Albareto, Baggiovara, Ca' Fusara, Cognento, Cittanova, Collegara, Ganaceto, Lesignana, Marzaglia, Navicello, Portile, San Damaso, San Donnino, Tre Olmi, Villanova
The territory around Modena (Latin:Mutina,Etruscan:Mutna) was inhabited by theVillanovans in theIron Age, and later byLigurian tribes,Etruscans, and theGaulishBoii (the settlement itself being Etruscan). Although the exact date of its foundation is unknown, it is known that it was already in existence in the 3rd century BC, for in 218 BC, duringHannibal's invasion of Italy, the Boii revolted and laid siege to the city.Livy described it as a fortified citadel where Roman magistrates took shelter. The outcome of the siege is not known, but the city was most likely abandoned after Hannibal's arrival. Mutina was refounded as a Roman colony in 183 BC,[7] to be used as a military base byMarcus Aemilius Lepidus, causing the Ligurians to sack it in 177 BC. Nonetheless, it was rebuilt, and quickly became the most important centre inCisalpine Gaul, both because of its strategic importance and because it was on an important crossroads betweenVia Aemilia and the road going toVerona.
A view of Piazza Grande
In the 1st century BC, Mutina was besieged twice. The first siege was byPompey in 78 BC, when Mutina was defended byMarcus Junius Brutus[7] (a populist leader, not to be confused with his son, Caesar's best known assassin). The city eventually surrendered out of hunger, and Brutus fled, only to be slain inRegium Lepidi. In the civil war followingCaesar's assassination, the city was besieged again, this time byMark Antony, in 44 BC, and defended byDecimus Junius Brutus.[7]Octavian relieved the city with the help of the Senate (see:Battle of Mutina).
Cicero called itMutina splendidissima ("most beautiful Mutina") in hisPhilippics (44 BC). Until the 3rd century AD, it kept its position as the most important city in the newly formed provinceAemilia, but the fall of the Empire brought Mutina down with it, as it was used as a military base both against the barbarians and in the civil wars. It is said that Mutina was never sacked byAttila, for a dense fog hid it (a miracle said to be provided bySaint Geminianus, bishop and patron of Modena), but it was eventually buried by a great flood in the 7th century and abandoned.
In December 2008, Italian researchers discovered the pottery center where the oil lamps that lit the ancient Roman empire were made. Evidence of the pottery workshops emerged in Modena, during construction work to build a residential complex near the ancient walls of the city. "We found a large ancient Roman dumping filled with pottery scraps. There were vases, bottles, bricks, but most of all, hundreds of oil lamps, each bearing their maker's name",Donato Labate, the archaeologist in charge of the dig, stated.[citation needed]
Its exiles[why?] founded a new city a few miles to the northwest, still represented by the village of Cittanova (literally "new city"). About the end of the 9th century, Modena was restored and refortified by its bishop,Ludovicus. At about this time theSong of the Watchmen of Modena was composed. Later the city was part of the possessions of the CountessMatilda of Tuscany, becoming a freecomune starting from the 12th century. In the wars betweenEmperor Frederick II andPope Gregory IX Modena sided with the emperor.
TheEste family were identified as lords of Modena from 1288 (Obizzo d'Este). After the death of Obizzo's successor (Azzo VIII, in 1308) thecomune reasserted itself, but by 1336 the Este family was permanently in power. UnderBorso d'Este, Modena was made a duchy.
Enlarged and fortified byErcole II, it was made the primary ducal residence whenFerrara, the main Este seat, fell to the Pope in 1598.Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena (1629–1658) built the citadel and began the palace, which was largely embellished byFrancesco II. In the 18th century,Rinaldo d'Este was twice driven from his city by French invasions, andFrancesco III built many of Modena's public buildings, but the Este pictures were sold and many of them wound up inDresden.Ercole III died in exile atTreviso, having refused Napoleonic offers of compensation when Modena was made part of the NapoleonicCispadane Republic. His only daughter,Maria Beatrice d'Este, marriedFerdinand I, Archduke of Austria-Este, son of EmpressMaria Theresa of Austria; and in 1814 their eldest son,Francis IV, received back the estates of the Este. Quickly, in 1816, he dismantled the fortifications and began Modena's years under Austrian rule.
His sonFrancis V was considered a just ruler, and famously tended the victims of war andcholera with his own hands. However, he too had to face yet more foreign-inspired revolutions and was temporarily expelled from Modena in theRevolutions of 1848. He was restored, amidst wide popular acclaim, by Austrian troops. Ten years later, on 20 August 1859, the revolutionaries again invaded (this time the Piedmontese), annexing Modena to the revolutionary SavoyardKingdom of Italy.
Modena lies on thePianura Padana, and is bounded by the two riversSecchia andPanaro, both affluents of thePo River. Their presence is symbolized by the Two Rivers Fountain in the city's center, byGiuseppe Graziosi. The city is connected to the Panaro by the Naviglio channel. TheApennines begin some 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the city, to the south. The comune is divided into fourcircoscrizioni. These are:
Centro storico (Historical Center, San Cataldo)
Crocetta (San Lazzaro-East Modena, Crocetta)
Buon Pastore (Buon Pastore, Sant'Agnese, San Damaso)
San Faustino (S.Faustino-Saliceta San Giuliano, Madonnina-Quattro Ville)
From 1946 to 1992, Modena had a series ofCommunist mayors. From the 1990s, the city has been governed bycenter-left coalitions. The legislative body of the municipality (comune) is the City Council (Consiglio Comunale), which is composed by 32 members elected (jointly with the mayor) by the citizens every five years. Modena's executive body is the City Committee (Giunta Comunale), which is composed by 9assessors (appointed and dismissed by the mayor), of which one is deputy-mayor, and the mayor. The mayor from 2019 to 2024 of Modena wasGian Carlo Muzzarelli, a member of theDemocratic Party.
As of 2025, Modena has a population of 184,739, with the population density being at1,008.0/km2 (2,610.7/sq mi). In 2011, minors (children ages 18 and younger) totaled 16.2 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 22.5 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.1 percent (minors) and 19.9 percent (pensioners). The average age of Modena resident is 44 compared to the Italian average of 42. Between 2011 and 2021, Modena grew by 3.2%, while Italy as a whole declined by 0.7%.[11] The current birth rate of Modena is 9.62 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.
TheDucal Palace of Modena, initiated byFrancesco I d'Este in 1634 and completed byFrancis V, was the seat of the Este court from the 17th to 19th century. The palace occupies the site of the former Este Castle, once located in the periphery of the city. Although generally credited toBartolomeo Avanzini, it has been suggested that advice and guidance in the design process had been sought from the contemporary luminaries,Cortona,Bernini, andBorromini.
The Palace has a Baroque façade, from which the Honour Court (where the military ceremonies are held) and the Honour Staircase can be accessed. The Central Hall has a frescoed ceiling with the 17th-centuryIncoronation of Bradamante byMarco Antonio Franceschini. TheSalottino d'Oro ("Golden Hall"), covered with gilted removable panels, was used by Duke Francis III as his main cabinet of work.
Facing the Piazza Grande (aUNESCO World Heritage Site), the Town Hall of Modena was put together in the 17th and 18th centuries from several pre-existing edifices built from 1046 as municipal offices.
It is characterized by a Clock Tower (Torre dell'Orologio, late 15th century), once paired with another tower (Torre Civica) demolished after an earthquake in 1671. In the interior, noteworthy is theSala del Fuoco ("Fire Hall"), with a painted frieze byNiccolò dell'Abbate (1546) portraying famous characters from Ancient Rome against a typical Emilia background. TheCamerino dei Confirmati ("Chamber of the Confirmed") houses one of the symbols of the city, theSecchia Rapita, a bucket kept in memory of the victoriousBattle of Zappolino (1325) againstBologna. This relic inspired the poem of the same title byAlessandro Tassoni. Another relic from the Middle Ages in Modena is thePreda Ringadora, a rectangular marble stone next to the palace porch, used as a speakers' platform, and the statue calledLa Bonissima ("The Very Good"): the latter, portraying a female figure, was erected in the square in 1268 and later installed over the porch.
View from Piazza Grande with detail of the statue of La Bonissima and theGhirlandina tower in the background
The Cathedral of Modena and the annexed campanile are aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site. Begun under the direction of the CountessMatilda of Tuscany[7] with its first stone laid 6 June 1099 and its crypt ready for the city's patron,Saint Geminianus, and consecrated only six years later, the Duomo of Modena was finished in 1184. The building of a great cathedral in this flood-prone ravaged former center ofArianism was an act ofurban renewal in itself, and an expression of the flood of piety that motivated the contemporaryFirst Crusade. Unusually, the master builder's name,Lanfranco, was celebrated in his own day: the city's chronicler expressed the popular confidence in the master-mason fromComo, Lanfranco: by God's mercy the man was found (inventus est vir).
The sculptorWiligelmus who directed the mason's yard was praised in the plaque that commemorated the founding. The program of the sculpture is not lost in a welter of detail: the wild dangerous universe of the exterior is mediated by the Biblical figures of the portals leading to the Christian world of the interior. In Wiligelmus' sculpture at Modena, the human body takes on a renewed physicality it had lost in the schematic symbolic figures of previous centuries. At the east end, threeapses reflect the division of the body of the cathedral into nave and wide aisles with their bold, solid masses. Modena's Duomo inspired campaigns of cathedral and abbey building in emulation through the valley of thePo.
San Vincenzo: erected in 17th century over a prior 13th-century church. The original design was byPaolo Reggiano, but completed byBernardo Castagnini, probably helped by the youngGuarino Guarini. The interior contains frescoes bySigismondo Caula portraying episodes of theLives of SaintsVincent andCajetan. The dome was destroyed during World War II. This church houses the funerary monuments of the Dukes of Este.
Santa Maria della Pomposa: also known asAedes Muratoriana, is probably the oldest religious church in town, documented as early as 1135. Little remains of the original medieval temple. Construction of the present church is mainly due toLudovico Antonio Muratori, the parish priest (1716–1750), who rebuilt it from the ground.
San Giovanni Decollato: church ofSt. John Baptist Beheaded built in the 16th century over a pre-existing temple dedicated to St Michael, and modified in 18th century.
Sant'Agostino: 14th-century church of St Augustine, largely renovated in 1663 for the funeral ofAlfonso IV d'Este. The sober original structure was embellished with 17th-century stuccoes and a panelled ceiling. The most notable artwork is theDeposition (1476) by the ModeneseAntonio Begarelli, once in the church ofSan Giovanni Battista. Traces of a 14th-century fresco byTommaso da Modena can still be seen.
San Francesco: construction of the church of St Francis begun in 1224 by theFranciscans, and not finished for two centuries. The Gothic-style church houses one of Begarelli's masterworks, aDeposition of Christ made up of thirteen statues.
Chiesa diSan Pietro, ModenaSan Pietro: church erected, according to tradition, over the temple ofJupiter Capitolinus. The currentRenaissance-style edifice is from 1476, built next to aBenedictine abbey founded in 996 outside the city walls; the church is among the few 15th-century structures of this style Modena. The interior has a 15th-century organ and numerous terracotta works by Begarelli. The campanile was built in 1629.
San Giorgio: church of St George, and also known as the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Helper of the Modenese People. The church boasts a venerated image of the Madonna as a main altarpiece. The main altar (1666) was built with polychrome marbles byAntonio Loraghi. The layout is that of a Greek cross, and was erected in 1647.
The Museum Palace, on the St. Augustine square, is an example of civil architecture from the Este period, built as a Hostel for the poor, together with the nearby Hospital in the late 18th century. Today it houses the main museums of Modena:
The Estense Gallery and Library have reopened on 29 May 2015 after theearthquake of 2012. The Gallery has been completely restored but some pieces are still damaged and thus cannot be seen.
Opened for theGreat Jubilee in 2000, the Museum of the Cathedral houses a rich collection of artistic heritage, in particular liturgical ornaments and furnishings. Apart from the finds of the cathedral building site by Wiligelmus and Lanfranco, such as romanesque metopes and roof decorations, in the Lapidary there are also reliefs, sculptures and inscriptions of the Roman, Medieval and Renaissance era found in the cathedral area during the restoration works between the 19th and the 20th century.
Inaugurated on 10 March 2012, themuseum complex includesEnzo Ferrari's birthplace and a futuristic automotive design gallery, painted in the yellow that Enzo Ferrari chose as the background for the Prancing horse on his logo. The exhibition gallery was designed by the famous architectJan Kaplický, who suddenly died in 2009, and carried on by his associate and loyal assistant Andrea Morgante.
The interior features a multimedia display of pictures, unpublished films and precious mementoes of Enzo Ferrari's life as a man, driver and car-maker throughout the 20th century.
The Exhibition Gallery houses a flexible mounting representing story, figures, places and races of the Modenese sport motor racing.
Founded in 1986 by Giuseppe Panini, who then decided to donate his collection to the city, theMuseo della figurina was opened to the public on 15 December 2006. It is located inside the Santa Margherita Palace, which also houses the Delfini Library and the City Gallery.
The Museum houses several collections, including, apart from the classic stickers, cigarette cards, letter seals, matchboxes and calendars, all of which represent a very important historical document of the development of picture cards throughout the years.
TheTeatro Comunale Modena (Community Theatre of Modena, but renamed in October 2007 as "Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti") is anopera house in Modena. The idea for the creation of the present theatre dates from 1838, when it became apparent that the then-existing Teatro Comunale di via Emilia (in dual private and public ownership) was no longer suitable for staging opera. However, this house had been the venue for presentations of all of the works ofDonizetti,Bellini andRossini up to this time, and a flourishing operatic culture existed in Modena.
Under the Mayor of Modena in collaboration with theConservatorio dell'Illustrissima Comunità (Conservatory of the Most Illustrious Community), architectFrancesco Vandelli was engaged to design the Teatro dell'Illustrissima Comunità, as the theatre was first called, "for the dignity of the city and for the transmission of the scenic arts".[13] Paid for in the manner typical of the time – from the sale of boxes – in addition to a significant gift from Duke Friedrich IV, Vandelli created a design for the new theatre combining ideas from those inPiacenza,Mantua, andMilan, and it opened on 2 October 1841 with a performance ofGandini'sAdelaide di Borgogna al Castello di Canossa, an opera specially commissioned for the occasion.
Modena has a rich and diversified cuisine, often including meats, hams and salamis. One of the most famousmodenese dishes iszampone (the fatter and heartier version) orcotechino Modena (cotechino is leaner and less fat thanzampone).Cotechino dates back to around 1511 toMirandola, where, whilst besieged, the people had to find a way to preserve meat and use the less tender cuts, so made thecotechino. By the 18th century it had become more popular than the yellowish sausage had been around at the time, and in the 19th century was inmass production in and around the area.
Modena's contribution to the Italian pasta culture aretortellini andtortelloni, which are squares of pasta shaped in the form of a ring and stuffed with meat or cheese.
Cappello del prete is also a popular meal, which is a very fatty pig's trotter. Other dishes includetorta Barozzi ortorta nera, which is a black tart (a dessert made with a coffee/cocoa and almond filling encased in a fine pastry dough),ciccioli, made by slowly cooking, compressing, drying, and aging fatty, leftover pieces of pork, andpesto modenese, which is cured pork back fat pounded with garlic, rosemary andParmesan, used to fill borlenghi and crescentine.
Balsamic vinegar of Modena became aprotected geographical indication under EU law in 2000.[14][15][verification needed] The Balsamic Vinegar is a condiment for salad, cheese, strawberries and many other dishes. The practice of cooking the must of grapes can be traced back to the ancient Romans: the so-called sapum was used both as a medicinal product and in the kitchen as a sweetener and condiment. The long history of the Balsamic Vinegar came to us through centuries and now is most consumed abroad than in Italy.[16][better source needed]
Modena and its province is one of Italy's most affluent areas, thanks to a rich agriculture and numerous small and medium manufacturing enterprises. Among the largest employers areBPER Banca, the publishing companyPanini Group;[18]Cremonini Group, one of Europe's largest meat packaging and catering companies; Grandi Salumifici Italiani and Parmareggio,Gruppo Fini other large food processing companies;Liu Jo, a large clothing company.
Modena alongsideTurin, are among Italy's main centres of the automotive industry, having a rich history and tradition in this field. The iconicFerrari brand was founded in Modena by Modenese legendary car tycoonEnzo Ferrari, and today is headquartered just outside the city, in the suburb ofMaranello. Several other Italian luxury automobile manufacturers such asPagani andMaserati are headquartered in the Modena area. The electric motorcycle makerEnergica Motor Company is headquartered in the city.
Carrozzeria Autodromo Modena, originally a maker of racing cars, which later became one of the best-knownbus manufacturers in Italy, was based in Modena and in business from 1949 to 2004.[19]
Volleyball plays an important role in Modena's sport history, withModena Volley having won 12 National championships, four Champion's League seasons, and other trophies.[22]
.jpg)
.jpg)
