Ferrara

Industrial town and archbishopric in Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy, on a branch of the Po delta, 52 km/32 mi west of the Adriatic Sea; population (2001) 131,000. It is the principal distribution and market centre of a major fruit-growing area. Industries include sugar-refining, and the manufacture of chemicals and textiles. Ferrara became a powerful city state in the 13th century.

Features include the red-brick, Gothic castle of its medieval rulers, the House of Este; palaces; museums; and a cathedral, consecrated in 1135. The university was founded in 1391. The religious reformer Girolamo Savonarola and poet Giovanni Battista were born here, and the poet Torquato Tasso was confined in Ferrara's asylum from 1579 to 1586.

Ferrara was ruled by the Este family from 1208 until 1598, when it was annexed to the Papal States. Under the domination of the Este court, Ferrara contributed greatly to the Renaissance in Italy; in the 15th century it was known for its school of painting, and in the 16th century it was a literary centre. Its many palaces and mansions include the Schifanoia Palace (14th–15th centuries), now a museum; the Renaissance palace of Lodovico il Moro, also now a museum; the Diamond Palace, now an art gallery; and the 16th-century house of Princess Marfisa. The cathedral has a Romanesque-Gothic facade, and the university has a library established in 1753. Ferrara has retained its Renaissance town plan, with a grid-iron pattern of streets.

Ferrara

Province of Italy in northeastern Emilia-Romagna region; capital Ferrara; area 2,632 sq km/1,016 sq mi; population (2000 est) 348,700.

The province's eastern coastline on the Adriatic Sea contain several lagoons, the largest of which is Conacchio. The province comprises the greater part of the ancient duchy of Ferrara.