19 Facts About Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara.

Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD, when he captured the town from the Exarchate of Ravenna.

In 988 Ferrara was ceded by the Church to the House of Canossa, but at the death of Matilda of Tuscany in 1115 it became a free commune.

Ferrara's rule marked the end of the communal period in Ferrara and the beginning of the Este rule, which lasted until 1598.

Architecture of Ferrara greatly benefited from the genius of Biagio Rossetti, who was requested in 1484 by Ercole I to draft a masterplan for the expansion of the town.

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Ferrara again fought Venice in the Italian Wars after joining the League of Cambrai.

In recent decades, as part of a general trend in Italy and Europe, Ferrara has come to rely more on tertiary and tourism, while the heavy industry, still present in the town, has been largely phased out.

The proximity to the largest Italian river has been a constant concern in the history of Ferrara, that has been affected by recurrent, disastrous floods, the latest occurring as recently as 1951.

The average age of Ferrara residents is 49 compared to the Italian average of 42.

Ferrara is known as being the oldest city with a population over 100,000, as well the city with lowest birth rate.

Jewish community of Ferrara is the only one in Emilia Romagna with a continuous presence from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Ferrara's celebrated book, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, was published in Italian as Giardino dei Finzi-Contini, 1962, by Giulio Einaudi editore s p a It was made into a film by Vittorio de Sica in 1970.

Ferrara Bible was a 1553 publication of the Ladino version of the Tanakh used by Sephardi Jews.

Ferrara gave birth to Girolamo Savonarola, the famous medieval Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498.

Ferrara was known for his book burning, destruction of what he considered immoral art, and hostility to the Renaissance.

Ferrara vehemently preached against the moral corruption of much of the clergy at the time, and his main opponent was Pope Alexander VI.

Ferrara's masterpiece Fiori musicali is a collection of liturgical organ music first published in 1635.

Ferrara is the birthplace of Italian film directors Michelangelo Antonioni and Florestano Vancini.

The Ferrara Buskers Festival is a non-competitive parade of street musicians from all over the world.