Not Florence: Italy’s other beautiful Renaissance city (with no tourists)

In the peak of summer, Florence, Ravenna and Bologna are crowded with tourists, but nearby is another beautiful Italian Renaissance city, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site blessed with art, history, fine food, and culture, where visitors are thin on the ground.

Overshadowed by its more famous neighbours, Ferrara has something those cities don’t – no signs of overtourism. When I visited for two weeks in the peak of summer, the city was in relaxed mode. And that’s not just because it’s the time locals like to take their own holidays. Visitor numbers to the city hardly vary from month to month.

Ferrara is a wonderfully quiet Renaissance city.

These low numbers are hard to fathom. Ferrara’s many museums are superb, made even more appealing by not having to queue for tickets or navigate crowds. I wandered the vast rooms at the Palazzo Schifanoia – the retreat for the 15th century ruling Este family – and admired its painted ceilings, art, sculpture, ceramics and garden largely on my own.

This feeling of freedom was repeated in the city’s breathtaking archaeological museum, which was created to house some of the most significant findings from the discovery of the Necropolis at Spina in 1922. Here exquisite ancient jewellery, art and objects are testament to the extraordinary power of this once crucial Adriatic trading centre. Rivalling the archaeological museum in Naples for quality and quantity of artefacts, I wondered if it gets less attention because its treasures were buried in less dramatic circumstances – Spina’s prosaic fate was to gradually sink into the Po Delta mud.

At the Este Castle in the heart of the city, the wealth of the aristocracy is sharply contrasted against the dungeons below, where prisoners (some of them Este family members) languished for decades in cells so small you couldn’t stand up in them. It’s a history that’s as twisted and compelling as Succession and a reminder that all this beauty and art was generated on the back of a ruthless political and money-making machine.

The castle and its Tower of the Lions.Credit: iStock

Just because there are few tourists doesn’t mean there’s nothing going on. Ferrarese are as obsessed with eating and drinking as any Italians and the city is full of bars, enoteche, osterie and gelaterie. There’s enormous pride in its local specialities. According to Giovanni Ragazzi, the ebullient chef at I Piaceri di Lucrezia, the city’s iconic pasta – roasted pumpkin-stuffed, hat-shaped cappellacci – was brought to Ferrara by Lucrezia Borgia when she arrived to marry Alfonso, the future Duke of Este, in 1501. Ragazzi tossed my cappellacci in brown butter then dusted it with edible flakes of gold. One bite and its easy to understand why we’ll still be eating it in another 500 years.

At Trattoria da Noemi we experienced the perfect Ferrarese meal – a potent combination of ambience, personal warmth and brilliant cooking. Opened in 1958 by the eponymous Noemi and now run by her daughter Maria Christina (in the kitchen) and grandsons Giovanni and Luca, the trattoria offers classic Ferrarese recipes, produce and regional wines. We tried mozzarella-stuffed fried zucchini flowers, and more handmade pasta, and left wanting to move here for good.

Fresh Ferrara pasta, stuffed with pumpkin.Credit: iStock

Wandering through its cobbled streets, the Ferrara described by Giorgio Bassani in his 1962 novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, still rings true. The book, which became a double Oscar-winning film in 1972, captured the essence of the city from its high red-brick walls and patrician buildings to its river walks and abundant parks and gardens.

These plentiful parks and the narrow streets make Ferrara an ideal cycling town. There are rows of bicycles parked outside every bar and pasticceria, and even elderly ladies with perfectly coiffed hair ride through Ferrara’s cobbled streets and on its network of bike trails and parks that circle the city. We joined them to explore the nine kilometres of city walls, taking side-trips to the banks of the Po di Volano, through meadows, urban farms and past the four-hectare Principessa Pio agriturismo.

Ferrara and a cobbled (and empty) street at its centre,Credit: iStock

In tribute to the author who captured the city so well, we rode to the Georgio Bassani Park just outside the city walls to explore its tranquil ponds, lawns and community garden. We found people picnicking, stretched out in the sun, walking dogs and enjoying the tranquillity. You get the sense they’re not unhappy about Ferrara’s under-the radar status.

The details

Sunset over the Po Delta Park.Credit: iStock

Visit
Two-, three- and six-day museum passes – from $33 (€20) – are available at the tourist office at the Este Castle and provide free entry to nine of the city’s key museums, plus a host of other benefits. The office also has a list of local bike rental businesses. Rental fees typically range from $14-$25 (€8-€15) a day. See inferrara.it/en

Stay
The Hotel Annunziata is a family-run hotel in a recently renovated historic building in the heart of Ferrara’s historic centre and includes castle views, an art gallery and an excellent buffet breakfast. Rooms from $125 (€75). See annunziata.it

Tour
A 90-minute bus ride from Ferrara city takes you to Comacchio on the Adriatic coast in the Ferrara province. Like Chioggia and Venice to the north, its streets are criss-crossed by canals and bridges, albeit on a much smaller scale. Comacchio is the gateway to exploring the lagoons and the region’s fishing history, made briefly famous by Sophia Loren in her star-making 1952 film, La Donna del Fiume (The Woman of the River).

The writer travelled at her own expense.