Among the rooms of this castle, historic residence of the Este family, experience a journey through wonder, nature, art and culture.
Delizia Estense del Verginese, is located in the province of Ferrara, a true “delight” to discover and experience.
When you arrive here, you will discover a country castle adorned with towers, battlements and embellished with a renaissance garden full of fruit trees, flowers and paths that form harmonious geometries.
The Delizia Estense del Verginese was the leisure residence of Laura Dianti, donated by Duke Alfonso I d’Este.
As soon as you enter, it is easy to imagine the pomp and celebrations of the past, with music and dancing that animated the large hall, a symbol of the prestige of the noble family.
Inside is the Museo Archeologico Sepolcreto dei Fadieni, a Roman necropolis from the 1st-2nd century AD discovered in 2002, with tombs and steles belonging to the Fadieni family. The site, which exhibits archaeological finds including glass cinerary urns, tells the story of the daily life of a family of Roman farmers; in 2023 the exhibition was renovated to improve its fruition.
In the back garden, a riot of scents and colors envelops the senses, gently guiding you towards the Torre Colombaia, once a silent and safe refuge for pigeons, today the guardian of ancient stories and memories.
Next to the castle, there is the Vinaia del Sapere, an ancient drying room now dedicated to exhibitions and cultural events.
In 2006, the Delizia was enriched with an archaeological collection, which became the Archaeological Museum in 2022: exhibited in the rooms on the ground floor, the exhibition preserves materials from a Roman necropolis from the 1st-2nd century AD, discovered by chance in 2002 at the bottom of Santa Caterina.
This is a family necropolis: four generations of the same family of Roman citizens, the Fadieni, landowners in the Po Delta, are buried here.
The necropolis has returned five steles and twelve burials, with indirect cremation, with grave goods: the deceased was cremated on the funeral pyre in a place dedicated to this, then his ashes were placed inside cinerary urns, which here are mostly made of glass. The five steles are positioned inside the structure as they were in the necropolis, respecting the distances and positions, even the materials of the grave goods are displayed in correspondence with the steles to which they refer.
The steles were the tomb markers, behind them were the actual burials, dug into the ground and covered with bricks, containing the cinerary urns and the grave goods, simple objects that recall everyday life.
In 2023, a new installation was created with digital and multimedia content, to improve the visitor experience and delve deeper into some topics.
