A really good Italian hotel will cosset you with creature comforts, seduce you with style and elegance and make you feel at home with friendly service. Use this website to help you find the perfect place to stay during your visit to Italy. We have tried and tested every hotel featured and can vouch for the locations, standard of facilities and level of service.

Monday, July 27, 2020

Hotel Annunziata Ferrara


Wonderful views of one of Italy’s most impressive castles


The Hotel Annunziata is directly opposite Ferrara's star attraction, the magnificent Castello Estense
The Hotel Annunziata is directly opposite Ferrara's star
attraction, the magnificent Castello Estense
The Hotel Annunziata is in a great location on the opposite side of the square from Ferrara’s most famous landmark, the imposing Castello Estense.

There are lovely views of the castle from the windows of many of the hotel’s guest rooms.

The four-star Hotel Annunziata is set in a restored, historic town house with a contemporary décor. All the accommodation is immaculate and spotlessly clean, earning the praise of many of its guests.

Breakfast is served in the hotel’s elegant dining room and there is a bar serving drinks and snacks 24 hours a day. All the guest rooms have free wifi, satellite TV and air conditioning.

Although the Hotel Annunziata is located in a pedestrian only area of the city, there is a car park for the use of guests.

The Hotel Annunziata occupies an historic restored townhouse in Piazza Repubblica
The Hotel Annunziata occupies an historic
restored townhouse in Piazza Repubblica
When out and about in Ferrara, you will see many of the local residents travelling by bicycle. The Hotel Annunziata provides cruiser bikes free of charge to guests so that they can explore all corners of this wonderful city with ease.

The Hotel Annunziata is located at Piazza Repubblica, 5 in the centre of the city.

Editor’s note: ‘Right in the heart of the historic city of Ferrara, I enjoyed my stay at the Hotel Annunziata in a very comfortable guest room with wonderful views of one of the most impressive and beautiful castles in Italy.’

Click here for more information, to check prices and to book a room at the Hotel Annunziata.

What to see in Ferrara

Ferrara was ruled by the Este family between 1240 and 1598. You can still see the original, narrow, medieval streets to the west and south of the city centre, between the main thoroughfares of Via Ripa Grande and Via Garibaldi, which were the core of the city in the middle ages.

Building work on the magnificent, moated Este Castle (Castello Estense) began in 1385 and it was added to and improved by successive rulers of Ferrara until the end of the Este line. 

Lucrezia Borgia lived in the castle after her marriage to Alfonso I d’Este in 1502 and was reputed to have had an affair with the court poet, Pietro Bembo, there.

The castle was purchased for 70,000 lire by the province of Ferrara in 1874 to be used as the headquarters of the Prefecture. 

The Palazzo Diamanti is another Este palace in Ferrara, its walls studded with diamond-shaped stones
The Palazzo Diamanti is another Este palace in Ferrara, its
walls studded with diamond-shaped stones
It is open to the public every day from 9.30 till 5.30 pm, apart from certain times of the year when it is closed on Mondays. For more details and ticket prices visit www.castelloestense.it.

Another Este residence in Ferrara that is worth seeing is the Palazzo Diamanti in Corso Ercole I d’Este, which takes its name from the 8500 pointed, diamond-shaped stones that stud the façade, diamonds being an emblem of the Este family. It was designed by Biagio Rossetti and completed in 1503.

The palace now houses the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara on its first floor, where you can also see the 16th century apartments inhabited by another Este bride, Virginia de’ Medici. She lived in the palace after her marriage to Cesare d’Este, the grandson of Alfonso I, Duke of Ferrara. Visitors can see three of the rooms that Virginia used, which overlook Corso Biagio Rossetti. The Pinacoteca is open from 10.00 to 17.30 Tuesday to Sunday.

Eating out in Ferrara

A good place to try some Ferrarese specialities is Trattoria il Cucco in Via Voltacasotto, where they serve the traditional cappellacci con la zucca, a type of ravioli stuffed with pumpkin, sage, butter and cheese. You could follow that with salama da sugo, which is said to have been Lucrezia Borgia’s favourite dish. It is a spicy pork sausage made from different cuts of meat that has been boiled for about four hours.