Piazza del Municipio and Palazzo Ducale
Piazza del Municipio and Palazzo Ducale are two symbolic monuments for the city of Ferrara. The piazza is the heart of the Palazzo Ducale, and to access it you must cross the archway that separates it from the piazza in front of Ferrara Cathedral. Two other entrances are in Via Garibaldi, through the Volto della Colombina, and in Via Cortevecchia, through the Volto del Cavalletto.
Piazza Municipio now hosts various events, concerts and conferences, as well as the rehearsal of the Palio della città, held every year at the end of May in the nearby Piazza Ariostea.
Flanked by the 20th-century Torre della Vittoria, the Ducal Palace we see today dates back to 1924, when the building was reconstructed based on the 14th-century original.
The statues of Nicolò III and Borso D'Este
Crossing the palace entrance we immediately see the
statues of Nicolò III and Borso D'Este, two members of the Este family, lords of Ferrara. The two statues are actually copies of the original ones, destroyed by Napoleon's troops in 1796.
Nicolò III is depicted on horseback, while Borso sits on the bishop's chair holding a sceptre, the symbol of his power over the city. Borso also went down in history because of a splendid illuminated Bible that is now in the municipal collections of the city of Modena.
The columns on which the statues stand were partly made with materials taken from the demolition of some tombstones from the
Jewish Cemetery in Ferrara, ordered by the Inquisition Tribunal.
The Town Hall Square
Piazza del Municipio coincides with the large inner courtyard that opens up once you pass the entrance archway. What immediately catches the eye is the
Scalone d'Onore (Staircase of Honour), a staircase covered in white marble designed by Pietro Benvenuto and completed in 1481. The
Renaissance style of the staircase was inspired by the Venetian art of the time, but also incorporates some Gothic elements in the balustrade.
Pietro Benvenuto worked on many projects in the city during the 15th century, for example the extension of
Palazzo Schifanoia, the new Palace Courtyard, the inner chapel and the Fountain Garden. However, the Doge's Palace is the only evidence of Benvenuto's work in the city that has survived almost intact until the present day.
What to see inside the Palazzo Ducale in Ferrara
The Ducal Palace was once the
residence of the Este family, recognisable from the courtyard by the white marble decorating their windows.
Inside the palace you can see the so-called
Camerino delle Duchesse, a very special room with gilded wooden panels covering the walls, the work of Sebastiano and Camillo Filippi (1565). The Camerino was designed for the
duchesses Eleonora and Lucrezia d'Este.
The palace also houses the
Sala Estense, the first court chapel and the place where the dead bodies of the dukes were displayed before burial. This room was later transformed into a theatre. Finally, the
Sala dell'Arengo is decorated with frescoes painted by Achille Funi between 1934 and 1937 and dedicated to the city of Ferrara.
