Loggia of the Strazzaroli or Merciai – Drapers – (Loggia degli Strazzaroli o dei Merciai)

The presence of a portico on the southern side of the cathedral, overlooking the market square, now Piazza Trento and Trieste, is documented by the Statutes of the Municipality of Ferrara from 1287. Already before 1330, the drapers were located along the side of the cathedral with their wooden shops, destroyed by a fire in 1332 and promptly rebuilt. In January 1468, the drapers asked the Municipality, permission to build, at their own expense, a portico in front of their shops. Having obtained the authorisation, the new shops, and the portico in front of them, were finished in 1473.

That the strazzaroli (drapers) building would be considered of public relevance, together with the entire cathedral complex, is testified by the fact that, in 1518, both the Ducal Chamber to pay for the work carried out to solve the problems of water infiltration between the wall of the shops and the bell tower. In the 18th century the structure was rebuilt with a wooden architrave and the complex took on its current appearance. The Loggia degli Strazzaroli appears today as a picturesque building with a late Gothic appearance, thanks to the reuse of the 15th-century columcns, with late Gothic capitals with angular volutes, all different from each other.