Renaissance in Ferrara - The Walls, the Urban Planning, Palazzo Schifanoia

The farsighted urban planning of Ercole I d'Este made of Ferrara the "ideal city" of the Renaissance, nowadays World Heritage by the UNESCO. From the Castello Estense, symbol of the rulers, a long avenue, admired as one of the most beautiful streets in Europe for its many palaces and gardens, leads up to the walls, the new border of the Renaissance city. A stop at the Diamonds Palace, with its unique façade, is unmissable. Piazza Ariostea, dominated by the statue of the famous poet Ariosto, and at the Certosa, once a magnificent monastery, now a monumental cemetery. A panoramic tour around the perfectly preserved walls will show the Renaissance military architecture. End with Palazzo Schifanoia, main "delizia" (leisure palace) of the Este, with its magical Room of the Months, where the Gods and signs of the Zodiac protect the duke Borso d'Este, celebrating the splendid court of Ferrara in the XV century. My local origin and my University specialization in Art History will make this excursion unforgettable.