a celebrated city of the Papal States, capital of a cognominal legation, and the seat of an archbishopric, is situated in a low marshy plain on the left bank of the Volano, an arm of the Po, about five miles S. of the main channel. Ferrara is said to have had its origin about the middle of the fifth century, and was walled by the exarch of Ravenna in 585. In 657 it was made the seat of a bishopric, and of an archbishopric in 1735. In 1240 the family of Este became hereditary princes of Ferrara, and continued to hold it sometimes under the pope and sometimes as independent princes, till the reigning branch became extinct in 1597, when it was finally attached to the papal dominions. During the latter part of this period Ferrara was the seat of one of the most polished and refined of the Italian courts, and is said to have contained more than 80,000 inhabitants. Ferrara receives an additional lustre from its connection, about this time, with the names of Ariosto, Tasso, and Guarini. In the fifteenth century it was famous for its school of painting, which ranked as one of the first in Italy. Calvin and other French reformers found an asylum there when driven from France in the early part of the sixteenth century. In 1796 Ferrara was taken by the French, and became the capital of the department of Bas-Po, but was restored to the pope in 1814. The city has long been in a state of decay, and is only interesting to the traveller from its associations with the past; grass now grows on its once well-trodden streets, and many of its splendid palaces are uninhabited, and rapidly going to decay.

"Ferrara! in thy wide and grass-grown streets, Whose symmetry was not for solitude, There seems, as 't were, a curse upon the seats Of former sovereigns, and the antique brood Of Este, which for many an age made good Its strength within thy walls, and was of yore Patron or tyrant, as the changeful mood Of petty power impelled, of those who wore The wreath which Dante's brow alone had worn before."

Childe Harold, iv. 35.

Being the most northern city in the Papal States, Ferrara is strongly fortified, and is defended on the western side by a pentagonal citadel, which, in accordance with the treaty of Vienna, is garrisoned by Austrian troops. The old ducal palace, now the residence of the legate, stands in the middle of the town, and is surrounded by wet ditches, and flanked with towers. The cathedral, a vast untasteful edifice, consecrated in 1135, is adorned with sculptures, bronze statues, frescoes, and paintings. Many of the other churches contain many finely sculptured monuments and paintings by the great masters of the schools of Bologna and Ferrara. The theatre is one of the largest and finest in Italy. The university, founded in 1390, and revived by Leo XII., is noted for its faculties of law and medicine. The public library, founded in 1740, contains about 80,000 printed volumes and 900 manuscripts, among which are the manuscripts of the works of Ariosto and Tasso. The house in which Ariosto lived is still in existence. The bust on his tomb in the church of the Benedictines was, towards the middle of the last century, struck by lightning, and the iron laurels that wreathed its brow were melted; a circumstance alluded to by Lord Byron in *Childe Harold* (iv. 41). In 1801 the remains and tomb of Ariosto were removed with great pomp to the public library, and here are also his armchair and ink-stand. In the lunatic hospital of Santa-Anna a small room on the ground-floor is still shown as that in which Tasso was confined. In the principal square are bronze statues of two of the dukes of Ferrara. The manufactures and trade of the town are inconsiderable. Pop. about 25,000, of whom about 2000 are Jews, who reside together in the *ghetto* or Jews' quarter.

The Legation of Ferrara is the most northern in the papal dominions; and is bounded on the N. by the main branch of the Po, which separates it from Austrian Lombardy, W. by the duchy of Modena, S. by the legations of Ravenna and Bologna, and E. by the Adriatic. The surface is generally flat, and being in many parts below the level of the Po it is protected from inundations by strong embankments along the river. (See Po.) A considerable portion of the eastern part of the legation is constantly under water. Area 1042 square miles. Pop. (1850) 229,862.