The Castello di Mesola, built between 1578 and 1583 at the behest of Alfonso II d’Este and designed by the architect from Carpi Marc’Antonio Pasi, is the last and one of the most imposing of the Este Delizie. It arose on the river island of Mesola, in an area profoundly transformed by land-reclamation works, and was conceived with the dual function of ducal residence and strategic-commercial centre.
From the very outset of the Este undertaking, a great circuit of walls was laid out and constructed, about twelve miles long and punctuated by twelve square towers, enclosing woodland, canals and game enclosures. Within this perimeter the seigneurial core was then built, dominated by the ducal palace. The residence was distinguished by its architectural elegance and by refined polychrome decoration across the entire façade, enhanced with details in glazed ceramic.
The castle embodied a kind of perfect transfiguration of the landscape, in which nature and artifice interpenetrated harmoniously. The court stayed there mainly in autumn, devoting itself to leisure and hunting expeditions: true collective occasions of courtly life, in which, alongside the duke, parties of distinguished guests from all over Italy and from abroad took part.
The neighbouring Republic of Venice, observing the growing commercial importance of Mesola – which at the time looked directly onto sacche and lagoons connected with the Adriatic – conceived an act of offensive hydraulic engineering. The intervention, carried out only after the Devolution of the Este Duchy to the Papal States (1598), was decided in 1599 with the so-called Taglio di Porto Viro. By diverting the course of the Po southwards, Venice succeeded in protecting its lagoon but at the same time altered the configuration of the delta, accelerating the silting up of the Mesola lagoon basins and nullifying the castle’s role as a strategic and commercial outpost open to the sea.
After various changes of ownership, in 1952 the Castle passed to the Ente Delta Padano and today it belongs to the Province of Ferrara.
In lode della Mesola – On the piano nobile (principal floor)
On the piano nobile (principal floor) is the exhibition “In lode della Mesola. Il castello, le mura, il barco” (“In Praise of Mesola: the castle, the walls, the hunting park”), conceived as a gallery equipped with models, texts, reproductions of documents, maps and paintings for educational purposes and for the dissemination of historical and architectural knowledge. It is organised into ten themed sections along a circular route laid out through the rooms on the first floor of the Castle. (Photo gallery of the exhibition)
Museum of the Deer and the Mesola Wood – Mesola Castle
On the second floor visitors can explore the Museo del Cervo e del Bosco della Mesola (“Museum of the Mesola Deer and Woodland”), an exhibition that celebrates the bond between the Delizia and its surrounding landscape. An entire section of the museum is devoted to the Mesola Deer, a unique deer population in terms of its physical and behavioural characteristics, found only within the surrounding Nature Reserve. The museum also illustrates the landscape of the Gran Bosco della Mesola, highlighting its biodiversity. (Photo gallery of the exhibition)
The Museum is home to an Environmental Education Centre accredited by the Emilia-Romagna Region.
Click on the image to watch the video “Una delizia di Castello” on Vimeo.
Mesola Wood Nature Reserve – Po Delta Park
The Gran Bosco della Mesola Nature Reserve, covering an area of 1,058 hectares, is one of the last and best-preserved remnants of lowland woodland, a living reminder of the ancient forests that once covered the plains until just a few centuries ago. Probably formed in the Middle Ages on dune ridges created by the Po di Goro and the Po di Volano, the Bosco della Mesola is today the largest wooded area in the province of Ferrara.
The soil is alluvial in origin and has an irregular profile, evidence of the presence of ancient dunes which in places create hollows where water stagnates, giving rise to marsh vegetation. In the past, as it was surrounded by wetlands, the wood hosted numerous species of birds typical of such environments; the drastic reduction in fauna caused by drainage works has been curbed by the creation of a wetland area within the wood, known as Elciola, generally closed to the public, where ducks and herons find refuge.
Visitor information
The wood is not entirely open to visitors, but the authorised paths offer opportunities to spot deer and fallow deer. Access is on foot or by bicycle.
Guided tours
Guided visits, accompanied by staff from the Forestry Corps into areas normally closed to the public, are organised at specific times of the year.
