Rising proudly in Piazza XXIV Maggio within the verdant Rione Giardino, Ferrara’s Monumental Aqueduct, also known as the city’s aqueduct tank, is a striking blend of functional infrastructure and architectural artistry. Conceived and brought to life between 1930 and 1932, the structure was designed by municipal engineer Carlo Savonuzzi as part of the ambitious Addizione Novecentista, an urban redevelopment plan focused on modernizing the city while paying homage to its Estense legacy. Despite its robust size, soaring to approximately 37 meters, the aqueduct tank maintains an elegant sense of openness. Constructed almost entirely of reinforced concrete, it evokes the refined aesthetics of Renaissance architecture, particularly recalling the sacred structures featured in works by Raphael and Perugino. 

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Acquedotto Monumentale, click the image.

Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, commonly referred to simply as Via Garibaldi, is one of the oldest and most vibrant streets in Ferrara’s historic centre. It stretches gracefully from Piazzetta Municipale to Corso Isonzo, serving as a key pedestrian and cultural artery in the city. Over the centuries, the street has borne many names. In the Middle Ages, it was known as Via dei Sabbioni, after the sand (“sabbioni”) that once lined it for races and festivities. It was also called Via della Rotta, referencing frequent Po River floods, particularly the devastating inundation of 1499 that swept through the area near the old San Giacomo tower. On February 7, 1860, the city council officially renamed it Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, in honour of the national hero celebrated for his role in Italian unification.

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Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, click the image.

The Castello Estense, also known as the Castle of Saint Michael, is Ferrara’s iconic medieval stronghold turned Renaissance palace, an unmissable symbol of the city’s enduring legacy. Commissioned in 1385 by Marquis Niccolò II d’Este and designed by Bartolino da Novara, the fortress was built to assert ducal authority and quell popular unrest after a violent uprising. Central to the structure was the ancient Torre dei Leoni, a 13th-century watchtower integrated into the new defensive complex surrounded by a deep moat and connected via drawbridges. Over time, the castle evolved from a symbol of martial control into an opulent ducal residence. Under Ercole I d’Este, the creation of the Addizione Erculea, a visionary Renaissance urban expansion, brought the castle into Ferrara’s heart and transformed it into a locus of courtly life.

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Castello Estense, click the image.

Located within the verdant embrace of Parco Massari, the Giardini Estensi stand is one of Ferrara’s most beloved and seasonally transformed green havens. Originally part of the gardens behind the sixteenth-century Palazzo Massari, this area transitioned into a public park in the nineteenth century and has since become the site of the celebrated annual Giardini Estensi garden festival. Brimming with fragrant blooms, rare flora, and horticultural innovation, the Giardini Estensi festival unfolds twice a year, typically in spring and autumn, drawing gardening enthusiasts and curious visitors into its floral symphony. The spring edition showcases a vivid array of seasonal plants: flowering shrubs, hydrangeas, irises, ornamental peppers, succulents, bonsai, and aromatic herbaceous perennials. .

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Giardini Estensi, click the image.

Tucked into the heart of Ferrara at Corso Porta Mare, the Orto Botanico dell’Università di Ferrara is a serene and scholarly green retreat. Covering approximately 4,500 square metres, this botanical garden is operated by the University of Ferrara and welcomes visitors free of charge on weekday mornings . Founded in 1771 by the directives of Pope Clement XIV, the garden was established to support academic experiments and the teaching of botany, at a time when Ferrara’s university, founded in 1391, was already a flourishing centre of medical and botanical study. Its initial location was within the gardens adjacent to Palazzo Paradiso, before relocating in 1963 to its current site at Palazzo Turchi-Di Bagno.

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Orto Botanico dell’Università di Ferrara, click the image.

Nestled at the heart of Ferrara’s historic centre, Piazza Trento e Trieste, often affectionately called Listone, is the city’s principal public square and symbolic meeting point. Dating back to the 12th century, it emerged concurrently with the construction of the Cathedral of St. George the Martyr, anchoring civic, religious, and political life around its rectangular, open-air span. One of the square’s most distinctive features is the “Listone”, a raised stone platform measuring approximately 120 meters long and 12 meters wide. This elevated pavement, a rare Venetian-style element in Ferrara, invites locals to stroll, chat, and linger, particularly on Sunday mornings, through festive or fog-blanketed.

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Piazza Trento e Trieste, click the image.