Street, Ferrara
Via Delle Volte, in the heart of Ferrara, gets its name for the many overhead passageways and decorative vaults and arches that characterize it. Built between the 13th and 14th centuries, most of the ogival or round arches follow one another creating a perfect sequence along the street.
The current appearance of the street owes a lot to the appearance of the old town centre. Specifically to the nearby water canal called Po di Volano, whose waters were deviated in 1152. This was the main water canal connecting the city to the river Po and represented one of the most important communication paths of Ferrara. Its straight layout, starting in via Capo delle Volte and ending in Via Coperta (although this access is nowadays blocked) followed the old course of the water canal.
What was the purpose of these famous vaults? The arches sustained the weight of passageways and connections between the buildings at both sides of the street. The buildings on one side were in fact shops and warehouses, while the ones on the opposite site were the private houses of merchants and artisans.
Thanks to these overhead passages, the merchants and owners could reach their storages and shops without going outdoors and having to cross what was, in the old times, one of the most disreputable streets of Ferrara. Narrow and tight, full of merchants during the day and prostitutes during the nights.
The street is mentioned in many popular sayings and in some of the most important books by Ferrarese authors. Giorgio Bassani, in his work “Il Giardino dei Finzi Contini” that takes place during the Fascist years in Ferrara, remembers Via delle Volte as “deprived of sidewalks, its cobbled pavement full of stones, the street looked even darker than usual. While we moved forward, almost groping along with only the lights from the half-closed doors of the brothels to help us out…”
The original cobbled pavement has thankfully survived the passing of time and helps us picture the atmosphere of a few centuries ago.
Recently restored, this street portraits a living testimony of the medieval Ferrara. It currently houses typical bars and restaurants where the delicatessen of the Ferrarese cuisine can be tasted. The local cuisine is in fact one of the few cuisines in Emilia Romagna that has a slight kosher influence, due to the presence in Ferrara of one of the biggest Jewish communities in Italy.
