L'ADDIZIONE ERCULEA
After the war against Venice and the siege of Ferrara in 1484 the Duke Ercole I d’Este became aware of the need to give the city a modern ring of defensive walls. This necessity started off one of the most important urban renewal and city enlargement plan of the Renaissance, which would more than double the area enclosed by the walls of the city and let Ferrara to rival with other European capitals in size and splendor. Biagio Rossetti was the court architect able to translate the Duke’s ambitions into a specific development plan, mainly realized from 1492 to 1510.
The importance and uniqueness of the Addizione Erculea, compared with other similar projects in that era, stood out not only for its considerable size but also for its peculiar design, since the idea merged the will of symbolic self-representation of the court with the functional needs of a royal city.