Deep-dive

Identity: "Avia Pervia", Quartieri, the Este court and a gold medal

The municipal coat of arms is a blue cross shield on a gold field with the motto "Avia Pervia"; the banner is decorated with the gold medal for military valour for the war of liberation. The city is divided into Quartieri, with councils dating from 1967; a former Este capital; city of Enzo Ferrari and of the theatre named after Pavarotti and Freni.

Sections: Geography · History · Population · Languages · Time zone · Public holidays

Symbols and structure of the municipality

The municipal statute, approved in 1991 and last amended in 2024, describes the coat of arms as a blue cross shield on a gold field, topped by a ducal crown and crossed by two augers, with the motto "Avia Pervia". The banner, a blue cross on a yellow field, is decorated with the gold medal for military valour for the war of liberation. The territory comprises the main town and outlying villages and is divided into Quartieri; the statute notes that the city's district councils date back to 1967.

History in two names

For more than two centuries Modena was the seat of the Este court, in the Ducal Palace begun in 1634 to a design by Bartolomeo Avanzini, until the last duke, Francesco V, in 1859. The Cathedral is the work of the architect Lanfranco and the sculptor Wiligelmo, whose reliefs decorate the outer walls.

Engines and voices

Enzo Ferrari's birthplace stands next to the Enzo Ferrari Museum. The Teatro Comunale, opened in 1841 as the Teatro dell'Illustrissima Comunità, is now named Pavarotti-Freni. Luciano Pavarotti spent his last years in the house he had built in the Modena countryside, open to the public as a house museum since 2015.