Estense Castle

Largo Castello, 1 | Ferrara

City of Ferrara's icon

Estense Castle is the most important monument of Ferrara, also known as Saint Micheal, built by Nicolò d'Este's willing in 1385. It is right in the city center. Initially, it was a defence and military fortification, but later it turned into Este's dwelling and ducal residence, after the "Herculean Addition".

Set up on four towers, it's surrounded by a huge ditch that, besides remembering its original function, seems isolating it by the urban context.

Now it's a permanent museum headquarters in which you can still admire the inside: the ducal apartments, the ancient prisons, the Lion's Tower, the Oranges's Garden, the ducal kitchens and appreciate artworks in honor of Prince's magnificence.

Ongoing exhibitions:

Ferrara's Dream - Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani until 9th October 2022
Realized by Fondazione Ferrara Arte and by Art Museums' Service of Ferrara's Municipality, in partnership with Mart, Trento and Rovereto's modern and contemprary Art Museum, the exhibition wants to let the audience know a fantastic, poetic and exciting world by this artist from Ferrara, recalling for the first time his whole careet with more than a hundred works.
Combining Italian Renaissance, De Chirico's metaphysics, Delvaux's surrealism and magical realism, the painter moves freely realizing works with a popular and religious subject and fascinating allegorical world between myth and fairy tale.

The treacherous remembrance. Images's seduction from de Chirio to Schifano - from the 1st July to the 27th December 2022
The dossier-exhibition, realized by Art Museums Service of Ferrara's Municipality and by Ferrara Arte Foundation, edited by Chiara Vorrasi, it's a new appointment of an expository program specific for the city's museum heritage through focuses on artist and thematica areas, for which Boldini and De Pisis have already been protagonist. The attention is on civic collections's works that recall the post-modern season at the ende of the XX century and the renovated fascination for figurative arts.

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