Ancient to Modern Modena: Food, Ferrari, and Fantastic Architecture

(45 reviews)

Modena audio tour: Ancient to Modern Modena: Food, Ferrari, and Fantastic Architecture

This is a 1.3mi walking tour

It takes an average of 75 mins to complete.

Modena

Italy

$9.99

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About the Tour

Modena isn’t on every tourist’s bucket list. On this walking tour, you’ll see how this city in the provincial heartland of Italy is a microcosm of the best the country has to offer, from fantastic food to millennia of art and architecture.

The tour starts in Parco Novi Sad, a public park that houses the remains of Mutina, a Roman colony. From there you’ll stroll along cobbled streets lined with quaint bars and restaurants, some nearby Santa Maria della Pomposa church. Your walk ends at the market, Mercato Storico Albinelli, where you can experience the tastes and smells of Emilia’s regional cuisine.

Along the way, you’ll hear about the city’s connection to world-famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. I’ll also tell you about the battle involving a bucket, and reveal why people in Modena were once forced to sit naked on a big stone slab. You’ll find out why one of the streets shares a name with a canal, and how the most famous, sought-after sports and racing car in the world, Ferrari, was born right here!

On this Modena walking tour, you’ll:

Hear about one of the most powerful women in the medieval world, Matilda of Tuscany (also the Countess of Canossa), and how she used Lambrusco wine to win a battle
Learn about the Dukes of Modena and see their palace, Palazzo Ducale di Modena
Find out about Museo della Figurina, the unusual museum housing Panini stickers
Visit the statue of Pavarotti and the theatre named after him, Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti
See the Synagogue of Modena and hear about WWII tragedies including the provincial Fascist and Nazi concentration camp
Take in the Duomo di Modena and Torre Civica Ghirlandina (the Ghirlandina Bell Tower), a UNESCO World Heritage site

By the end of this 75-minute Modena tour, you’ll have a greater appreciation for the Italian city that has it all!

Tour Producer

A History of Italy Podcast

28 tours

A History of Italy is a weekly podcast in 15/20 minute episodes on the history of the Italian peninsula from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the present day.

There are plenty of dates, battles and rulers of course, but also a fair share of rabbits winning sieges, swords stuck in uncomfortable places, murder mysteries, naughty popes, monks getting undressed and all other sorts of mischief in the history of the colourful Italians.

It is the author's passion for that history and the fact he lives in Italy that has lead him to explore a country that has more UNESCO world heritage sites than any other in the world and has recently added the national cuisine as well.

The author, Mike Corradi is an Anglo-Italian English teacher living in northern Italy with a passion for travel and history. He has been workinh with VoiceMap since 2019 on more than 20 tours from the most iconic sites of Venice and Rome to the lesser known corners of the two as well as many other hidden gems of the Italian provinces for those who want a more unique and off the beaten track Italian experience.

Preview Location

Location 19

Turn left into Piazza della Torre

Turn left into Piazza della Torre and stop where you can get a good view of the tower and the statue.

5 SECONDS PAUSE

First of all, the road we have just crossed over is the more central part of our old friend the via Emilia.

This square is very aptly named Piazza Tor... Turn left into Piazza della Torre and stop where you can get a good view of the tower and the statue.

5 SECONDS PAUSE

First of all, the road we have just crossed over is the more central part of our old friend the via Emilia.

This square is very aptly named Piazza Torre, Tower square because, as you can see, it has a huge tower in it.

The statue of the gentlemen you see in the centre of this square, created in 1860, is of the Modenese poet Alessandro Tassoni. He is best known for writing the "Secchia Rapita", the stolen bucket and I'll tell you more about that when we get round to the square.

The impressive tower you see before you is the bell tower of the duomo of Modena, which you can see behind it. The tower is known as the "Ghirlandina", because of the double row of balustrades around the spire that look like Garland, Ghirlanda in Italian.

Standing at just under 90 meters, It is an important symbol of the city of Modena and a UNESCO world heritage site. Italy has more of those than any other country in the world with almost 60.

As with bell towers in general in the middle ages, it also had a practical importance. Indeed in a period when no one had watches or clocks, it told the people what the time was, when the city gates were opening or closing and called them when danger was upon the city as well as many other functions with different numbers of chimes and sounds for each event.

It's not known exactly when it was built, but it was started around the late 1100s, and then was added to over the centuries.

On the wall facing us, you can see a tribute to the partisans, the Italian freedom fighter who fought against Fascist and Nazi oppression and further up a reminder of the heroes of the Risorgimento, the movement in the mid 1800s that lead to Italian independence and unification.

Inside you will find a copy of the famous bucket, the original having been moved to the nearby Palazzo Comunale. I'll bet you're starting to wonder what all that's about.

When you are ready, with the statue of Tassoni to your right, the Via Emilia we crossed behind you, head over to the pointed archway you see over to the right ahead, where the Ghirlandina tower connects to the church. We're going to go under there. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Parco Novi Sad
Galleria Estense
Piazza della Pomposa
Santa Maria della Pomposa
Piazza San Domenico
Palazzo Ducale di Modena
Church of San Giorgio
Synagogue of Modena
Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini
Piazza della Torre
Monumento a Alessandro Tassoni
Torre Civica - Ghirlandina
Duomo di Modena
Piazza Grande
Pietra Ringadora
Palazzo Comunale
Mercato Storico Albinelli

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
MW2F+F7, 41121 Modena, Province of Modena, Italy
Total distance

2km
Final location
Via Luigi Albinelli, 13, 41121 Modena MO, Italy
Distance back to start location

620.86m

Directions to Starting Point

Start: Parco Novi Sad, 41121 Modena, Province of Modena

The Novi park is above a very convenient, underground parking area, very close to the historical centre of the city.

It is about 10 minutes on foot from the Modena train station.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Novi Ark Archeological centre

Estense Gallery

Santa Maria della Pomposa

Palazzo Ducale

Museo della figurina - Panini sticker museum

Chiesa di San Giorgio

Synagogue of Modena
Phone: + 39 059 223978 Email: [email protected]

Ghirlandina Tower

Duomo di Modena

Palazzo Comunale

Acetaia - Vinegar museum

Mercato Albinelli

Best time of day

You can visit Modena all year round, but from June to August, avoid the hot central hours of the day if you can. The city can be quite cold and humid during the winter months. Spring and autumn are the best times to visit.

Early evenings are the best time to finish up the tour with an Aperitivo in one of the bars, but the Albi market is open from the early morning to early afternoon.

Precautions

Make sure you protect yourself from the hot Italian summer sun.

Beware of traffic and particularly bicycles in the pedestrian areas.

Some sections of the tour go through cobbled roads, which could cause some difficulty for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

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App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”