Ferrara, loderò le tue vie piane/grandi come fiumane,/che conducono all’infinito chi va solo col suo pensiero ardente: I shall praise your flat streets/as large as rivers/that lead to infinity those walking alone with their fiery thoughts. That’s how our Gabriele d’Annunzio, patriotic poet and high representative of Italy’s Decadentismo described Ferrara, his città del silenzio.
A city of silence, because of that breathtaking beauty of hers, a beauty leaving you speechless, more prone to reflection than boisterous banter. Ferrara, capital of the homonymous province in Emilia Romagna, home to about 130,000 people and UNESCO Heritage Site in its entirety, is sheer mirror of how utterly modern and profoundly revolutionary the Renaissance has been for Humanity.