All the monuments in Modena
The landmarks and masterpieces worth planning a day around.
Duomo di ModenaUNESCOModena CathedralRomanesque masterwork of Lanfranco and Wiligelmo, Genesis facade reliefs, the leaning Ghirlandina tower, Piazza Grande ensembleWork on the cathedral began in 1099, after the rediscovered remains of Modena's patron saint, Geminianus, prompted the demolition of two earlier churches on the site, and the project moved fast enough to be consecrated by Pope Lucius III in 1184. An architect known only as Lanfranco directed the design and, unusually for the period, both he and the sculptor Wiligelmo are named in inscriptions on the building itself, an early instance of artists claiming public credit for their work. Wiligelmo's facade reliefs, cut directly into the pink-white stone around the main portal, run through the Book of Genesis, from Creation to Cain and Abel, in a sequence readable almost like panels of a comic strip, among the earliest and most influential sculptural cycles of the Romanesque period. Beside the cathedral, the Torre della Ghirlandina, a marble-topped bell tower visibly leaning from its own foundation settlement, rises over Piazza Grande, and the whole ensemble, cathedral, tower and piazza together, was inscribed as a single UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.Plan the visit
Torre GhirlandinaUNESCOGhirlandina TowerModena's emblem, stolen bucket legend, Sala dei Torresani, Gothic spireModena's bell tower rises 86 meters beside the cathedral, a Romanesque base of the twelfth century topped by a Gothic octagonal spire and a golden ball added in 1319. It leans very slightly, and the citizens have always treated it as the city's emblem. The tower is best known for a bucket: in 1325 Modenese soldiers carried a wooden bucket home from Bologna after the Battle of Zappolino, and Alessandro Tassoni turned the grudge into a mock epic, La secchia rapita. The climb ends in the Sala dei Torresani, where the tower's guards once lived; the Sala della Secchia rapita, part of the tower, takes its name from the trophy. With the cathedral and Piazza Grande it is a UNESCO site.
MuseumMuseo Enzo FerrariYellow car-hood pavilion, Enzo's birth house and workshop, Modena's motor valley, racing carsEnzo Ferrari was born in Modena in 1898, in a house beside his father's workshop, and both still stand inside this museum. Around them rises a pavilion designed by Jan Kaplický of Future Systems, completed by Andrea Morgante, whose sweeping yellow aluminum roof is shaped like a car hood. Inside, rotating exhibitions place the racing cars, lit like sculpture, in the story of Modena's motor valley and of Ferrari's life. The restored workshop houses a collection of engines, and a wraparound film sets the founder in his times. The museum is a short walk from Modena's station; the museum at Maranello is a separate visit, and a combined pass covers both.
Tours worth booking in Modena
Compared by our editors, across providers.
Booking through these links may earn Italia Magnifica a commission, at no cost to you.
- Viator
- 3h
- 5.0★ · 1 reviews
from €45Book this tour- Viator
- 1h
- 4.0★ · 57 reviews
from €28Book this tour- Viator
- 8h
- 5.0★ · 9 reviews
from €282Book this tour- Viator
- 6h
- 4.5★ · 17 reviews
from €7Book this tour- Viator
- 6h
from €1,200Book this tour- Viator
- 3h
from €125Book this tour
More within reach
Monuments a day trip away, elsewhere in Emilia-Romagna.
Castell'ArquatoCastell'ArquatoRocca Viscontea fortress, Collegiata church piazza, Gutturnio wine country, fossil badlands
RavennaUNESCOBasilica of San VitaleJustinian and Theodora mosaics, octagonal Byzantine plan, sixth-century splendor
RavennaUNESCOMausoleum of Galla PlacidiaGold-star vault, Good Shepherd mosaic, alabaster windows, Cole Porter legend
RavennaUNESCOBasilica of Sant'Apollinare NuovoProcessions of martyrs and virgins, Theodoric's palace church, twenty-six Christ scenes, nave-length mosaics
ParmaParma Cathedral and BaptisteryCorreggio's dome ascension, Antelami's pink baptistery, Romanesque ensemble, Benedetto's Deposition
RiminiTempio MalatestianoAlberti's Renaissance facade, Sigismondo's pagan church, Piero della Francesca fresco, Giotto crucifix
FerraraUNESCOEstense CastleMoated castle in the city center, Este dynasty seat, dungeon of Ugo and Parisina, hanging orange garden
CesenaHidden GemMalatestiana LibraryEurope's first public civic library, intact 1454 reading room, chained codices, UNESCO Memory of the World