Modena is an ancient city located in northern Italy, in the center of the Emilia-Romagna Region. It stands around 30 km west of Bologna, the main city of the Region.
Modena developed along the Via Emilia, an important Roman road (more than 300 km long) that cross all of the Emilia-Romagna Region from west to east crossing the cities of Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, Forlì, Cesena and Rimini.
This is a well-known area mainly for its food and industries (Ferrari for example).
But the city has many things to see, especially if you like walking.
Walking along the Via Emilia from the east, before entering the old town you find yourself in a kind of large square: Largo Garibaldi (literary largo means wide, as the main road, Via Emilia is larger than a normal road but it looks rather like a large and long square or a boulevard with flower beds in the center ...
... and the best-known fountain of Modena: the Graziosi Fountain or The Fountain of the two rivers.
Giuseppe Graziosi was the artist who conceived the fountain which represents the two rivers of Modena: the Secchia (that passes west of the city) and the Panaro (that passes east of the city). The female statue on the right (that looks westward) represents the Secchia river, while the male statue on the left (that looks eastward) represents the Panaro river.
By entering the old town walking along the Via Emilia you are surrounded by ancient buildings either on the right or on the left. The white pinnacle that can be glimpsed in the distance, above the roofs, is the top of the bell tower of the cathedral: the Ghirlandina. It represents a point of reference for knowing where you are in relation to the city center.
You can meet particularly suggestive alleys if you are careful.
Many buildings have arcades very useful when it rains but also refreshing during hot summer days.
Corso Canal Grande is probably the longest boulevard of the old town, this is the stretch southward from the Via Emilia ...
... and this is the northward ones
End of the first part.
Stay tuned.
All images were taken by me with the smartphone camera. Some of them were slightly modified to mask some people's faces.
