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In this guided tour no tickets have to be paid for churches and city centre
FERRARA AND MANTUA: TWO RENAISSANCE COURT
During this guided tour you can visit the city centres of Mantua and Ferrara and compare the magnificencies of the family Gonzaga, Lords in Mantua, and that of the family Este, Lords in Ferrara
MANTUA
with Sordello, Broletto and Erbe squares, Saint Peter Cathedral, Saint Lawrence romanesque church and Saint Andrew Basilica. Tasso so rightly wrote in 1586: "... this is such a beautiful city that it is worth the thousand mile journey to visit her". Mantua, a city rich of history, surprises its visitors by her exceptional character offers the visitor a wonderful experience of both art and beauty. This city is good to live in but also brilliant and aristocratic. It’s surrounded by beautiful environment, in which water and earth are unexpectedly interwoven. A city in which the excellence and originality of local traditions concerning wine, food and products make it worth making the trip. Small but spectacular, from every corner the city of Mantua offers an encounter with history and beauty. The town was founded around 2000 BC on the banks of the Mincio river and in the 6th century BC was an Etruscan village. Virgil, was born here. Then it was invaded by Longobards and Franks, and then it became a possession of Canossa, whose last ruler was the famous countess Matilde of Canossa.In 1198 the city optimized the course of the Mincio river, creating the so-called "four lakes", enforcing the natural protection. In the Middle Ages, Mantua was ruled by several families which became extremely important in the history and culture of Italy, among which the Bonacolsi and the Gonzaga (1328-1708). The Gonzaga protected art and culture, and hosted several important artists like Leon Battista Alberti, Andrea Mantegna, Giulio Romano and P.P.Rubens. Notably, the town contains many artworks and architectural treasures that record its important epochs. In 1708, Mantua was seized by the Habsburgs, ending Gonzaga rule, then the town passed under Napoleon's domain, and was later unified in Italy. City centre visit starts from Piazza Sordello what, with its contours, forms the heart of the historical centre. The ancient cobblestones of Piazza Sordello have witnessed many historic events. It was here when the Gonzagas took over the town in 1328 overthrowing the Bonacolsi family. The square is dominated by the wide facade of the Palazzo Ducale which consists of Palazzo del Capitano and Magna Domus. The Cathedral of San Pietro with its neoclassical façade, its gothis side, the Romanesque bell tower and the renaissance interior. To the left of the Cathedral stands the seat of the Bishop and the 13th century Palazzo Bonacolsi. Leaving Piazza Sordello we enter Piazza Broletto where the magnificent 13th-century Palazzo del Podestà stands between the Arengario Arch and the Commune Tower, here almost all buildings were built in 13th century when Mantua was a commune, a free city. Piazza Erbe is the heart of Mantua and, just like Piazza Sordello, its old buildings date back to various periods. Here Matilde of Canossa, according to the legend, ordered the building of the 12th-century church of San Lorenzo. Visit of the church interior. On three sides the square is lined with porticoes and shops and dominated by the imposing Basilica of Sant’Andrea and the Palazzo della Ragione. One of the most important monuments in Mantua is the great Basilica of Sant’Andrea designed by Leon Battista Alberti in 1472. Visit of the Basilica interior. The first chapel to the left is Mantegna’s funeral chapel. Mantegna was buried here when he died in 1506. In the crypt of Sant'Andrea there is also the relic of the blood of Christ which has great devotional and historical significance.
FERRARA
Ferrara City Centre (by bus it is possible to see the city walls)
The Walls encircle the historic centre almost without interruption for nine kilometres, constituting one of the oldest and most impressive defensive systems of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and make use of all the techniques of defence used in the 1400s and 1500s: city gates, bastions, large towers, gun slots and embrasures. Time has transformed these walls into a place for meeting friends, practicing sport and recreation with paths for cycling and walking. Most of the walls to the north were built between 1493 and 1505 as part of the Addizione Erculea to the design of the architect Biagio Rossetti. This stretch is marked out by the smaller semicircular towers and by the long “patrol path” used by the sentries. Distinguishing features include the Porta degli Angeli to the north, through which the melancholy retinue of the last duke Cesare d’Este passed in 1598, and, to the east, the Torrione di S. Giovanni, whose circular structure is typical of Renaissance military architecture. The stretch of walls to the east was conceived by Alfonso I d’Este, between 1512 and 1518. The southern fortifications are characterised by four imposing bastions in the form of the “ace of spades” built on the orders of Alfonso II between 1575 and 1585. The quadrivium was the name given to the crossroads where Corso Ercole d'Este crosses Corso Porta Mare and Corso Biagio Rossetti. Dominated by the Palazzo dei Diamanti, its importance for the town's planning and architecture is only appreciated when it is considered as a whole, together with the palaces which are located at its four corners: Palazzo Prosperi Sacrati, Palazzo Bevilacqua - Rossetti - Pallavicini, Palazzo Turchi di Bagno,and the Palazzo dei Diamanti. According to Bruno Zevi's interpretation, the plan of the whole crossroads owes much to the architect's genius, as he assigned a different, but well-defined architectural weight to each building, with the aim of making them all stand out distinctly at the same time. In 1385 a dangerous revolt convinced Niccolò II d’Este of the need to erect mighty defences for himself and his family; thus the Castello di San Michele was built, a fortress erected against the people. Its imposing proportions, its moat, its drawbridges and its towers date back to that remote period. An elevated covered passageway, which still exists, joined the military building to the marquises’ Palace (today Palazzo Municipale). Centuries went by and the risk of riots died down. And so the castle became the magnificent residence of the court and was embellished with roof terraces at the top of the towers, marble balconies, the Renaissance style courtyard (at the time fully frescoed) and sumptuous apartments. The cathedral dates from the 12th century and bears witness to all the historical periods of the city. The outstanding façade, divided into three sections, was begun in Romanesque style, still visible in the lower part. Note the St. George and the scenes from the New Testament above the central door, the work of the sculptor Nicholaus (1135). The upper part was built some decades later in a Gothic style and besides the numerous small arches and the splayed mullioned windows presents an extraordinary Last Judgment by an unknown sculptor over the central loggia. The side facing Piazza Trento e Trieste is decorated with two galleries and small columns of various shapes. Along the right side of the Cathedral stretch two rows of galleries, decorated by small columns of various shapes. The lower part is occupied by a continuous portico with shops, known as the Loggia dei Merciai, ("Loggia of the Merchants"), built in the 15th century. The unfinished bell tower was probably designed by Leon Battista Alberti. The piazza dates back to the Middle Ages and all the city's seats of power were sited in the piazza: as well as the cathedral, there was the bishops' house where the present Bishops Palace stands; the Palazzo della Ragione, rebuilt in the 1950s after a fire, the Notary's Lodge, which stood roughly where the clock tower now stands, the first nucleus of the Palazzo Ducale, today's Palazzo Municipale. This ancient road of San Romano was the main link between the market square (currently Piazza Trento e Trieste) and the port, which was situated at the present via Ripagrande. Nowadays, as before, it is one of the busiest commercial streets and with several houses with porticoes. At the top there is the remarkable former church of San Romano (10th-15th centuries), flanked by a fine cloister with marble columns. The charming medieval street Via delle Volte marks the axis along which the so-called linear Ferrara developed between the 7th and 9th centuries A.D. and which greatly influenced the further development of the entire city. In Via delle Volte the architectural solution to development in a third dimension was to create overhead passageways: the vaults dotted along the street, to connect the warehouses on the banks of the river to the workshops-houses towards the centre. To enjoy the atmosphere of its 14th and 15th-century buildings and the alleys that lead off it, a good stretch of the street should be covered. The Jews’ presence in Ferrara dates back at least until the 12th century and thanks to the religious tolerance of the Este family the community grew, welcoming refugee groups of Ashkenazi from the German Empire territories and later, Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal. Only in 1626 did the papal government (which had taken over from the Estensi one) set up a ghetto closing off the area around Via Sabbioni (now Via Mazzini) and via delle Volte with five gates. In that same street, in 1485, the rich Roman banker Ser Samuel Melli had purchased a large house and donated it to the Ferrarese Jews so that they could use it as a seat for their institutions
Guide Turistiche
Alliet'ARTI
Tel: 328 4532069
Fax: 0386 51324
