Ferrara

a fortified city of Central Italy, capital of province of same name, and formerly an independent duchy under the rule of the House of Este. Under the rule of its native princes Ferrara was the seat of one of the most polished and refined of the Italian courts, and is said to have had from 90,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. But it has long been in a state of decay, and numbers of its splendid palaces are uninhabited.