Domenico, from Via Zemola, known as the "street of miracles," to the peace and scents of the "countryside in the city" up to the Monastery of Sant'Antonio in Polesine with its timeless atmosphere. An itinerary you will not forget.
Walking along the San Paolo Darsena (San Paolo Dock), you can observe an interesting stretch of the Po di Volano, a navigable canal rich in aquatic vegetation and typical examples of local avifauna.
The Dock, recently renovated, is a place that hosts numerous events and especially in summer, it transforms into a lively square along the river, with music, food and wine events, and sports activities. The riverside cycle path and the green area are the ideal place for walking, running, and cycling safely, even with your pet.
To know
The Wunderkammer Consortium creates, hosts and promotes initiatives, projects, courses, workshops and events in the design, architecture and environment sectors; performing arts; music; visual arts and cinema; sport, play and wellness; innovation and entrepreneurship.
It is also the embarkation point of a riverboat that offers excursions, sunset aperitifs, and educational initiatives.
Villa Melchiorri designed by the engineer Ciro Contini in 1903 in Art Nouveau style on behalf of Giuseppina Marchi Melchiorri, wife of the well-known floriculturist Ferdinando Melchiorri, was the first of the residential villas built on the then new Viale Cavour.
The central elements around which all the decoration revolves are sunflowers and the circle. The floral decorations, the stained glass, and the undulating motifs evoke a sense of freedom and lightness.
The decoration is all in concrete cement, modeled by the Ferrarese sculptor Arrigo Minerbi. The lintels of the windows, the upper ends of the support pillars, and the corners of the balcony all transform into the branches of a bunch of sunflowers, taken up as the main theme on the wrought iron gate.
To know
Villino Melchiorri, or Melchiori, has recently been restored following a period of neglect and is now a private property. It is situated on the town’s main avenue, a short distance from the railway station, and can only be glimpsed through the openings in the front door.
Looking at a map of the city, you can notice a large green area located in the northeast part of the city, in the Renaissance area - the so-called Addizione Erculea. This is the "countryside within the walls": an area that extends with fields, vegetable gardens, and flower gardens for about four hectares.
The lands, preserved for over five hundred years without having been urbanized, are today crossed by a comfortable cycle path that connects to the tree-lined path of the Mura degli Angeli (Walls of the Angels) on one side and leads to Piazza Ariostea on the other.
To know
This little patch of land lies between the Jewish Cemetery and the Certosa, two places of tranquillity. The atmosphere here is similar to that of Giorgio Bassani’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis; you can almost still hear the bicycle bells of the young protagonists of the famous novel. You can explore this further with the itinerary To Ferrara by bike with Giorgio Bassani.
An ancient legend says that, in the city center of Ferrara, an incident occurred involving the devil himself.
In Vicolo del Chiozzino there was the house of the engineer Bartolomeo Chiozzi, nicknamed "Magician Chiozzino" for his passion for the magical arts. Legend has it that the Magician had evoked, through a spell, a strange and curious character named "Magrino," who began to accompany him everywhere along with a group of strange animals.
At first, Magrino's presence brought him prosperity and success, but over time people began to feel intimidated by his circle. It was then that the magician decided to get rid of his companions, asking for help from the friars of the Church of San Domenico (closed for restoration works).
Here the Dominican friars began an exorcism to finally free the magician but, as they performed the rite, Magrino appeared showing himself in his true guise, that of a terrible devil. Furious at the spell, the devil stomped out of the church.
Curiosity
On a column next to one of the church’s side doors (beyond the railing), there is a small dent in the marble: this mark is linked to a legend and is believed to be the devil’s footprint.
In Piazzetta Sant'Anna you can recognize the bust of Torquato Tasso, one of the most famous Italian Renaissance writers.
The bust is positioned next to the probable entrance of the cell that hosted him for seven long years, in the basement of the former Sant'Anna Hospital, where he was imprisoned after inveighing against the court of Duke Alfonso II, busy with the preparations for the Este's wedding with Margherita Gonzaga.
To know
Tasso lived in the Castello Estense, the dukes’ magnificent residence, as a court poet. The Sala dell’Aurora, located on the main floor of the museum, is particularly associated with Tasso’s work.
In the very central Piazza Trento e Trieste, where today there is a bookstore, once stood the ancient lodge of the Callegari (shoemakers).
The lodge was built around 1257, when the land owned by the Cathedral was granted to the Corporation of the Callegari. In the mid-fourteenth century, six large arches were opened on the ground floor towards the square, still visible today.
In 1814, the Palazzo San Crispino was renovated, but it is still possible to see, carved in the capitals of the columns, a shoe sole, the emblem of the Craft.
To taste
Palazzo San Crispino is situated right in the heart of the medieval old town, and it’s easy to be tempted by the delicious smell of food: in the surrounding streets, there are several bars and cafés serving fragrant 'ricciola' (a type of pastry), as well as ice-cream parlours, restaurants and bakeries where you can buy ‘coppia’, the typical bread of Ferrara.
Over the centuries, the street, located in the medieval part of the city, has had various names, including 'Via dei Malpaga', perhaps named after a brothel whose patrons were accustomed to paying the women a very poor and humiliating compensation.
But the route also has stories linked to spirituality and religion.
Among the various miracles that occurred along the street, we recall that of Casa Obizzi, accomplished by Saint Anthony of Padua in 1228. The bride of Cavalier Taino degli Obizzi was tormented by her husband's jealousy. Even the birth of a child was a cause of sadness for her, as her husband suspected her of adultery. The young woman sought help from Friar Anthony of Padua, who was passing through Ferrara. The Friar then went to the Obizzi house and, addressing the newborn, asked him to indicate who his father was. The newborn pointed out Taino, thus saving the mother's honor.
Moreover, at the corner with Via della Paglia, one can still see the bust of the Virgin and a plaque commemorating a miracle that occurred in the nineteenth century. On September 5, 1845, a 9-month-old child fell at the feet of the bust of the Madonna from almost nine meters high and miraculously remained unharmed.
Curiosity
The current name of Zemola seems to derive from Gemmola, a place in the Paduan hills where Beatrice I d'Este had founded a monastery at the beginning of the thirteenth century.
In Via Cammello 20, near the Byzantine castrum, you will find an ancient fifteenth-century house, with an ogival door and windows. This house recalls the story of the 'beautiful and virtuous' Stella de' Tolomei, called 'of the Assisini' because her father was from Assisi. Stella was the beloved mistress of Marquis Niccolò III, with whom she had three children: Ugo, Leonello, and Borso.
While waiting to soon become the Marquis's consort, she actually had a different fate. Niccolò III decided to marry the very young Parisina Malatesta. Stella died a year later consumed by grief; indeed, the chronicles say that she died of a "broken heart".
Curiosity
Stella’s house is now the headquarters of a district participating in the Palio, one of the city’s historic events comprising a range of activities, such as the Homage to the Duke, which take place ahead of the traditional races in Piazza Ariostea in May.
Sant'Antonio in Polesine is a charming monastery of Benedictine nuns that rises in the oldest part of the city. The convent was founded on a polesine, an island in the middle of the Po, which at that time flowed south of the city.
Following the filling of the canal that separated the island from the mainland, towards the middle of the fifteenth century, the former polesine was included within the city walls with the Addition of Borso d'Este, without losing the particular atmosphere of peace and isolation that it still retains today.
Tip
In the inner church of the nuns, one can admire frescoes from the first half of the fourteenth century with unusual and curious iconographic details. At certain times of the day, the chants of the Benedictines and the sweet sound of the lyre rise.
