Certosa of Ferrara

San Cristoforo alla Certosa also called the Certosa di Ferrara is a Renaissance style, former Roman Catholic, Carthusian order church and cloistered monastery, now cemetery site, located on Piazza Borso 50 in Ferrara, Region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

In 1452, the Duke Borso d'Este patronized the construction of a Charterhouse or Certosa in Ferrara. As was usual for the eremitic, cloistered institutions, it was erected outside the city walls, but with construction of new walls, with the Addizione Erculea, it was enclosed in the city.

In 1498, a new church was built and dedicated to San Cristoforo, and it soon was enveloped by the cloistered monastery. The layout is that of a Latin cross with six lateral chapels. The project is attributed to Biagio Rossetti. The facade, remaining incomplete, was decorated in 1769 with a marble portal sculpted by Pietro Puttini, and angels by Francesco Zoppi, with designs by Gaetano Barbieri. The lateral altars were decorated by Nicolò Roselli, and held an altarpiece (1570) by Bastianino.

In the late 1700s, after the Napoleonic suppression, the monastery and church were closed and became property of the city. The church was reconsecrated in 1813. The adjacent grounds, like those of the Certosa of Bologna, were converted to a main public cemetery (Cimitero Cittadino) by architect Ferdinando Canonici, razing the old church and part of the cloister. The grounds contain a Jewish cemetery. The Cemetery also has a memorial statue to Leopoldo Cicognara by Antonio Canova.

Aerial bombing in 1944, during the Second World War, damaged the apse, choir, bell tower and right flank of the church. The restorations were still incomplete, when the 2012 earthquake further damaged the foundations, limiting it use.

The Napoleonic suppression of the monastery led to the dispersal of the works of movable art in the church and monastery. An inventory in 1770 lists the following:

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