Around Modena

No doubt, the Modenese are some of the most sociable people in Italy and definitely know how to enjoy life – groups of cyclists chatting and pedalling idly on the cycle paths leading out of town and into the countryside are a common view during the springtime.

And the area around Modena is simply overflowing with art and monuments: with the right information and a detailed map, a day out in the country can be transformed into a treasure hunt.

Must-sees include the 8th-century Benedictine abbey of San Silvestro in the centre of Nonantola, once famous for the manuscripts illuminated by the local monks.

The facade is decorated with sculptures by Wiligelmus and his disciples, and its museum (Museo benedettino) holds unique pieces, such as parchments and objects used by Charlemagne, Matilda of Canossa, Otto I, Frederick I Barbarossa. Speaking of medieval relics (and probably you won't find this in any other tourist guide), some portions of the country around Nonantola are still subject to one of the few forms of collective property still legally valid in Italy, the "Emilian participations" (partecipanze emiliane).

They are large plots of land divided into parcels, jointly owned by a group of families; lots are periodically drawn among the male heirs of all the families to establish which of them will become the owners of the parcels. In Nonantola, the men eligible for the draw are 3,000 over a total population of 12,000.

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The glorious past of the area around Modena has left a number of fortresses and castles in its wake. One of the finest local manors is the medieval Rocca di Vignola or Dei Contrari, originally built for defensive purposes, but later turned into an aristocratic palace by the Contrari nobles, allies of the Este dynasty.

It is an incredibly wellpreserved castle with watchtowers, drawbridges, a moat and frescoed rooms. A few miles further up the Apennines, there is an extraordinary complex of buildings dating from the Early Middle Ages and characterised by a unique fusion of Lombard, Byzantine and French influences: the Castle of Montecuccolo and the village and parish church (pieve) of Renno. In Sassuolo, the main sight is the baroque Palazzo Ducale, once the summer residence of Francesco I d'Este.

It contains over 28 luxuriously decorated rooms, among which the Duke's and Duchess's apartments, the Guards' hall, the Stucco apartment, some of them decorated by Bartolomeo Avanzini and Jean Boulanger. Another interesting baroque building is Villa Sorra on the Via Romea Nonantolana, surrounded by a vast 18th-century park with a small lake, stables, an orange grove and an icehouse. Museums abound in the towns around Modena.The top of the crop are the legendary Galleria Ferrari in Maranello, exhibiting vintage and contemporary examples of the famous red cars, and the Deportation museum (Museo del deportato) in Carpi, where the towered Castello del Pio is also worth seeing. Of course, there is also a museum dedicated to traditional balsamic vinegar: it's in Spilamberto, whose castle was a lookout on the Panaro valley.

INFO

Nonantola
Tel. +39 059 896 555, Fax +39 059 896 556 
www.comune.nonantola.mo.it

Vignola
Tel. +39 059 764 365, Fax +39 059 764 311 
www.fondazionecrv.it

Sassuolo
Tel. +39 0536 807 371, Fax +39 0536 805 527

Carpi
Tel. +39 059 649 213 – 4, Fax +39 059 649 240

Rocca di Vignola
Tel.+39 059 775 246 
www.fondazionecrv.it

Castello di Montecuccolo
Tel. +39 0536 324 290 
www.comune.pavullo-nel-frignano.mo.it

Villa Sorra
Tel. +39 059 896 625 – 959 216 
www.villasorra.it

Galleria Ferrari
Tel. +39 0536 949 713, Fax +39 0536 949 714 
www.galleria.ferrari.com
www.museimodenesi.it

Museo Monumento al Deportato - Carpi
Tel. +39 059 688 272
www.fondazionefossoli.org

Museo dell'Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale
Tel +39 059 781 614 
www.museimodenesi.it