Note: Javascript is disabled in your browser.
You need to enable Javascript if you want to see images and video.
Introducing Modena
Get past the unsightly factories that ring this affluent city and you’ll find a lively medieval centre, thick with market stalls, vibrant piazzas and impressive palazzi. The highlight, and reason enough for a visit, is the stunning Unesco World Heritage–listed cathedral.
Some 40km northwest of Bologna, Modena was one of a series of Roman garrison towns established along the Via Emilia in the 2nd century BC. It became a free city in the 12th century and then passed to the Este family late in the following century. Prosperity came when it was chosen to be the capital of a much-reduced Este duchy in 1598, after the family lost Ferrara to the Papal States. Apart from a brief Napoleonic interlude, the Este family ran the town until Italian unification in the 19th century.
Last updated: Mar 2, 2009
Advertisement
