Modena became the capital of the Este dukes in 1598, and its centre still reads like a map of power, faith and daily life. This guide covers eight places within a short walk of each other: Piazza Roma and the Palazzo Ducale, the ducal gardens behind it, Piazza Grande with the cathedral and the Ghirlandina, the Albinelli covered market, Piazza Mazzini and its synagogue, and the Gothic church of San Francesco.
Piazza Roma
This wide square in front of the Palazzo Ducale was the court's stage: it was called Piazza Ducale and later Piazza Reale before it took its present name. Facing the palace stands the monument to Ciro Menotti, put up in 1879. Menotti was a patriot of the Carboneria who planned a revolt against Austrian control for 3 February 1831; Duke Francis IV first backed the plan, then turned against it, and Menotti was arrested and hanged in the citadel that same year. It is a striking choice to place his statue right in front of the duke's residence.
- Stand by the Menotti monument and look at the full width of the palace façade with its central tower.
Palazzo Ducale
When the Este lost Ferrara to the pope in 1598, they made Modena their capital, and Cesare d'Este moved into the old castle. Around 1629–1630 Duke Francesco I began turning it into a Baroque palace, first to a design by Girolamo Rainaldi and later with Bartolomeo Avanzini, and big names such as Bernini, Borromini and Pietro da Cortona contributed. Today the palace is home to the Italian Military Academy, so most of it is not freely open; the Academy's museum and library can be seen on request.
- The Cortile d'Onore, the main courtyard where cadets take their oath, and the Gran Sala, whose ceiling Marcantonio Franceschini frescoed in 1695.
Parco Ducale Estense (Ducal Gardens)
Behind the palace lie the public gardens that were once the private gardens of the Este court. In 1758 Duke Francesco III founded a garden of medicinal plants here, the Giardino dei Semplici, which became the city's botanical garden, and in 1772 the neoclassical architect Giuseppe Maria Soli designed new flower beds. Today the gardens are a green break on the north side of the old town, with shady paths and lawns.
Piazza Grande
Modena's main square lies on the south side of the cathedral, and together with the cathedral and its bell tower, the Ghirlandina, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. The architect Lanfranco began the Romanesque cathedral in 1099 over the tomb of Saint Geminianus, the city's patron, and the sculptor Wiligelmo worked on its sculpture. The Ghirlandina, 86 metres tall, is the symbol of the city. On the east side runs the arcaded Palazzo Comunale, whose truncated tower was cut down after an earthquake in 1501. In 1325, after the battle of Zappolino, victorious Modenese soldiers paraded a wooden bucket taken from Bologna through the square, the story behind the poem La secchia rapita.
- The Preda Ringadora, a marble block more than three metres long in the north-east corner, probably Roman, used in the Middle Ages as a speakers' platform and as a stone of shame for debtors.
- La Bonissima, a small 12th-century statue in a niche of the town hall, and the official measures carved into the cathedral apse and the statue's base so that buyers could check traders.
Mercato Albinelli
A short walk south of Piazza Grande, the covered market opened on 28 October 1931. Luigi Albinelli, mayor from 1900 to 1908, had pushed hard for the project years before it was built. Locals also call it the Mercato coperto. Inside you find stalls selling bread, cheese, fish, meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables, along with small places to eat.
- The fountain in the middle of the hall, a little girl with a basket of flowers by the Modenese sculptor Giuseppe Graziosi.
Piazza Mazzini
Just off the Via Emilia, a few dozen metres from the town hall, this square did not exist until the early 20th century. It was created by demolishing buildings in the old Jewish ghetto, which Duke Francesco I had established in 1638 and which was dissolved after Modena joined the Kingdom of Italy. At first it was called Piazza della Libertà; it took Giuseppe Mazzini's name in 1911. Today it is a quiet square planted with trees.
Modena Synagogue
The synagogue on Piazza Mazzini was built between 1869 and 1873 by the Jewish community, partly with a bequest from Isacco Sacerdoti. The architect Ludovico Maglietta, who also designed the city's provincial railway station, gave it a monumental neoclassical form: like other large synagogues in newly united Italy, it was meant to show the civil and religious freedom Jews had just won. For decades it was hidden behind houses; when they were demolished in 1904, the façade was turned to face the new square.
- The façade with palm motifs, and, inside, the elliptical dome painted blue with stars; the decoration is entirely non-figurative.
Church of San Francesco
The Franciscans began this church in 1244, after moving inside the city walls, and building went on for decades. It is a plain Emilian Gothic church with three naves, restored twice in the 19th century and reopened in 1901 after a neo-Gothic restoration. Its treasure is a terracotta Deposition from the Cross by Antonio Begarelli, a group of thirteen statues in the left nave.
- The 1938 fountain outside with a statue of Saint Francis, another work by Giuseppe Graziosi.
How to see them in one walk
Start in the Ducal Gardens and walk round to Piazza Roma and the front of the Palazzo Ducale. From there go south to Piazza Mazzini and the synagogue, then a few steps east to Piazza Grande, the cathedral and the Ghirlandina. Continue south to the Albinelli market and finish at the church of San Francesco on the southern edge of the old town.
See Modena with World City Trail
Our Modena scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from the Ducal Gardens to the church of San Francesco, and the gardens, the Palazzo Ducale, Piazza Roma, Piazza Mazzini, Piazza Grande, the Albinelli market and San Francesco are all stops, along with the Pavarotti-Freni Theatre, the Ghirlandina and the cathedral. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Modena, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Modena scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Modena →
Play the outdoor escape game in Modena →
Facts checked in October 2026.