Piazza Grande has been and still is the hub of Modena’s social life, especially on such special occasions as the celebration of the city’s Patron Saint, St. Geminianus (San Geminiano) each January 31st, when the piazza is filled with cheerful stalls. The piazza is no less lively on “Fat Thursday” during Carnival (usually in mid-February), when crowds gather beneath the balcony of the Palazzo Comunale to hear the bombastic “rant” of Sandrone, a traditional masked Commedia dell’Arte character in Modena, and his family, the Pavironicas.
