\n My this particular trip was one of the very last Italian trips I took before
\n moving out of Europe. Thanks to
\n Emilia Romagna Tourism’s planning, the trip to cover as many UNESCO World Heritage Sites as possible in the
\n Emilia Romagna region was possible; plus one special site – the country of San
\n Marino, which also has 1 UNESCO Site!\n<\/p>\n
![\"UNESCO](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhKxENdcgV-wP6pPjRXDh8QNEw0N9SqZ2idY3hU46dniFLRn0FipHfmVyTwWtnFxk_JYCnUL4VPENsDCzdUh5GAQRMCOwPTxX6YZ5qv0RCSoGwIsjVTurIA0k6Sh4cfLUszHWe8w3TuLyEFao2ey7bFC3cafhjZ_mQj0h4shPrQomkjy0XevJq0_rN4amiy\/s1008\/Bhushavali_Travelogue_Modena_UNESCO_Piazza_Grande%20(1).jpg\")
<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n Cathedral from Piazza Grande<\/span>\n<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \n Preda Ringadora<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n 18th C CE Mosiac work at Modena Cathedral<\/span>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n View of Torre Civica \/ Torre Ghirlandina & Cathedral from Piazza \n Emilia Romagna region has 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites – \n When I say UNESCO World Heritage Sites, I purely mean the World Heritage MODENA – THE ROMAN CITY OF MUTINA<\/b><\/p>\n \n The city of Modena was born in 183 BCE as Roman City and was then called \n PIAZZA GRANDE, CATHEDRAL & GHIRLANDINA TOWER OF MODENA<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n Behind & beside Preda Ringadora are the parts of Communal Palace. All Preda Ringadora<\/b><\/p>\n \n What is Preda Ringadora? It was once used, in the medieval times as a stage on \n Perseus holding Medusa’s head & Renaissance Staircase<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n Units of Measurement on Cathedral’s back wall & Ancient Roman <\/p>\n \n Renaissance Staircase & Palazzo Communale<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n Atop here, are some of the historic rooms of the Palazzo Communale. This part Mozza Tower Room<\/b><\/p>\n \n However, with the time I had, I managed to visit only the Mozza Tower Room Roman Amphitheatre<\/b><\/p>\n Ancient units of Measurement<\/b><\/p>\n \n We came back to Piazza Grande and headed to the Cathedral, but before entering \n Here on the back wall of the Cathedral, on the outside, there were 4 units of \n Dragon’s Bone at Modena Cathedral<\/span>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Cathedral & Torre Ghirlandina\/Torre Civica<\/b><\/p>\n \n The building of the Cathedral began in 1099 CE and the completion of the \n Saint Geminiano (San <\/b>Geminianus) of Modena<\/b><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n We then started to walk around Modena Cathedral, on the outside and spotted \n The bas-relief about San Geminianus on Modena Cathedral was sculpted \n Another curious artefact to the outside is the ‘Dragon’s Bone’ from the dragon \n Frescoes, Mosaics & Sculptures at Modena Cathedral<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n There were some frescoes in the exterior of the Cathedral most of which were \n To the north is the Porta della Pescheria (Pesca means Fish and this door \n After the death of Wiligelmo, masters came in from Campione d’Italia from \n Many frescoes in the interiors of the Cathedral were intact, especially the \n Apart from the frescoes there were also Mosaic works on both the apse, under <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Miracles of San Geminianus – Bas relief by Wiligelmo<\/span>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Marble arches with floral designs by Campionese masters<\/span>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Story of Genesis (Adam & Eve) by Wiligelmo<\/span>\n<\/p>\n Crypt of Modena Cathedral<\/b><\/p>\n \n Torre Civica (or) Torre Ghirlandina<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n While the UNESCO Listing mentions Cathedral & Torre Civica, both are \n Museo del Duomo (Cathedral Museum)<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n There is a museum inside the Cathedral which houses some of the rich \n There was also a copper sculpture of San Geminianus made in 14th C CE. This SOMETHING TO PONDER!<\/b><\/p>\n \n Were the Campionese masters inspired by Pallavas of South India?<\/b>\n <\/p>\n \n I have a question and trying to find some connection… The Lion Pillars in \n Lion Pillars by Campionese Masters at Modena Cathedral<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Terracotta sculptures in Modena Cathedral’s crypt<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n PLACES TO VISIT IN MODENA<\/b><\/p>\n 1. Piazza Grande, Modena Cathedral & Torre Ghirlandina<\/p>\n BEST HOTELS IN MODENA<\/b><\/p>\n \n BEST VEGETARIAN & VEGAN RESTAURANTS IN MODENA & DISHES TO \n The best thing about Italian Food is that it is, by default, vegetarian 4 DAYS ITINERARY IN EMILIA ROMAGNA<\/b><\/p>\n Day 1- Bologna & Ferrara<\/p>\n Day 2 – Modena (Acetaia, Historic City Center of Modena)<\/p>\n Day 3 – Ravenna<\/p>\n Day 4 – San Marino & Rimini<\/p>\n \n Entry Tickets of\u00a0Piazza Grande, & Modena Cathedral:<\/i><\/b>\u00a0All the sites are free to go except Museo del Duomo (Modena Cathedral \n Entry Tickets of\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Modena Cathedral Museum<\/b>:\u00a0<\/i><\/b>\u20ac6.00\n <\/p>\n \n Entry Tickets to climb Torre Civica \/ Torre Ghirlandia<\/i><\/b>:\u00a0<\/i><\/b>\u20ac6.00\n <\/p>\n \n Timings of\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Piazza Grande :\u00a0<\/b>Open 24×7\n <\/p>\n \n Timings of\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Modena Cathedral\u00a0:\u00a0<\/b>7:00 to \n Timings of\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Modena Cathedral Museum:\u00a0<\/b>10:00 to \n How to reach Modena?<\/i><\/b> Modena is well connected by Trenitalia. \n How to reach Piazza Grande, Modena Cathedral & Torre Civica?<\/i><\/b> PIN IT \/ BOOKMARK NOW & READ LATER<\/b><\/p>\n My this particular trip was one of the very last Italian trips I took before moving out of Europe. Thanks to Emilia Romagna Tourism’s planning, the trip to cover as many UNESCO World Heritage Sites as possible in the Emilia Romagna region was possible; plus one special site – the country of San Marino, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132229,102159,132230],"tags":[132231,14039,132234,8147,2059,102165,89849,11405,132233,132232,542,62809,19286],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-300206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-churches","category-emilia-romagna-italy","category-unesco","tag-a-travel-guide-to-the-unesco-sites-in-modena-cathedral","tag-cathedral","tag-civica","tag-grande","tag-guide","tag-modena","tag-piazza","tag-sites","tag-torre","tag-torre-civica-and-piazza-grande","tag-travel","tag-travelogue","tag-unesco"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n Grande<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n Piazza Grande, Cathedral and the Ghirlandina Tower of Modena<\/b>;
\n Porticoes of Bologna; Ferrara city of Renaissance; and of course, the
\n Mosaics of Ravenna .\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n Sites and not including UNESCO Creative City Networks or UNESCO Biospheres.
\n Apart from these 4, the country of San Marino is, in its entirety, an
\n exclave of Emilia Romagna region of Italy! So, this was my trip to visit 5
\n UNESCO Sites in 2 countries! Ofcourse, each of these UNESCO Sites require a
\n separate blog article to share my Travelogue to Emilia Romagna, so here’s
\n the first one of my first site, UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Modena.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n Mutina. One of the initial discoveries were parts of the Roman wall in Piazza
\n Roma. Mutina was not the only city founded in 183 BCE. Via Aemilia was an
\n important road built during the Roman Era which connected Rimini to Piacenza,
\n which went via Mutina. During its period of construction several Roman Cities
\n were born along its whole length at Bononia (Bologna) (founded 189 BC), Mutina
\n (Modena), Regium (Reggio Emilia), and Parma (all founded in 183 BC).\n<\/p>\n
\n Historic Center of Modena<\/a>, I walked over to the Piazza Grande UNESCO World Heritage Site with my tour
\n guide and we stopped at Preda Ringadora. In one corner of the Piazza Grande is
\n the Prede Ringadora; in the opposite of Preda Ringadora are the Cathedral and
\n the Torre Civica. All these are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites of
\n Modena.\u00a0\n<\/div>\n
\n these come under the bufferzone of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of
\n Modena.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n which announcements & orations were made. The rock itself is Red Ammonite
\n rock from Verona (literally, archaeology & palaeontology together!).\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n walls<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n reach that from the Piazza Grande, we need to take a staircase, called the
\n Renaissance Staircase. The Piazza Grande has a porticoes on all sides and at
\n the edge of the Eastern Porticoes is the Renaissance Staircase that leads to
\n another portico which is on the first floor of the Palazzo Communale that
\n leads to the inner courtyard of the building. Right here is the sculpture of
\n Perseus holding Medusa’s head! It’s a 19th C art sculpted by\u00a0Cesare
\n Aureli, who was inspired by the ancient Greek sculpture of the
\n Apollo of the Belvedere<\/a>; the pose of Perseus in this sculpture is exactly the same as Apollo of the
\n Belvedere!\u00a0\n<\/div>\n
\n here is called Palazzo Vecchio (literally means Old Palace) built in 1149 CE.
\n (There are 3 other parts of the Palace around it – Palazzo Urbis (original
\n Palazzo Communale \/ Municipal Palace) built in 1046 CE, Palazzo Nouvo (New
\n Palace) built in 1216 CE, and Palazzo dei Notori (Palace of the Notaries) bult
\n in 1220 CE)! Some of the historic rooms of the Palazzo Vecchio can be
\n visited.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n which is one of the most historic parts of the city, built in 1046 CE.
\n However, in 1501 CE, the tower got damaged severely in an earthquake and was
\n later demolished and rebuilt with a dome atop and currently houses a museum.
\n While the paintings here belong to the late 20th C CE, there’s a fragment of
\n ancient Roman Mosaic tile here of 2nd C CE.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n well, but it doesn’t exist anymore and we don’t know its original location!
\n I’m sure, like the
\n Roman Amphitheatre of London<\/a>
\n under London Guild Hall, this would come up in some excavation in the
\n future!\u00a0\n<\/div>\n
\n the Cathedral, we stopped at an important spot beside the wall of the
\n Cathedral. That spot was the where the ancient units of measurements were
\n still intact. Every city had its own units of measurements in the ancient
\n times and mostly it would relate to the size of the palm, arm, & foot
\n measurements of the chief-architect. This was primarily used for 2 purposes –
\n uniformity while building the palace, cathedral etc ad well as for fair trade,
\n for those who sell or buy anything that needs to be measured.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n measurements – Mattone (a rectangular hole for the standard size of a brick),
\n Passo (the length measure beside Mattone corresponding to the common Modenese
\n Pitch measurement of 1.27m), Coppo (a trapezoidal hole of the standard size of
\n a tile), and Pertica (the length measure of 3.14m beside Coppo which was used
\n to measure land)!\n<\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n Ghirlandina Tower happened in 1319 CE. The tower is more than 86m tall and
\n was recently, completely restored. It isn’t possible to climb Torre Civica
\n at the moment.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n quite a few sculptures & bas-reliefs. One of the bas-reliefs is of the
\n life of the Patron-Saint of Modena\u00a0Saint Geminiano who lived in 4th C CE
\n and was a Bishop of Modena who had performed very many miracles. San
\n Geminianus is believed to had hid Modena from the invading King Attila the Hun
\n of Hunnic Empire, who was on a conquering & ransacking mission across
\n Europe, by conjuring up a very thick fog, thereby hiding Modena from the
\n troops of King Attila!\n<\/p>\n
\n by\u00a0Agostino di Duccio in the 15th C CE, at the peak of Renaissance Era.
\n Agostino di duccio was a Renaissance Italian Sculptor born in Florence &
\n was trained under Donatello.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n which was slain by San Geminianus. Well, it had been here since the middle
\n ages and in the recent years, it has been discovered that it’s a whale
\n bone!\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n worn-out, but the interiors of the Cathedral had very many frescoes. There
\n were quite a few bas-reliefs also all around the Cathedral.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n faced the fishmarket in those days). The bas-reliefs that caught my attention
\n were the lion pillars, pagan capitals on engaged columns which were originally
\n Roman & been reused while building the Cathedral, and the friezes atop the
\n doors, one of which depicted the life of Virgin Mary and another that
\n depicted\u00a0 Adam & Eve. The one with Adam & Eve was quite
\n interesting, esp, the scene where Eve is shown created from Adam’s side. These
\n friezes were sculpted by Wiligelmo, in 1099 to 1110 CE.\n<\/p>\n
\n Switzerland! The lion pillars on either side of the entrance door is a typical
\n of the Campionese masters of early 13th C CE. I couldn’t help but wonder is
\n these Campionese masters had ever visited southern India and seen the Pallava
\n Simha Thoon (more about it below)!!! The spiral & rosette details of the
\n arches around the door are very typical to the Campionese masters.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n ones in the walls of the shrines. The frescoes on the rood screen, over the
\n bas-reliefs were absolutely exceptional. The most important was, ofcourse, the
\n last supper. The rood screen & the main nave at a mezzanine level, built
\n in the 12th C CE – 14th C CE, is still maintained as it was. Many of these
\n frescoes were done by Christoforo & Lorenzo Canozi of Lendinara, Agostino
\n Duccio, Dosso Dossi, Michele of Florence etc.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n the dome. However, both are modern, 18th C copies of Byzantine mosaics from
\n Rome.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n the cathedral’s crypt is this very interesting set of life-size terracotta
\n sculptures of Madonna & Child with 2 more people, sculpted by Guide
\n Mazzoni c.1450-1528. This reminded me much of the terracotta sculptures
\n of\u00a0Sacrimonti di Ghiffa<\/a>, though the Sacrimonti sculptures were made after about 2 centuries.\u00a0\n<\/div>\n
\n essentially the same thing. Torre Civica or Torre Ghirlandia is basically the
\n bell tower atop the Cathedral. It isn’t possible to climb Torre Ghirlandina.\n<\/p>\n
\n tapestries that belong to the cathedral. These were made in Brussels in 16th C
\n CE. One of the tapestries was about Adam & Eve and right behind Adam is a
\n unicorn! There were the cloak, scarf and headgear of the Bishop, which were
\n majorly embroidered. The amount of workmanship that had gone into it was just
\n wow. It looked like a painting, but was made of long & short stitch. It
\n just looked phenomenal.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n was originally atop the Porta Regia door overlooking the Piazza Grande.\n<\/p>\n
\n Modena in Italy which were sculptured in early 13th C CE. I was wondering if
\n there’s any connection between Pallava Simha Thoon & these Lion Pillars
\n of Modena. The sculptors were from Campione d’Italia. Ofcourse, Pallava
\n thoon are much older and were sculpted in 8th-9th C\u00a0 CE. I tried to
\n look into travelers who might have visited the Pallava temples and made
\n accounts of the Simha Thoon & took it to Italy and ofcourse, Marco Polo
\n popped up. Marco Polo visited South India in 1292 on his way back and
\n reached his home Venice in 1295. However, the Campionese masters made these
\n lion pillars of Modena in the last decades of the 12th and the early 14th
\n centuries. Did Marco-Polo make drawings of the Pallava Simha Thoon in his
\n chronicles? Did the Campionese sculptors see it and get inspired by it and
\n make it here?\u00a0\n <\/p>\n<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n TRY\u00a0<\/b>\n <\/p>\n
\n friendly – pizza, risotto, and most things are generally vegetarian
\n friendly. There are a couple of purely vegan restaurants in Modena and I
\n chose Monari Federzoni for lunch, Erbavoglio for dinner and stopped at a
\n couple other places for snacks.\n <\/p>\n
\n Museum).\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n 19:00 everyday\n <\/p>\n
\n 14:00 & 15:00 to 18:00 pm from Tuesday to Friday Open till 19:00 on
\n Saturdays and Sundays. Closed on Mondays.\n <\/p>\n
\n It is just 25 mins from Bologna which is connected by RyanAir & other low-cost flights.\n <\/p>\n
\n Piazza Grande is just 1km (15 mins walk) from Modena Railway station\u00a0\n <\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"