Piazza Trento e Trieste: Attraction informations
Piazza del Mercato delle Erbe square, currently known as Piazza Trento e Trieste, was the beating heart of the Medieval Ferrara. Right next to the Cathedral of Saint George, it was built in the 12th century.
The ancient gate to the cathedral
Of rectangular shape, the square flanks the south side of the cathedral and was connected to it until the 18th century through
a gate called “Dei Mesi”. This gate, decorated with the allegories of the months, allowed the entrance to the cathedral directly from the square. During its restoration, the gate was destroyed and what is left of it is nowadays preserved in the
Duomo Museum.
The
tiles decorating the sides of the church display the allegories of the months, symbolizing the different duties of each month. For example, the tile for January shows a two-faced figure that looks towards the past year while turning towards the new one; the one for August shows how to restore or build new barrels; the one for September represents a scene of the grape harvest….each tile following the cycle of life in the countryside.
The buildings and monuments facing the square
The marketplace has always been in every city a special and characteristic area, under observation from the powers of the city. It is not by chance therefore that near Piazza Trento and Trieste we can find the
Palazzo Arcivescovile and the Palazzo Municipale (Municipality).
The southern side of the cathedral overlooking the square shows an
elegant loggia, called “dei Merciai”, embellished with marble columns that end with decorated capitals.
The effort to decorate the square was done during the
15th century for an important wedding that was to take place within the Estensi family. The market was always full of chaotic stands, and to honour the new lineage that was to embrace the
Estense Family, the loggia was built with the purpose of finding a better suited place for the activities of the square.
Nowadays, the loggia still serves this purpose. It is worth mentioning that, getting into some of its shops, we can admire the ancient base of the cathedral and the
sheets of the first statues of the Municipality of Ferrara.
These statutes go back to
1173, when the city was trying to gain independence from the powers that controlled it. They were sculptured on big stone sheets, and applied to the sides of the cathedral to allow every citizen to reach them. They were blacked out only when the loggia was being constructed.
The
bell tower, one of the unfinished architectonic structures in the city, is placed at the corner of Piazza Trento e Trieste. Its
original project belongs to Leon Battista Alberti.
The main façade of the former church dedicated to San Romano also opens on the square. It hosts the Museum of the Cathedral, with the tiles and ancient decorations mentioned above.
One of the main streets in the city,
via Mazzini, opens from the end of the square. The street was until recently the main artery of the Jewish Ghetto in Ferrara.
