Rocca Possente is ten minutes from our facility, easily reached on foot or by bicycle along the Destra Po embankment.
The Rocca Possente is a river defensive structure built around 1000 that allowed the control of navigation of the Po, being connected Rocca Benedetta di Ficarolo on the other river bank: a chain pulled between the two fortresses served as a river barrage for defensive reasons or to impose customs duty on merchant ships.
It has a four-pointed star plan and was enlarged at the behest of Niccolò II d’Este in 1362; it was equipped with a chain about 600 meters long that connected it to the fortress of Ficarolo, destroyed by the fury of the river in 1670, allowing the controlled passage of boats.
In 1433 the Marquis of Ferrara Niccolò III d’Este reinforced the structure, which was burned by the Venetians in 1510 and immediately rebuilt. Duke Alfonso II d’Este ordered its demolition in 1587. With the end of the Este family, the building passed to the Church State. The present building was erected by Pope Urban VIII in 1629.
The 2012 Emilia earthquake also produced injuries to the Stellata fortress, injuries that have been healed and it is now open to visitors again.
Since 1995 it has been a UNESCO protected property within the World Heritage Site Ferrara, City of the Renaissance and its Po Delta.
Ask for directions at the front desk!
