Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the Garden of the Finzi-Continis
Ferrara's
Jewish Cemetery
5
(Via della Vigna, near the walls off Corso
Porta Mare; Sun-Fri 9am-6pm, in winter to 4:30pm),
with its ancient tum-
ble of overgrown tombstones, is the most haunting place in Ferrara. A mon-
ument to the Ferrarese murdered at Auschwitz is a reminder of the fate of
the city's once sizeable Jewish community, whose last days are recounted
in the topic (and film)
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,
evocatively set in
the gardens and palaces of Ferrara and required viewing for anyone plan-
ning to visit the city. The topic is semiautobiographical, and its author,
Gorgio Bassani, died in 2000. He is buried here, in a tomb designed by
famed modern sculptor—and Romagna native—Arnaldo Pomodoro. Nearby,
the gorgeous
Cimitero di Certosa
(Via Borsa, 1;
%
0532-230175; daily
7:30am-7:30pm)
is centered on the long, graceful
loggie
sweeping out
from the church of San Cristoforo, designed by Biagio Rossetti.
To learn more about Jewish Ferrara, take a guided tour—in Italian
only—at the
Museo Ebraico
(Via Mazzini, 95;
%
0532-210228;
€
4;
Sun-Thurs tours at 10, 11am, or noon, closed Aug).
Fri-Sat 9am-2pm, Thurs 9am-7pm, Sun 9am-1pm)
gets its name: Nine thousand
pointed marble blocks cover the facade. Less interesting are the collections in the
museums clustered within. The most deserving of a visit is the
Pinacoteca
Nazionale,
containing some notable works by Cosmè Tura, Il Garofalo, and other
painters of the Ferrara school, as well as Carpaccio's
Death of the Virgin.
By and
large, though, the holdings aren't spectacular. The ground-floor galleries often
house temporary exhibits and charge separate admission; check with the ticket
office here or with the tourist office to see what's on view.
Ludovico il Moro, famed duke of Milan who married Beatrice d'Este, com-
missioned the lovely little
Palazzo Costabili
(Via XX Settembre, 124;
%
0532-
66299;
€
4; Tues-Sun 9am-2pm)
as a place to retire from his courtly duties.
Unfortunately, Beatrice died young, and the duke spent his last years as a prisoner
of the French. The couple's 15th-century palace, built around a lovely rose gar-
den, contains their furniture and paintings, and provides a lovely view of life in
Ferrara during its Renaissance heyday. Part of the
palazzo
houses the small but fas-
cinating collections of the
Museo Archeologico.
The bulk of the treasures are
Etruscan and Greek finds unearthed near Ferrara at Spina.
The quartet of museums housed in the exquisite late-15th-century
Palazzo
Massari
(Corso Porto Mare, 9;
%
0532-244949;
€
8 to visit all four museums, see
below for individual admissions; 9am-1pm and 3-6pm)
contain Ferrara's modern-
art holdings. The Museo Giovanni Boldini (
5) has works by the 19th-century
Italian painter. A Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (
€
3) is largely
devoted to the output of Filippo de Pisis—who studied the
metafisica
school of
Giorgio de Chirico—plus works by contemporary regional artists. The Museo
dell'Ottocento (
€
4.20) of 19th-century art is skippable. There's also a Padiglione
d'Arte Contemporanea in the former stables, open only for special exhibits.
€
