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A
walk through Ferrara
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Join
us as we take a stroll through Ferrara's Jewish
ghetto and along the city walls
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 The
centre of Ferrara, with its narrow winding streets
is perfect for a walk. Our tour today starts from
Piazza Trento Trieste and takes us along
the side of the magnificent Cathedral towards the
Jewish ghetto, where the Jews lived in segregation
from the rest of the city from 1627 to 1859. Our
first stop is in Via Mazzini, in the heart
of the ghetto and home of
| An exhibition fit for Queens |
 Ferrara
prepares to welcome Queen Sonja of Norway,
who will return the favour by officially opening
an important new exhibition in Palazzo dei
Diamanti - ‘From
Dahl to Munch - Romanticism, Realism and
Symbolism in Norwegian Landscape Painting
 Scandinavian
moonscapes and the flatlands of Northern Italy
seen with the one melancholic eye? Who knows.
One thing's for sure, this exhibition gives
the visitor a unique chance to explore a land
that has been sadly neglected by the art world
- Norway.
The show, which is due to run from October
26th to January 13th,
celebrates a century of landscape painting,
from Dahl's romantic works to Munch's symbolist
masterpieces.
In a recent interview in C@rnet, the monthly
art review, Sonja di Glückburg (who is
an art historian and contemporary art collector
as well as reigning monarch) said: "Art
is my hideaway, the private side of my life
as queen. (...) My vision of nature is in
many respects similar to Munch's, sombre yet
passionate and engaging ..."
So here's to Munch, and his wonderful The
fjord in winter (1915), which the Queen
describes as "one of his most vibrant
works which reflects how at one he was with
nature." The interview continues
with the Queen confessing that she herself
identifies: "with a nature that offers
comfort, a refuge where we can regenerate
ourselves without being overcome."
Fans of Edvard Munch will also enjoy ‘Edvard
Munch - The Self and the Others
in Verona until January 6th, 2002.
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Ferrara's Jewish
Museum. You can visit the museum any morning
between Sunday and Thursday (guided tours only).
The inscriptions outside the museum pay tribute
to those who died in the Holocaust, a sharp contrast
to the tolerance of the Estense family who
had welcomed the Jews with open arms some 500 years
earlier. Leaving Via Mazzini (once Via dei Sabbioni)
behind we head for Via Vignatagliata and
then on towards Via delle Vigne and its atmospheric
old graveyard "The Jewish Garden" (Orto
degli Ebrei). Ring the bell to visit, the cemetery
is open every day except Saturday.
Feeling hungry? Let's go to Ristorante Ripa
Palazzo Beccari-Freguglia in Via Ripagrande.
The restaurant is famous for it's home-made pasta
filled with pumpkin (zucca) and salama
sausage. After the feast we can walk off the calories
with a brisk walk along the city walls, built at
the end of the 1400s by Biagio Rossetti to
defend Ferrara against the Venetians. The walls
run for almost 9 kms and make for a most pleasant
stroll or cycle.
Look out for Porta degli Angeli, the door
through which the last Duke of Ferrara passed before
the city fell under papal rule. You'll also notice
four monumental ramparts between San Giorgio
and Porta Paola which, along with innumerable
other treasures, helped put Ferrara on UNESCO's
World Heritage List in 1995.
 There's
plenty to do and see in Ferrara in the evening.
Treat yourselves to an aperitif in one of the many
lively bars along the left of the Cathedral and,
as darkness falls, take in the beauty of the Estense
Castle even more magical in the evening light.
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| by
MARCELLO
PARMEGGIANI |
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October
2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
