Malalbergo
We start in the town of Malalbergo, formerly in the Province of Bologna. Here, the boundary between the two provinces is traversed by the river Reno. A scene from the colourful life of Lucrezia Borgia played out in Malalbergo.
Lucrezia was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, and was sent to marry the Duke Alfonso d’Este in 1502. Their arranged marriage was celebrated in Rome, amid great pomp and splendour: horse races, bull running, wrestling, triumphal processions, games, plays, dancing and sumptuous banquets. A magnificent escort of a thousand people left Rome on 6 January, crossing Umbria and Romagna to an enthusiastic reception by noble families including the Houses of Baglioni (Perugia), Montefeltro (Urbino) and Bentivoglio (Bologna), reaching the capital city of the duchy by the end of the month, where the Duke of Ferrara, Ercole I, had prepared a reception of incredible splendour.
Reaching Malalbergo on 1 February, Lucrezia met her sister-in-law Isabella, the marquise of Mantua and both women then continued the journey towards Ferrara, this time by boat. Unfortunately, the route followed by the two is not known and almost certainly no longer exists today. The viable canals and the course of the river have been significantly altered over the centuries: the repeated flooding of the river banks during the 16th century, the various caves and canals opened and then closed by the House of Lambertini and the Venetians in the 18th century, along with the extensive drainage works around Ferrara over the years have forever altered the ancient courses of the canals once travelled by Lucrezia Borgia.
Campagne ferraresi
Gallo
14 km from Ferrara, just outside Malalbergo, is the town of Gallo. Some experts suggest that the name Gallo came from the natural environment, noting that this place name is common in Europe, with the generic meaning of “wood”. The town does in fact stand on the site of an ancient wooded hillock, amid deep hollows which run alongside the navigable canal of Malalbergo.
In the second half of the 17th century, the marquis Alessandro Cervelli, who administered the allodial estates of the House of Este in the San Martino area, attempted to remedy the problems caused by flooded marshland, which extended as far as the gates of Ferrara, by undertaking major earthworks to divert one of the tributaries of the river Reno into the lower-lying land at Gallo. The works were named the Riazzo del Gallo, and the turbid water and sedimentation caused by this intervention has over the years profoundly altered the configuration of the land. Looking towards Bologna, the depression made by the ancient Riazzo del Gallo on the left side of the Porrettana road even beyond Montalbano, is still clearly visible.
The little village suffered changes in its fortunes, depending on the alteration of the watercourses and routes, roads and means of transport. It was later abandoned and deprived of the resources that should have come from the large town from which it had grown. In the 18th century, both towns were separated by the majestic banks of the river Reno.
Since 1712, the backdrop of the main square in Gallo has been the modest church dedicated to Santa Caterina de’ Vegri (St Catherine Vegri). This is the only church in the province of Ferrara to have this patron saint, who was born to a noble Ferrarese family and lived in the Monastery of Corpus Domini in Ferrara and later in Bologna, where she founded another monastery of the same name in 1463.
Uccellino
The town of Uccellino is located along the main road at the turn-off for Poggio Renatico. The landscape is dominated by the Uccellino Tower, which was originally located along a major link road joining Bologna and Ferrara. The tower is what remains of an ancient castle built by the people of Bologna in 1242; its name comes from the hunting falcon carved into one of the stones. But according to Franceschini, Bolognese records of the time indicate that before the tower was built, this place was known as ‘Ocellino’; this appears to coincide with the ‘Ogianello’ referred to on the pseudo papal bull, on the boundary with the territory of Bologna between Malalbergo and Madonna dei Boschi. A document from the Hedri archives indicates that on 30 May 1837, excavations carried out close to the Uccellino Tower unearthed the foundations of the ancient castle.
Like the famous towers of Bologna, this tower has a similar structure with few apertures in the exposed terracotta brickwork and tapering in the mid-section and is crowned by the Guelph-style merlons. The solid, bulky structure indicates its defensive purpose, and indeed this tower has withstood many assaults and invasions over the centuries.
The tower was donated by the pope to Galeazzo Marescotti de’ Calvi, a member of an ancient Bolognese family of Ghibelline persuasion, and a man of letters, government and arms. In 1443, Galeazzo Marescotti successfully liberated Annibale I Bentivoglio, who had been imprisoned in the castle of Varano (near Parma) by Niccolò Piccinino, the lord put in charge of the city by the House of Visconti. On returning to Bologna in secret, Annibale Bentivoglio led a revolt by all the leading families of Bologna, to rout out Piccinino. The families succeeded in their mission, and the Visconti troops elected Annibale as lord of the city in 1445. But Galeazzo Marescotti, who had orchestrated the Bentivoglios’ rule of Bologna, was not well rewarded. At the age of almost ninety, he saw his sons and grandsons slain by a descendant of Annibale. Annibale was succeeded by his son Giovanni II Bentivoglio, who became lord of Bologna in 1464. Hermes, the younger son of Giovanni II, ordered the execution of several members of the Marescotti family, who had become rivals of the Bentivoglio and had organised a plot to hand them over to Cesare Borgia. After a massacre in the streets of Bologna, Hermes and an army of men set off in the direction of Ferrara, as far as the Uccellino Tower. On 3 May 1501, two of Galeazzo’s young grandsons, Antenore and Mariscoto, had taken refuge in the tower to escape the furious and bloody slaughter. Hermes, having reached the door with his brigade, called the two brothers down, offering peace and a pardon on behalf of the people of Bologna. The young brothers, heartened by these promises, came down to open the tower door— only for the one closest to Hermes to fall to the ground with a sword through his neck a few seconds later. His brother rushed to his aid but was also slain in cold blood. Hermes, followed by his men and still brandishing the sword, set off again towards Bologna.
But his control began to weaken when Alfonso d'Este, deaf to the protests of the Bolognese people, took advantage of the campaign to take bronze for his cannons (the same foundry also melted the statue of Julius II, sculpted and cast by Michelangelo, except for the head which was lost in the dungeons of the Estense Castle). Another reason why the Uccellino Tower lost its status is that the drainage of the land created a direct route to Poggio, through Chiesuol del Fosso, without having to travel around Torre Fossa and San Martino.
The "Diario Ferrarese" from January 1499 gives us this eloquent testimony: “vennero da Bologna per l’Occellino quattro fanti. Come furono al confine uno di loro quattro levò la runcha e taglio il collo agli altri tre e tolse loro i denari che avevano addosso e ritornò verso Bologna”.
Poggio Renatico, Torre dell'Uccellino
San Martino
Continuing in the direction of Ferrara, we come to the hamlet of San Martino. Set on a hillock amid vast expenses of valley and marshland, San Martino is in a strategic position between Ferrara and Bologna. For this reason, it became the subject of special attention from the Curia and the House of Este. Ercole I d’Este wrote in a letter to the Venetian High Council: “Nel 1494 passato, facessimo dare principio alla bonificazione delle terre incolte e paludose della San Martina.”.
The only overland route to Bologna was through the hills of San Martino and Uccellino, but it was lost in the 17th century. It is easy to see how this little town, being the only settlement on the road between Ferrara and Bologna, would be exposed to incursion and robbery. In 1242, the people of Bologna managed to fortify their boundaries, by building the Castle of Uccellino, of which the tower still stands today. After attacks by the people of Ferrara, the structure was damaged and had to be restored in 1303. The people of Bologna needed to preserve a secure route to Ferrara and to collect road tolls from travellers. It was believed that they would not relinquish possession of Torre del Fondo or Pontonara, not even temporarily. At any rate, in 1310 the fortifications were handed back to the people of Ferrara. The Torre del Fondo, which still stands today, was converted into a house, close to Coronella. As for the Torre della Pontonara, it is thought to have stood between the church in San Martino and Torre della Fossa, opposite the banks of the Sammartina river close to what was formerly the viable canal between Bologna and Ferrara.
In 1391, the marquis Alberto d’Este set off on a journey to Rome. On his return, arriving at the Torre della Pontonara, he was met with a jubilant crowd of locals. Alberto had not only obtained papal exemptions and favours, but most importantly he was bearing the papal bull that established the University of Ferrara, then called the “Studio generale”.
Torre della Fossa
Torre della Fossa was built as early as the 13th century, along the low-lying road built along the right-hand bank of the Po di Primaro. The poet Ariosto describes it in Orlando Furioso as a pleasant little place with a church, hostelry and a few shops. Its name comes from the ancient tower that once stood at the mouth of the canal between Bologna and Ferrara, on the Po di Primaro. Excavations in the year 1837 unearthed the foundations of Torre della Fossa along with several other rooms of the ancient castle.
In ancient times, it was easier to travel over water than land, to reach the outlying towns around Ferrara. The fossa (channel) began at the tower on the Primaro and reached as far as San Martino, where it split into two forks, one to Montalbano and the other towards Poggio, both heading in the direction of Bologna. This made Torre Fossa a place of embarkation and disembarkation. Throughout history, famous names have met each other or travelled through Torre della Fossa.
This was where, on 24 February 1452, King Frederik III and his magnificent court embarked on a journey to Rome, where he was crowned emperor by Pope Nicholas V. On his return, on 10 May 1452, Frederik was received here by the marquis Borso d’Este, named duke of Modena and Reggio by the new emperor.
On 1 February 1502, there was a memorable encounter at Torre della Fossa, when Lucrezia Borgia escorted by her many courtiers arrived by boat, on her way from Rome to visit the duke Alfonso d’Este whom she had already married by arrangement. The bride disembarked on the shores of the canal, kissing the hand of the duke who gave her an equally warm welcome. She then re-boarded the sumptuous bucintour (state barge) of the Este family, which was headed for Ferrara, while a large gathering of Este courtiers and gentlemen climbed up the embankments to wave her off. That evening, Lucrezia Borgia stayed at the palace of Alberto d’Este in Borgo di San Luca, on the opposite shore of the Po, facing Porta San Paolo which is now known as Porta Paola. At 2 pm the next day, the bride crossed the bridge at Castel Tedaldo and entered the city.
Along the road to Ferrara, past the church is the beautiful Casa Ferialda, which stands on a raised ground floor. Formerly a Barillari property and now owned by the Arzenton family, it has a 17th-century frontage.
Ferrara
These are the places in Ferrara which are associated with Lucrezia Borgia:
Estense Castle and ‘Largo Castello’
Lucrezia lived with her husband Alfonso I d’Este at the castle, seat of the ducal court, for 17 years.
Ercole I ruled from 1471 until 1505. During his duchy, Ercole commissioned major new refurbishments at the castle, both externally and internally. His most important work was to carry out significant alterations and transformations along the axis leading from the old palace to the rooms close to the Lions’ Tower. The duke’s far-sighted renovation strategy is what we must thank for the major extension of the city walls, known as the Addizione Erculea. The architect Biagio Rossetti was commissioned for the project, which radically changed the city's appearance. Ercole was succeeded by his son Alfonso I, who was married firstly to Anna Sforza and then to Lucrezia Borgia. Under Alfonso I, there was an undeniable boost to the duchy thanks to his dynamic leadership policy which saw him undertake the wars against Venice (1505) and clashes with the papal army of Julius II. Alfonso also oversaw various artistic and cultural developments which manifested as an increase in the Este art collections which came to include the famous Golden Rooms, which Alfonso himself ordered to be built above the Via Coperta.
Ferrara, Castello Estense
Casa Romei, Via Savonarola
In this building, which at the time was part of the Corpus Domini, Lucrezia would often retreat for periods of prayer and meditation.
Casa Romei was built by the merchant Giovanni Romei in the mid-15th century; it was later enlarged and embellished to celebrate his marriage to Polissena d'Este. The late-Gothic courtyard, floral decorations, the Room of the Sibyls and Prophets, the timbered ceilings, frescoed vaults and the “Alcove” make this building the only one of its kind in Ferrara. The grotesques decorating the first-floor rooms were added later, in the 16th century, when the house became part of the convent of Corpus Domini.
Church of St George, Piazzale San Giorgio
On the tomb of St Maurelius are three fine silver plaques: one of them depicts Lucrezia presenting her children to the Saint, and is the only known portrait of this famous princess.
The building was once a temple, and is the oldest building in the city. In the 7th century A.D. it served as a cathedral, and this function was only removed in the 12th century. The marquis Nicolò III d'Este entrusted the church to the Olivetan monastic order, which still exists today. In the 15th century the entire complex was renovated and adapted to accommodate the monastery.
Ferrara, Chiesa di San Giorgio
Monastery of Corpus Domini, Via Pergolato/Campofranco
This is the location of Lucrezia’s tomb.
The monastery stands in the old town, at the centre of a maze of narrow streets. In medieval times, this was one of the most well-to-do areas of Ferrara, just a short distance from Via San Francesco and the palace owned by the House of Este on the same road. Founded in 1406 and approved by the order of St Clare in 1431, the monastery owes its fame to the figure of St Catherine Vegri (Catherine of Bologna), a noblewoman who abandoned the luxurious life of her court to follow her religious calling. A mystic and writer, she lived here until 1456 and was canonised in 1712, following the miracle of the unburned loaves. The terracotta frontage faces Via Campofranco. Its original decorative features, such as the Gothic portal surmounted by a small rose window, still remain today. Inside is the small public chapel and Choir room, where famous members of the House of Este are buried, including Ercole II, Eleonora of Aragon, Alfonso I and his second wifeLucrezia Borgia, and the last Duke of Este, Alfonso II, along with Eleonora, the daughter of Alfonso I, and Lucrezia, daughter of Ercole II, who were also nuns here. At the end of the choir, beneath a small stone, lie the remains of many other members of the Este family, from the now-demolished Church of St Mary of the Angels.
Ferrara, Monastero del Corpus Domini
Palazzo Schifanoia, Via Scandiana 23
The portrait of Lucrezia can be seen in the numismatic cabinet.
The Schifanoia palace was built in the late 14th century, in a verdant area close to the old course of the River Po, on the orders of Alberto V d'Este. The name of the building comes from the motto schivar la noia (literally “escaping boredom”) and refers to the intended function as a place of enjoyment and recreation, the “delight” of the House of Este. Today, the palace is a long building divided into two wings. To the west is the 14th-century wing which has a single floor; to the east, is the 15th-century wing, on two floors, which is the extension ordered by the duke Borso between 1465 and 1467. The façade, once crowned by merlons and frescoed with false polychrome marble, is characterised by the elegant marble portal designed by Francesco del Cossa.
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