Ducal Palace of Ferrara (Palazzo Ducale di Ferrara)

Little remains of the ancient Este palace facing the cathedral and the episcopal palace. Originally the residence of the Adelardi family, from whom the Este family had taken over the leadership of the city from 1189, its Renaissance layout is known to us thanks to archival research by Thomas Tuohy.

The palace was created from the medieval nucleus known as Corte Vecchia (the current Town Hall, whose façade dates back to 1924-28); the residential complex grew over the centuries with the addition of new buildings and subsequent modernisations, as was usually the case in the large urban palaces of the age of the lords. It was Duke Ercole I who paid great attention to the overall reconfiguration, with tireless works that led to the layout of the complex around a large ducal courtyard (now Piazza Municipale) and a secret, i.e. private, garden for the lord, later transformed into the Duchesses’ Garden, a space that still survives, although profoundly altered. The complex was connected to the castle by the Via Coperta, where in 1505 Alfonso I placed the famous alabaster Camerini, with works by the most famous artists of the time, and the stone balcony that can still be seen outside today.

It seems that the designer of the complex was the same Duke Ercole I, a great expert in building art, while to his architect Biagio Rossetti it is owed the loggia (1491-1493) that faced the north wing of the building, of which the portico facing the street and the archway leading under the Cavallo façade remain.