Ripagrande

Located in an ancient palace in Ferrara there is wonderful hotel whose ospitality comes into the most ancient legacy

The history begins before the year 1000, when the Via Ripagrande was the major in the city. Along those 1,860 metres which follwed the flowed the river Po and which linked two the major poles of attraction of Ferrara at that time there were humble bulidings which had mainly practical functions and were used for the temporary storage of goods and for other activties which derived from the fluvial organization of the medieval city. It was only in late Reneissance times, when Counts Beccari bought and linked together those buildings, that there came the great change, that is the tranformation of those buildings into a noble and sumptuous palace. Precisely that palace has become the seat of the Hotel Ripagrande, after the careful restructoring carried out towards the end of the 70's.

A noble and ancient tradition
The relationship of the Beccari family with structures apt to offer hospitality to foreigners is deeply rooted indeed. The inn "Ai tre mori", which was the most famous in Ferrara and where many famous people lodged belonged to the Beccari family since 1597. Not far from the Hotel, then, Ercole I had constructed the historical hotel "Albergo dell'Angelo" at the beginning on the century. The hotel Ripagrande comes therefore into an important historical legacy thanks to the acquisition recently made by Lanfranco and Roberto Viola, both of them architects, who brought back the building to its ancient glamour with works of restructuring completed in 1980. The Reinassance residence had come down to our times in poor conditions and it was no easy to bring it back to its ancient dignity, coupling it the same time with the functionality which should characterize top-ranking recepting structures.

The restructuring
In carrying out the realization of the Hotel, it was important to keep to its origial Renaissance features, without canceling the marks left by preceding inhabitants and which were still evident both inside and outside. On the ground floor, for instance, there is a continuous, lively and harmonious intermingling of differing volumes and depths, which create two beautiful courtyards that are reserved for the guests todey, or used for exhibitions and meetings. Todey's structure keeps to that of the 1800's, by now definitely outlined in spite of the fact that the inner courtyards become increasingly smeller. The original partition into three dwelling unities located above the wide rooms destined to be the storehouse and the laboratory can still be detected from the arrangement of the windows and from the claerly recognizable load baering walls. Moreover, the facade maintains one of the first plasters applied on the walls of the historical bulidings of Ferrara, which dates back to the beginning or the 1800's.
The hall is certainly the masterpiece of the hotel. The decorations that can be seen in it - as well as in the other connected rooms - aren't but "finds" which have been discovered during the restructuring itsalf. There ere engraved columns and shelves, small-size statues and fragments of frescos, pieces of majolica-stoves and beautiful iron-safe. The main structure of the beams is the original one. The ancient framework with exposed bricks supported by columns of the 1400's has been disassembled and completely reassembled.
Everything has been recovered - or, in the worst cases reconstructed, perfecty imitating the original Renaissance elements - from the floorings to the marble stairway, from the cast-iron balustrades to the brickwork-eavas, etc.
The 40 rooms are reached from the hall each of them differs from all the others and in many cases they are arrenged on different levels.

"Inhabiting" history
Thanks to the extraordinary characterictics, the Hotel Ripagrande deserves to be listed among the élite of the Italian ancient residences. It is associate member of "C'era una Volta" (www.onceuponatime.it) a newborn association among those engaged in the touristic reception and aiming at fostering the style of hospitality in the ancient villas, palaces and castles situated in the countryside and in the cites, both in northern and in southern Italy.
The hotel is also stops of the itinerary "Charme e Relax", the most important group of Italian glamorous hotels, which have been chosen due to their prestige, the quality of their service and the pleasant location. A wealth of history, culture and tradition which is admired all over the world.
At the Ripagrande, the most ancient and noble traditions combine with the efficiency and the functionality which should belong to an up-to-date hotel. Characteristic feature of the hotel is also the inclination for meetings. In its elegant and camfortable rooms, it can welcme up to 250 guests in the summer: the inner room can in fact be opened onto the Renaissance courtyard, which can give a peculiarty pleasant touch evan to a business meeting. 

The style, the service and the wonderful cooking
When comfort meet tradition. The restructuring of the palace, besides giving back to the city one of its major monuments, has obviously taken into account the necessary functionality: 20 rooms and 20 junior-suites have been created on the upper floors; this brings the total number of beds up to 80. The furniture, elegant and comfortable, recalls the refinement of a private apartment rather then that of a hotel-room. The three congress-rooms on the ground floor can hold one-hundred guests (and the number is brought up to 250 in summer, when they include the Renaissance courtyard connected to them).
If the hotel is famous for its elagance, the Riparestaurant inside it is by now well-known for the exquisite cooking. Among its specialties we shall just mention a few traditional dishes such as the "cappellacci alla zucca", the "pasticcio di maccheroni", the roasted chine of pork stuffed with olives and the "salamina da sugo", traditional flavors which have a centuries-old history. The Internal organization of the restaurant and its kitchen - of which the queen is the "sfoglina", the cook who is in charge of the making of the traditional "pasta" - are able to satisfy any request concerning both the decoration of the room and the drawing up of the menu.