Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Mercato coperto di Santo Stefano

Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 when he captured the town from the Exarchate of Ravenna. Later the Franks, after routing the Lombards, presented Ferrara to the Papacy in 754. In 988 Ferrara was ceded by the Church to the House of Canossa, but at the death of Matilda of Tuscany in 1115, it became a free commune. During the 12th century, the history of the town was marked by the wrestling for power between the Guelph Adelardi and the Ghibelline Salinguerra families. The Ghibellines won and in 1264 Obizzo II d'Este was proclaimed lifelong ruler of Ferrara. His rule marked the end of the communal period in Ferrara and the beginning of the Este rule, which lasted until 1598. The market hall is located in medieval Ferrara and was built in the late 1950s near the church of S. Caterina Vegri, partially destroyed by bombs during WWII. The building, which covers an area of about 1400 square meters, has a reinforced concrete structure with exposed brick infills.