Location - To see in Ferrara

How to get to the LOCANDA

LOCANDA DELLA BISCIA is located in the center of FERRARA in Via Palestro 57, to see how to reach us and the exact position use the map below.

To reach us from the highway A13 Bologna Padovaexit at Ferrara Sud or Ferrara Nord and follow the city center indication

* Locanda della Biscia: Via Palestro 57 - 44100 Ferrara (Italy) .

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Visit to the “Estensi Castle: ancient fortress than residence of the Estensi family until 1598, when the city passed under the rule of the Papacy. It’s worth visiting the courtyard, the dungeons with some historical prisons: the one of Giulio D’Este and those of Ugo Parisina. On the first floor, you can’t miss the “Orange Tree Roof Garden”, the Ducal Chapel and recently restored halls with frescoes by Bastianino ands other late Renaissance painters. Remember to have a look also to “Hall of Government”, with its wonderful 16th century painted ceiling.

Visit to the Cathedral: maximum medieval monument of the city, dates from in 1135 when it was consecrated to St. George. Its facade is in Romanesque style in the lower, more ancient pan, and gothic in the upper part. Nicholas, a great master of the Romanesque sculpture, is the author or the “Saint George” and the “Scenes from the New Testament” above the main portal. The prothvrum dates from the l3th century. In the small loggia stands a “Madonna with Child” (1427) by Cristoforo da Firenze. Above the loggia you can see a “Last judgement” sculpted by an unknown artist: the Damned on the right side and the Blessed on the left side are going towards the side arches, were the Hell (the devils with a big pot) and the Paradise (Abraham sitting) are represented. In the upper part of the prothyrurn Angels, Saint John and the Virgin Mary surround Christ. The Cathedral apse is a work by Biagio Rossetti (1498), while Leon Battista Alberti, hut it remained uncompleted, began the hell-tower in 1412 on a plan.

Corso Ercole I d' Este : covering it can be enjoyed the vision of the Renaissance city intentional from duke “Ercole I D’Este” and realized from Biagio Rossetti, the greatest architect and city planner of Ferrara. The wide and rectilinear road on which harmonious palaces are aligned spaces out you from garden leads to the Crossroads, name assigned to the crossing with the run axis Door “Corso Porta Mare- Corso Biagio Rossetti”.

Visit to the Ancient Walls: during the day by walk or bike following the predisposed routes. Very evocative sight during summery period nights, to the dawn or the sunset in spring, wrapped in the fog in winter. The visit can start from “Porta Paula” (or “Porta Reno”): these walls were built under duke Borso in the 15th century, but they received their present aspect in the following century, when Alfonso II had the imposing rampart built. The area after “Porta Romana” is very green: here was once the “Garden of the Mountain”, with frescoed grottoes, aviaries, exotic plants and ponds; a fairy tale garden of which the 16th century building called “Bagni Ducali” (i.e. “Ducal Baths”) formed a part. Not far from there, in the moat, you can see the “Doccile di San Tommaso”, a sort of canal built to convey the city’s wastewater outside the walls. Low semicircular keeps can be seen all along the walls and, between the embankment and the walls themselves, a passage for the soldiers, who could move from one place to another being safe from the enemy’s fire. .

City Theatre : Ferrara Musica: In a highly evocative l5th century setting, every year the City Theatre of Ferrara demonstrates, through a rich programme of over one hundred performances to be one of the liveliest reference points for the city’s cultural life. The programmes range from dance to drama, from music to children’s theatre, from classical repertoire to be most innovative tendencies of performing arts. Ferrara Musica organizes a busy concert season and is the Italian referent of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, which performs every year two series of concerts in Ferrara. Ferrara Musica hosts internationally renowned orchestras, together with directors and soloists such as Daniel Harding, Riccardo Chailly, Filippe Herreweghe, Marc Minkowski, Maurizio Pollini, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Radu Lupu, Alexander Lonquich, Simon Keenlyside, Waltraud Meier; Giuliano Carmignola. Claudio Abbado is the Honorary President of the Association and every year he directs some concerts in the City Theatre. Jazz Club Ferrara organizes performances and festivals in which talented artists both Italian and international, take part. Don’t miss “Ferrara in Jazz”: a one year long festival, every Thursday and Saturday night in the recently restored “Torrione di San Giovanni” (i.e. St. John Tower), a round keep of the city walls. .

Visit to the Pole of Civic Museums of Ancient Art : localized in the South-eastern field of the city, between Giovecca Course and “Street Scandiana”, represents the museum net of greater interest for much part of visitors; it comprises “Schifanoia Palace” (with wonderful knows frescoed them recently restored), the “Civic Lapidario Museum”, “Bonaccossi Palace” and “Mansion Marfisa d’Este.

Are you passionate for cuisine or simply love good food and wine? Pleased, here is a fast guide to the main cuisine specialties that will be able to taste in our beautiful city with proposals and suggestions that will avoid you to leave from Ferrara without having at least tried one of its typical foods. I could suggest in particular: :

The breath "coppia" or "la ciupeta", in the 16th century the dukes of Ferrara provided their state with a great power and led a luxurious court life, where arts were just as important as banquets and celebrations. “Cristoforo da Messisbugo”, the dukes’ “scalco” (i.e. cook and master of ceremonies), during a banquet of carnival 1536, served for the first time a kind of “twisted” bread. That was the birth of the “ciupéta”, the most typical ferrarese bread, whose shape is a fantastic combination of male and female sexual symbols. It has a soft central part, from which four twisted corns branch off, each one ending with a crackling tip.

"Cappelletti in brodo di carne",(i.e. another special kind of hand made pasta): the legendary origin of “cappelletti” (small hat-shaped ravioli with a meat stuffing) is a mixture of love and sensuality. According to the legend, Venus, during one of her stays on the earth, once woke up in an inn of Castelfranco Emilia. She rang the bell and some minutes later the cook appeared: shocked by the sight of the Venus’s naked body, he went back to the kitchen and, thinking of her navel, he created the “cappelletti”. (From ”La secchia rapita”, written by A. Tassoni, 1622).

"Pasticcio alla ferrarese", the beginning of the l7th century, in one of the many monasteries of Ferrara the nuns invented the “pasticcio alla ferrarese”, giving it the shape of a priest’s hat; it is now one of the symbols of the local cuisine, and one whose preparation takes a long time and requires good skills. It has a sweet crust and a savoury stuffing nude of small maccheroni, mushrooms, butter; a little garlic, truffle, béchamel and a veal, chicken and beef ragout. It must he baked in the oven.

"Sguazabarbuz", Bologna, Modena and Ferrara all claim to be the inventors of this tagliatelle pasta. The story tells that on May 29,1503 Lucrezia Borgia came to Ferrara to marry Alfonso I d'Este and a steward of the Palace, taking inspiration from her golden locks, created this special pasta and passed down the recipe from generation to generation. The pasta is cut into irregular strips, in fact they are called “maltagliati” (cut badly) and if it is cooked in a bean and pork fat broth they are called “sguazabarbuz”.

"Passatelli in brodo", typical main dish in winter, is simple but very tasty. It is prepared with breadcrumbs, flour, eggs, cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

"Cappellacci con la zucca", (i.e. another special kind of hand made pasta): the ferrarese origin of “cappellacci” is not disputed. According to a tradition, one day the cook of duchess Lucrezia Borgia (always the Borgia!) was inspired by a strange hat of his mistress and created these hat-shaped ravioli. Comparing to “cappelletti”, they are bigger; with a thicker pastry and a stuffing nude of sweet squash mixed with Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and salt. They are cooked in hot water and served with pork ragout or sage flavoured melted butter.

La "salama da sugo" this special ferrarese dressed pork dish has been appreciated by many famous people, like Fiorenzo il Magnifico, Mascagni, Ungaretti, Greta Garbo, Gabriele D’Annunzio and many others. It’s made of pork meat, liver and tongue, mixed with red wine (with some drops of Marsala or cognac or rhum), pepper; cinnamon and dove. It’s left for at least one year hung in a dark, fresh and ventilated room. It must he boiled in water for at least four hours before serving.

Ferrara cold cuts also include:"Bondiola Poggese" & the "Zia Ferrarese" which is a typical salami with garlic, and "Coppa di Testa" (pork sausage).

L' anguilla Marinata: (Eel) together with other fish and shellfish, it is typical of the cuisine of this area especially of Comacchio. It is cooked and served in different ways and is almost always accompanied by the Bosco Eliceo wine and polenta (maize porridge), which has always been used instead of bread in this area: on skewers, in broth, grilled, chopped, diced, stewed and marinated.

The wine D.O.C. Ferrara has only one D.O.C. wine. In l528 Renée of France, daughter of King Louis XII, married Ercole d’Este. The French princess left many traces of her presence, in many aspects of ferrarese life. She also influenced the court cuisine and had some vineyards from Burgundy planted in a sandy area near the lagoons of Comacchio. Those vineyards were the origin of the “Vini del Bosco Eliceo”, still in production, which has about 10 degrees.

The fruits and vegetables include the famous “Pear of 'Emilia Romagna"" with IGP mark, the “peach and Nectarine of Romagna" with IGP mark, the "Ferrara watermelon”, the "Rice of the Po Delta”, the “Garlic of Voghiera" and the “Carrot of the Ferrara Delta”.

"Pampapato" sweets created in the 17th century by the nuns of Corpus Domini, it has the shape of a “zucchetto”, the typical ecclesiastic hat. The ingredients are: wheat flour; sugar or honey, almonds, bitter and sweet cocoa powders, orange, tangerine and lemon peels, cinnamon, clove and candied fruit.

And finally there are also “sweet filled ravioli”. " They are filled with jam or fruit mustard, the "mandurlìn dal pont" crispy biscuits with almonds (see photo on the left), the "torta ricciolinia or di tagliatelle" short pastry and almond paste covered with egg tagliolini pasta and the "torta tenerina" (see photo in the right) a simple cake with soft chocolate inside and covered with confectioner’s sugar.