"La Rocca" is probably the most important and beloved symbol of geographical and cultural identity for the people of Vignola. It is also a sign of cultural uniqueness in Vignola's historical experience, as well as in the past of the whole surrounding area at the foot of the mountains, where the Emilian cultural basis combined with several different contributions. The multiple variations that can be observed in the "Rocca" reveal this melting pot of Italian and even European influences.
The palace, also known as “Delizia” (delight) for its architecture enhanced by fountains and surrounded by gardens, for the beauty of its interior decorations and for its fine location in the broad valley of Secchia, stands as a veritable gem of northern Italian Baroque.
Palazzo dei Pio, commonly called the Castle, is a highly articulated, monumental complex made up of towers, turrets, courtyards and buildings constructed between the XIV and XVII centuries. It was the home of the local Pio lords.
The Castle displays a wonderful example of the architectonic evolution of a medieval fortification into a Renaissance manor. The medieval phase coincides with the stronghold (the rocchetta), the oldest fortified nucleus, whereas the Renaissance phase coincides with the marquis’ palace.
Spezzano Castle is Medieval, but was transformed by the Pio di Savoia family into a palace in 1529. This elegant country residence, which offered a warm welcome to its guests, is now home to the Fiorano Museum of Ceramics, housed on the ground floor and in the basement of the castle.
The Castle of Levizzano is located in a dominant position on the wonderful hills of the homonymous village in the municipality of Castelvetro. Its structure consists of a city wall in the centre of which there is the so-called Torre Matildica - Matildic Tower.
Modena’s Palazzo Comunale is made up of a seventeenth century unit composed of a series of buildings erected for different purposes in medieval times.
Modena’s Ducal Palace, once the sumptuous residence of the Estense Court and today the home of the military academy, is a splendid example of Baroque architecture and one of the most important royal palaces of the 1600s.
Palazzo Contrari-Boncompagni is an elegant Renaissance palace which is almost entirely morphologically intact. It was built between the early 1560s and 1567, on order of Ercole (Hercules) Contrari the Elder (a feudatory of Vignola) by the "master mason" Bartolomeo Tristano of Ferrara, on the design of the great Vignolese architect Jacopo Barozzi, who is known as The Vignola; for this reason, the palace is also known as Palazzo Barozzi.
In 1892, Pietro Foresti appointed the architect-engineer, Achille Sammarini (1827--1899) to adapt -, and in part demolish - his family's old industrial buildings, which had previously been used to manufacture straw and cork hats.
Villa Emma was built between 1890 and 1898, commissioned by Commendator Carlo Sacerdoti, who affectionately dedicated it to his wife, Emma Coen. The plans were entrusted to architect Vincenzo Maestri, President of the Academy of Fine Arts and one of the main figures in academia in Modena.
The Gandinis, a noble family from Modena related to the Este court, became owners of the building in 1791; at that time it was an eighteenth-century hunting lodge, smaller than it is today.
Montegibbio Castle was erected on a mound on the front hills of the Appenines, 6km from Sassuolo, in the Medieval village of Montegibbio. The park is approximately 30 hectares and is of great botanical interest.
