— vy" cent restitution of the 
t of the Lower Po; but by the re- 
Pope, it has again become an in- 
See of the territories of the byamasar pr pers oad 
ERRARA, a city of Italy, the capital of the duchy 
of Ferrara, situated on the north bank of the river Po, 
which here divides into two branches, called Po di Vo- 
Jano and Po di Primaro, both flowing to the east. This 
city is surrounded by a fortified wall and broad ditch, 
which may be filled with water by méans of a canal 
from the river. There are five gates, called the gate of 
St Benedict, St Paul, St George, St John the Baptist, 
and the gate of the Angels; and at the south-west ex- 
tremity there is a regular fortress. Within the walls 
are some gardens, which enlarge the dimensions as- 
éribed to the city. There are several squares, and the 
streets are tolerably wide and convenient. The suburbs 
of St Luke and St are without the walls, on the 
opposite side of the river, which is crossed by bridges 
near two of the 
The principal objects in the city of Ferrara, are 
churches, convents, a few edifices for public pu 
not ecclesiastical, and those belonging to private indi- 
viduals ; but of the first there is a very great superiori- 
with regard to numbers. The metropolitan church, 
icated to St George, the tutelar saint of the city, of 
cupies one side the Piazza di San Crispino, the princi- 
uare. The antiquity of this edifice remounts to 
the year 1135, when it was completed and consecrated, 
and exhibits a specimen of the bad taste which perva- 
ded the architecture of that period, intermixed with 
subsequent alterations. It contains many monuments, 
inscriptions, and statues. Among the last, are five in 
bronze as large as life, ornamenting an altar, represent- 
ing the crucifixion, the Virgin Mary, and other sancti- 
There are several of fine Carrara marble, 
of which one of ‘the most conspicuous, and as large as 
life, was erected by the citizens of Ferrara, in honour of 
Albert their sovereign lord, in 1898, who had repaired 
‘tothe Pope with a great cavalcade, and obtained two 
important bulls, sanctioning the erection of a universi- 
‘ty, and certain rig Fe regarding succession to pro- 
petty. Pope Urban IIT. having died in Ferrara in the 
"year 1187, was interred here, and his successor Grego- 
VIII. elected in the church. The architecture of 
tower, which was built in 1412, and consists of mar- 
ble, is much celebrated. 
About the year 1506, a spacious edifice, the church 
‘of St Benedict, was built by two native architects to- 
‘wards the western part of the city, to which a monas- 
‘tery adjoins. Here are deposited the remains of the 
famous Italian poet Ariosto, in a marble mausoleum, 
executed by Nano, a Mantuan sculptor, with two in- 
scriptions, one of which was composed by Guarini. 
This monument has attracted the notice of crowned 
heads in their visits to Italy, while the ashes of philo- 
sophers have in neglected obscurity. Ariosto 
was a native of Ferrara, and his house is still shown as 
a curiosity to strangers. It bears two inscriptions, com- 
posed * imself and his natural son, a literary ecclesi- 
astic: The former is in these words, Parva, sed apta 
mihi, sed nulli obnoxia, sed non sordida, parta meo sed 
“tamen aere domus, certainly neither very t nor po- 
‘etical ; the latter is, Sic domus hae Areosta propitios 
habeat deos olim ut Pindarica. The house was built by 
him, and he died there on the sixth of June 1533. In 
the annexed to the church of St Benedict, 
are preserved some i t archives, 
A church dedicated to St Francis was founded at an 
early period of the Ferrarese history, and after being 
FERRARA. | | 
frequently renewed and altered, was at last completed Fertital 
in the year 1495. This edifice is also rich in ete he <a 
Tm 
and statues, and presents several Hew -saihy Sgn 
different descriptions. It is besides” cable for an 
echo which father Lana, in his work Magisterium Na- 
twre et Arlis, considers one of the most wonderful phe- 
nomena extant. The voice of a person st: ina 
particular position, near the main entrance, is 
15 or 16 times distinctly, and afterwards more faint- 
ly, for some intervals, until totally lost. ‘The repeti- 
tions are so numerous, however, that, to avoid confusion, 
only a single syllable must be expressed, in order that 
the echo may be heard in perfection. PCIE 
The church of St Dominic, a spacious modern edi- 
fice, with a mo of Dominican monks connected 
with it, stands towards the south-west of the city. 
It was founded in the year 1710, and completed 
1726, but the Dominicans had an establishment as early 
as 1235. Like the former, the church has many pie: 
tures ; and Celio Cal ini, a celebrated scholar of Fer- 
rara, bequeathed a valuable library to the convent;'in 
the 16th century. nny Jessi Cacaipdi, a 
Besides these religious edifices, there are many more 
in this city worthy of attention: the total number of 
churches and chapels amounts to 60 or 70, in 2 
of convents for monks and nuns. The isition has 
also a tribunal here ; and the archbishop a palace ad- 
jacent to the metropolitan church. It is a modern 
building, commenced in 1718 ; it has some statues, and 
a staircase which is much admired, © me 
Not far from the last of these buildings stands 
square edifice, with towers at each angle, orn 
by a balustrade, which is called the castle, and is occu- 
pied by the cardinal legate. This was originally de- 
signed as a place of security, and erected by one of the 
lords of Ferrara, after quelling a ar tumult. A 
military guard is mounted here, and the grand council 
assembles in a large hall devoted to that purpose. © 
There are two foundling hospitals for male and fe- 
male children, one for orphans, and a poor'’s house for 
mendicants ; also different public buildings for the 
administration of justice, one’ of which, called the 
palace of reason, was erected in the year 1326. ‘The 
theatre is a modern structure of Ionic architecture; 
erected in 1786, pe Rpt Campana, a Ferraresey)  « 
Pope Clement VIII. after taking possession” of the 
duchy, resolved to build a fort, including a large 
of the city, and several churches ; but resel 
ture, which is of 4 pentagonal form, was founded only in 
the year 1608. It is entered by a fine marble gateway, 
erected in 1630, and there is a colossal statue of Po 
Paul V. in marble, under whose pontificate the fortress 
was completed. A small garrison was lately kept in it, 
Ferrara is said to have distinguished by its li- 
terati ata very ancient period, and we have 
remarked that the foundation of a university was'au- 
thorised in 1891. The seminary which now . 
however, is of more modern date, rot either 
built or altered in 1610. It is rather a plain structure 
‘a tower and 
cupola, and stands towards the south ‘part of the city. 
To judge by the extent of the li establishment, 
this should be a favoured place for y, but we be- 
theatre, a school for the fine arts, a museum of antiqui- 
ties, and a botanical In sculptures, cameos, 
td #4 
