Modena Half Day Tour

A very famous Italian advertisement says that if Italy were a house, the Emilia Romagna Region would be the kitchen …and if the Emilia Romagna Region were a kitchen Modena would be the main course. If Italian people believe it then it must be absolutely true.

But Modena is not only great food, excellent cuisine, Michelin starred restaurants, luxury cars and famous Opera singers... Modena is also home to a 12-century university, to Italy’s West Point, to a Unesco World Heritage Site. Modena is really a town where the Old and the New come together and tradition goes hand in hand with innovation

The walking tour starts in Piazza Grande with the Cathedral and the Ghirlandina tower. The three monuments have been listed as a Unesco World Heritage site since 1997. The cathedral, a supreme example of early Romanesque art, together with its square and tower testifies to the faith of its builders and it is considered a masterpiece of human creative genius in which a new relationship between architecture and sculpture was created. The Modena complex is one of the best examples of cultural traditions of the 12th century where religious and civic values are combined in a medieval Christian town. Piazza Grande was and still is the political and meeting centre of the town and it is on this square that the ancient City Hall was built.

At that time Modena also boasted a network of canals, echoes of which still remain in the names of the city’s streets. 

The visit continues in the very city centre where the cobblestone streets lined with shops give the opportunity to relive the medieval town. One of these streets is the old roman via Emilia which connects Piazza Grande to Piazza Mazzini, the area of the former Jewish Ghetto, where it is possible to admire one of the most beautiful 19th century synagogues.

Close to Piazza Grande the bustling Mercato Albinelli has been satisfying the grocery needs of locals since 1931 but it also provides fine scenes of the locals' daily life.

With the arrival of the Este family in 1598, the urban layout of Modena changed to suit the needs of the new court. Modena needed a new urban look, with noble villas and courtier houses, summer residences and churches. Some medieval streets were replaced by large and straight roads and a part of the city acquired a new urban look and the old castle was replaced by the Ducal palace. The tour ends in piazza Roma in front of the Baroque façade of the ducal palace, now housing the Military Academy.