Italy's Renaissance jewel Ferrara is bidding to become Europe's first openly heart-friendly city, launching a raft of schemes aimed at cutting cardiovascular risks.
The home of the magnificent Este court, which lures thousands of tourists a year, is gearing to offer free heart checks, cardiologist-approved meals and walks around its historic walls that have been calculated to provide the kind of cardio-fitness training people pay for at gyms.
''We want to become the first city in Europe designed specifically to cut the risks of cardiovascular disease, with the help of the health ministry and thanks to the resources we are lucky to have,'' said the promoter of the three-year project, Ferrara University heart specialist Roberto Ferrari.
Among those potentially heart-saving assets, Ferrari said, were ''good air, good food, great cycle tracks and strong social ties''.
The doctor has enlisted the support of farmers, supermarkets and restaurants - as well as the doctors who will start giving free check-ups to tourists, shoppers and factory workers.
Ferrara's inspiring art is another important weapon in its armoury, the doctor said.
The City of Art and Prevention initiative, which aims for completion in 2010, kicked off at a major retrospective of local painter Il Garofalo.
''Just like the cuisine for which our Romagna region is rightly famous, our art heritage can only do the heart good,'' Ferrari said.
