Ferrara - Cattedrale di San Giorgio

Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 when he captured the town from the Exarchate of Ravenna. Later the Franks, after routing the Lombards, presented Ferrara to the Papacy in 754. In 988 Ferrara was ceded by the Church to the House of Canossa, but at the death of Matilda of Tuscany in 1115, it became a free commune. During the 12th century, the history of the town was marked by the wrestling for power between the Guelph Adelardi and the Ghibelline Salinguerra families. The Ghibellines won and in 1264 Obizzo II d'Este was proclaimed lifelong ruler of Ferrara. His rule marked the end of the communal period in Ferrara and the beginning of the Este rule, which lasted until 1598.

The construction of the Cattedrale di San Giorgio began in the early 12th century when the city was taken by Matilda of Tuscany (aka "Matilde di Canossa"). When the new cathedral was consecrated in 1135 it was not completed at all.

The lower part of the facade is Romanesque was probably built in the first half of the 11th century. The building process was continued a century later in Gothic style.

The campanile was added to the cathedral in the second half of the 15th century, but never got completed.

A "renovation" of the Ferrara Cathedral done in the early 18th century resulted in a demolition. Only the facade and the outer walls survived. The medieval interior (five aisles) and the five apses, that once existed are lost. Seen from this side is the 18th-century structure built into the old walls.

Two slightly damaged male exhibitionists look down on the onlookers.