Delizia of Belriguardo (Delizia di Belriguardo)

Founded between 1435 and 1436 by Nicolò III d’Este, this was the most famous of the Este villas and, at the time of its construction, the largest in Italy; it was among the very first country residences of the Renaissance to want to imitate an ancient-style villa. It underwent extensions and renovations until the dukes moved away from Ferrara (1598). Later, it remained the property of the Este family as an allodial asset, and it fell into a state of progressive abandonment, which led to the loss of most of the structures. Today, the overall perimeter remains recognisable, centred around two courtyards, the entrance tower, reduced in height, preceded by a 16th-century prothyrum, the ground floor of the transversal building that divides the two courtyards, the Sala della Vigna, overlooking the second courtyard, with well-preserved 16th-century frescoes, with caryatids framing imaginary landscapes, the work of Dosso and Battista Dossi, Garofalo, Girolamo and Tommaso da Carpi, Biagio Pupini, Camillo Filippini, Iacopo da Faenza. Of the original 15th-century architectural decoration there is an arch ring in terracotta with pods, beads, leaves and cornucopias and the stone capital of a half column, in late Gothic Corinthian style.