Cathedral of Ferrara — Attraction in Ferrara

Beautiful Cathedral, dedicated to St. George. It is located in the historic center opposite the Palazzo Municipale (Town Hall). The sacredness, the majesty and the beauty of the decorations and the frescoes leaves us breathless. The cathedral of Ferrara dates from the 12th century and bears witness to the historical periods of the city. The outstanding facade, divided into three sections, was begun in Romanesque style, still visible in the lower part. The facade is rich in scenes from the New Testament above the central door, the work of the sculptor Nicholaus (1135). The upper part was built some decades later in a Gothic style and besides the numerous small arches and the splayed mullioned windows presents an extraordinary Last Judgment by an unknown sculptor over the central loggia. The imposing Renaissance campanile (Bell tower), in pink and white marble, is an unfinished work attributed to Leon Battista Alberti. The interior of the church is rich in murals, paintings and sculptures by renowned Renaissance masters such as Nicolò Baroncelli and Domenico di Paris (bronze statues of the Crucifixion and of Saints George and Maurilius), Guercino (splendid canvas of the Martyrdom of St Lawrence), Bastianino (grandiose Last Judgment). The interior of the cathedral was rebuilt in 1712 in Baroque style. During our visit it was under reconstruction, but it does not diminish the splendor of the Cathedral. It is possible to enter the Cathedral at...

This was second time we visited Ferrara. Unfortunately the tower is under renovation, but this time we visited the interior. There was no entrance fee.

I was really impressed by how much history is packed into this cathedral. It was first built in the 1100s, and you can see the features of different architecture through time—from the Romanesque arches at the bottom of the façade to the Gothic details above. The bell tower was designed in the Renaissance by Alberti, and the inside is full of Baroque art and decoration. Even the tomb of Pope Urban III is there, which adds to the impotrance of this place. It is a bit dark inside though. I would definitely...

Purtroppo non sono entrato perché passato da qui si seduta tardi e naturalmente la Cattedrale era chiusa. Una vistosa impalcatura ne copriva parzialmente la facciata ma ho potuto percepire comunque la bellezza e grandiosità. La grandiosa facciata, dalla particolarissima struttura a tre cuspidi, fu iniziata in stile romanico, ancora prevalente nella parte inferiore: da notare il San Giorgio e le scene del Nuovo Testamento sopra la porta centrale, opera dello scultore Nicholaus (1135). La parte superiore, di qualche decennio più tarda, è in stile gotico e presenta, oltre alle numerose arcatelle e ai finestroni strombati, un magnifico Giudizio Universale scolpito da ignoto, sopra la loggia centrale. Sotto queste sculture si trova un’elegante loggia gotica contenente una statua, anticamente dorata, della Vergine e il Bambino, opera della prima metà del Quattrocento attribuita a Michele da Firenze. Nella parte bassa della facciata, a sinistra, una lapide ricorda il passaggio di Ferrara dal potere estense a quello del papa Clemente VIII. A destra, entro una nicchia, è posta invece la statua del marchese Alberto d’Este, fondatore dell’Università (1391). La fiancata posta lungo la piazza Trento e Trieste è decorata da due logge con colonnette scolpite. In basso corre la Loggia dei Merciai, occupata da negozi fin dai tempi del Medioevo. Al centro della fiancata si notano le strutture superstiti dell’antica Porta dei Mesi, distrutta nel XVIII secolo, le cui sculture sono in parte conservate nel Museo della Cattedrale. L’imponente campanile rinascimentale, in marmo bianco e rosa, è opera incompiuta attribuita a Leon Battista Alberti. L’abside in laterizio è opera del massimo architetto e urbanista ferrarese, Biagio Rossetti Tornerò e sicuramente le...