The piazza takes its name from the church dedicated to Santa Maria della Pomposa, at one time annexed to the better known Pomposa Abbey in Comacchio, which was founded in the 9th century. Today the piazza looks as it did in the 18th century, though the adjoining urban spaces have been redeveloped and are now used for popular entertainment. At No. 89 is “Casa Tassoni,” a typical example of a Renaissance-era residence in Modena. Nearby, on Via della Pomposa, is the Aedes Muratoriana complex, which includes the house in which the distinguished intellectual, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, lived between the 17th and 18th centuries. Muratori is considered the father of Italian historiography, and his residence stands alongside the church of Santa Maria Pomposa, one of the oldest in the city, where Muratori served as parish priest from 1716 until his death.
