Ferrara, a World Heritage Site: recognition that looks to the future

Ferrara has held an important title since 1995 — and it’s more than just a medal to pin to its chest. It’s a responsibility, a promise, and a lens through which to view the city. When UNESCO added Ferrara to the World Heritage List, it wasn’t only for the beauty of its buildings or the long thread of history woven through its streets. It was because Ferrara tells the world something unique: a vision, a way of thinking about and designing urban space that changed history.

What does it mean to be a World Heritage Site?

UNESCO protects places of outstanding universal value: landscapes, monuments, cities that tell stories capable of resonating with everyone. Ferrara was recognized as an “ideal Renaissance city” — the result of a revolutionary urban project designed in the late 15th century by Duke Ercole I d’Este and architect Biagio Rossetti. It was Europe’s first modern city: a rational, harmonious organism where architecture, nature and daily life coexist in balance. A model that, five centuries later, still works.

Rediscovering Ferrara, every day

Being a World Heritage Site is not just a label to showcase — it’s a daily responsibility. A promise to preserve and share a legacy that must remain accessible, meaningful, and alive — not just for its citizens, but for the many visitors who choose Ferrara each year as their destination.

Those who live in Ferrara know how easy it is to grow used to its beauty: the Castle that blends into the background, the quiet charm of Renaissance streets, the balanced urban landscape. That’s why this anniversary is an invitation to look again — to walk down Corso Ercole I d’Este and realize that this is not just a beautiful city, but one that made urban history. A city that speaks of the past, and asks to be imagined for the future.

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Living the heritage: experiences to look closer

or those who want to explore — or rediscover — Ferrara with fresh eyes, inFerrara offers a wide and ever-evolving catalogue of experiences: themed guided tours, visits to historic palaces, itineraries through the Este family’s noble residences and explorations of Renaissance art. A hands-on way to experience the beauty, the history, and the deeper meaning of this World Heritage city.