I’m in the cacophonous kitchen of Trattoria da Noemi, a restaurant established in 1958 in the northern Italian city of Ferrara. Maria Cristina Borgazzi, daughter of the titular owner, is demonstrating how she prepares her pièce de résistance. A thick layer of sweet pastry sits on a wide plate. As I watch, perplexed, Borgazzi deftly piles on cooked...

The day begins early for those who practice l’arte bianca. The so-called “white art”, more commonly known as baking, is named for the artists’ medium: flour. By the time I arrive at Panificio Perdonati–on the corner of a cobble-stoned street, midway between the medieval walls that encircle Ferrara and the castle at its center–its bakers have alread...

Ferrara, a city steeped in history and graced with architectural marvels, harbors a jewel within its urban fabric — the Palazzo dei Diamanti or, to say it in English, the “Diamonds Palace.” As one of Italy’s most unique and recognized buildings, Palazzo dei Diamanti stands tall with its distinctive “diamond” cladding, a visual nod to the brilliance...

Charming, welcoming and... tailor-made for cycling! Ferrara is one of the most important cities of the Italian Renaissance and deserves to be fully explored, on foot or on two wheels. The hand of the Estensi shaped to this medieval jewel: this powerful family made Ferrara an essential center for politics and culture in medieval Italy. There is so m...

Visiting a Jewish quarter means approaching a fascinating world that perhaps many people still know too little about. It's not only a very ancient civilization, from which the three main monotheistic religions are derived, but also a culture with a strong identity that has found expression in literature, art, phylosophy, complex symbolism, and even...

Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna, with its invaluable testimonies from the Renaissance, is one of 55 Italian sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, inserted in 1995. The Po Delta Regional Park, a highly precious natural ecosystem, was inserted on the List in 1999 for being a unique cultural landscape and example of intelligent human construction within n...

The tour of the Castles of Emilia Romagna will allow you to discover is an Italian region where you can find many fortresses and castles that will allow you to make a wonderful journey through time. You should know that every province in the area has a rich heritage of fortresses, fortifications and ancient noble houses. These testimonies of the pa...

Spring in Italy smells of freshly bloomed flowers and trees that are colored with new light, the climate becomes mild, the squares of the cities come back to life and the sun reappears to make the landscapes shine. In short, for many this is the best time of year to travel and to enjoy landscapes and locations without the confusion of summer or the...

Every morning by 3 a.m., at his shop in the northern city of Ferrara, Italian baker Sergio Perdonati recreates a Renaissance bread. Using a 90-year-old starter (which his father managed to save after the bakery was bombed during World War II), he rolls two lengths of dough, one beneath the palm of each hand, until they begin to curl. He then presse...

Christmas markets, light shows and old traditions: all across Italy there are many events planned for the Christmas and New Year period: here we have chosen the most interesting suggestions for you. The very first traditional Christmas markets date back to around the 14th century in Germany and Alsace and then spread along the Alps, including Italy...