L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE monly known today as the Cas- trum Bizantino, the oldest part of town, was founded. A city of the Renaissance The heart of Ferrara, the place where all explorations should start from, is its breathtaking cen- tral square, Piazza Trento e Tri- este. Its center piece is, without a doubt, the Cattedrale di San Gior- gio, immense jewel of Romanic architecture, embellished and enriched by gothic, Renaissance and baroque additions. Its bell tower, ideated by Alberti, is unfinished, but remains a beauty nevertheless. If you visit Ferrara these days, you may not be able to see the cathedral in all its glory, though, as its façade is under restoration: a little price to pay, if we want to keep our patrimony at its best. Always in the square is Palazzo Civico, restored during Fascismo, yet another example of the town's incredible architecture. If you ask any Italian about Ferrara, though, they are likely to mention one place in particular, a palace exotically named Palazzo dei Diamanti, or the Palace of Diamonds, named after its beauti- fully peculiar façade, made up with 8,500 pyramid shaped blocks where light and shadow play intricate illusions reminis- cent of those produced by dia- monds themselves. Palazzo dei Diamanti is home to Ferrara's Pinacoteca and is located in Corso Ettore d'Este. Speaking of the Este family, we can't forget their castle, where they had resided since 1476, famous for the Via Coperta, an elevated corridor created to join together the older part of the abode, today's Palazzo del Municipio, to the newer one. The "Addizione Erculea" and Ferrara as capital of Europe But why is Ferrara known, and rightly so, as the first truly Euro- pean city? It all comes down to the urban development that took place between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th cen- tury, under the supervision of architect Biagio Rossetti, inspired and directed by the modernizing vision of Ercole I of Este, who wanted to bring his city out of the Middle Ages and straight into a new era of discovery and creativi- ty. Following elements of ancient Roman city planning created by Vitruvius, Rossetti and Ercole I created a new, open, airy Ferrara, made of large avenues and piaz- zas, grand palaces and green spaces that perfectly merged into the existing, medieval urban fab- ric of the town. It was Arianuova (New Air), and this is where you'll find the above mentioned Palazzo dei Diamanti, for instance, as well as Palazzo dei Turchi di Bagno and Palazzo Prosperi Sacrati. This is Ferrara, the first mod- ern city in the world: the place where old and new meet, where Humanity is at the heart of all thought and creativity. Ferrara, home to Torquato Tasso, father of the Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered), widely and without discussion consider the first modern work of European Literature. Last but not least: food! Of course, how can we be in Emilia-Romagna and not even dedicate a small paragraph to food? Emiliani-Romagnoli are known for their epicurean attitude to life and their cuisine is mirror to it everywhere in the region. Ferrara proudly counts among her favorite dishes the cappellacci di zucca, a type of small pumpkin ravioli, which appeared on the Estes' table around 1584. The city is also very proud of its coppia, a type of bread whose production has been following very strict reg- ulations since the 16th century. Every Christmas, as everywhere in Emilia-Romagna (and many other areas of Italy), Ferrara favors cappelletti, those little tasty morsels of pasta filled with meat we love to eat with chicken broth. But all Ferraresi will tell you especially about their salama al sugo, the town most glorious sec- ondo, a type of insaccato (like a salame), which is served hot. Among Ferrara's most typical desserts we have panpepato, and one of Italy's most curious cake- like delicacies, zuppa Inglese, a mix between a tiramisù and an English trifle, whose origins and history may well become, believe me, the subject of an another interesting article! Continued from page 12 The beautiful northern frontage of Ferrara Cathedral built in Romanesque style is a symbol of the city, on April 30 in Ferrara Cappellacci are typical of Ferrara and they are made with pumpkin (Ⓒ: Dreamstime)

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