Sala Estense, Historical theatre in central Ferrara, Italy

Sala Estense is a theatre in central Ferrara featuring a decorated main hall with stalls and an upper gallery adorned in late Art Nouveau style. The space accommodates around 288 spectators across its multiple levels for various performances.

Ercole I d'Este built it between 1476 and 1480 as a ducal chapel dedicated to the Madonna and named for his wife Eleonora d'Aragona; Este bodies lay there before burial. Alfonso II added three altars in the 16th century. After a fire destroyed the Gran Sala delle Commedie, Carlo Pasetti and Alberto Gnoli converted it into a theatre, opened on 9 January 1660 with the comedy "La casa con due porte dificilmente si guarda". Re-consecrated in 1693, it became a cinema in 1917 under Sesto Boari.

The hall hosts the annual Ferrarese dialect theatre season staged by the Compagnia Straferrara, alongside concerts and cultural events. Its name dates from its reopening on 17 February 1917, when it was fitted out for concerts, conferences, charity parties and film screenings; in the 1930s it was briefly called Cinematografo reale. The piazzetta Municipale and the hall have appeared in films such as La lunga notte del '43 and Al di là delle nuvole.

The theatre is situated at Piazza Municipale in the heart of Ferrara and is easily reached on foot. Visitors should check the programme beforehand as events vary throughout the year.

The two statues flanking the portal, San Giorgio on the left and San Maurelio on the right, were carved between 1833 and 1835 by the brothers Mansueto and Francesco Vidoni. They were originally made for the facade of Ferrara Cathedral and were moved here later.