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Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta

Ferrara, which grew up around a ford over the River Po, became an intellectual and artistic centre that attracted the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries. Here, Piero della Francesca, Jacopo Bellini and Andrea Mantegna decorated the palaces of the House of Este. The humanist concept of the 'ideal city' came to life here in the neighbourhoods built from 1492 onwards by Biagio Rossetti according to the new principles of perspective. The completion of this project marked the birth of modern town planning and influenced its subsequent development.

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Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta are the first example of Italian Renaissance town planning and its influence on the landscape. In 1492, the plan of the city was redesigned on the order of the ruling Ercole d'Este I. Biagio Rossetti designed the new lay-out, introduced new streets linking the Renaissance city with the medieval heart and adding fortifications.

Ercole d'Este I was one of the most significant patrons of the arts in late 15th and early 16th century Italy. Ferrara at that time grew into a cultural center, renowned for music as well as for visual arts. 

Ferrara is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River. The associated sites in the Po Delta include (among others): Este ducal residences in Diamantina, Voghiera and Schifanoia, the Villa della Mensa and the towns of Cento and Comacchio. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/ferrara.html