FERRA'RA, an ancient city of Italy, capital of the province of the same name, is situated in a low marshy plain in the delta of the Po, and about 4 m. s. of the main branch of that river, 28 m. n.n.e. of Bologna, and 40 m. n.w. of Ravenna. F. was first made a walled city by the exarch of Ravenna about the close of the 6th c., and in the following century (661 A.D.) became the seat of a bishop. In the middle ages, it was the great commercial emporium of Italy, and the seat of a court renowned throughout Europe; but now the city has a peculiarly deserted and melancholy appearance; grass grows on the pavements of its broad and regular streets, and its churches and palaces are either rapidly falling, or have already fallen into decay. It is surrounded with walls, and is strengthened by bastions and a fortress. The old castle, or ducal palace, once the residence of the dukes of Este, but recently, until 1860, occupied by the papal legates, rises like a huge rock, is strengthened with corner-towers, and sur rounded by a ditch. Its ecclesiastical edifices, which are very numerous, and of which the churches of Santa Maria degl' Angell and of San Benedetto are the most remarkable in point of architecture, are rich in paintings by the great masters of the Ferrara and Bologna schools. Besides their valuable paintings, these churches
contain numerous sculptured monuments of famous persons; the church of San Fran cesco has a curious echo, with sixteen reverberations. The university, founded in 1264, was reorganized in 1402, closed in 1794, and reopened in 1824. It is in high repute as a school of medicine and jurisprudence, and is attended by from 100 to 200 students. It has an excellent library, which, besides a variety of MSS., missal paintings, and old editions of printed works, contains several of the works of Tasso and Ariosto in their own hand. F. is specially remarkable for its art associations. Under the patronage of the dukes of Este, it produced a school of painters who rank high in the history of art; while in literature the name of F. is immortalized through its connection with those of Tasso, Ariosto, and Guarini. At the period of its greatest prosperity, F. had about 100,000 inhabitants, but in 1872 it had a population of only 33,327.
In 1849, the Austrians took possession of the town, but were compelled to abandon it at the commencement of the Italian campaign in June, 1859. In April, 1860, F., with the state of which it is capital, was formerly annexed to the kingdom of Italy under Victor Emanuel.