Travel Guide Cento

A pleasant half-day stop. Cento, which from the 12th century was the property of the Bishops of Bologna, was ceded to the Este family following the marriage of Lucrezia Borgia and Alfonso I d'Este. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Cento prospered thanks to the renewal of architecture and urban planning, and to its flourishing artistic and cultural life. Giovan Francesco Barbieri (1591-1666), better known as the "Guercino", one of the greatest baroque painters, was born and lived in Cento. The statue of the artist stands in the middle of Piazza del Guercino, bordered by the long crenellated façade of the Palazzo del Governatore (16th century).