Modena

Villanovans, Etruscans and the Gaulish Boii lived around Mutina before Rome, and the Etruscan town was already standing when the Boii besieged it during Hannibal's invasion in 218 BC. Refounded as a Roman colony in 183 BC on the Via Aemilia, it became the leading city of Cisalpine Gaul; in 44–43 BC Mark Antony besieged it and Octavian relieved it, and Cicero praised Mutina splendidissima. Legend says a fog sent by Saint Geminianus, the patron saint, hid it from Attila, but floods buried the Roman town and its people moved to nearby Cittanova.

Bishop Ludovicus restored and fortified Modena around the end of the 9th century. Countess Matilda of Tuscany held it, and under her the cathedral was begun in 1099 by the master builder Lanfranco with the sculptor Wiligelmus. A free commune from the 12th century, Modena sided with the emperor against the papacy and beat Bologna at Zappolino in 1325, carrying off the bucket still kept in the town hall. The Este family ruled from 1288, permanently from 1336, and Borso d'Este made Modena a duchy.

When the pope took Ferrara in 1598, the Este made Modena their capital, building the citadel and the Ducal Palace from 1634. French invasions twice drove Duke Rinaldo away, and many of the family's pictures were sold to Dresden. After Napoleon the Austria-Este branch returned in 1814, demolished the fortifications in 1816 and ruled until Piedmontese forces annexed the duchy in 1859. Communist mayors governed from 1946 to 1992, and the earthquake of 2012 closed the Estense Gallery and Library, which reopened in 2015.

Music runs deep. Luciano Pavarotti and the soprano Mirella Freni were both born in Modena, the opera house now carries Pavarotti's name, and his home has become a museum. Francesco Guccini, born here, spent his teenage years in the city, and the Modena City Ramblers took their name from the city. The town hall keeps the Secchia Rapita, the bucket carried off from Bologna, which inspired Alessandro Tassoni's mock-heroic poem of the same name.

Cars are part of the city's identity. Enzo Ferrari was born here, his father's house is now a museum, and the Ferrari factory and racing team are at Maranello just to the south; Maserati and Pagani are based in the Modena area, and the city is known as the "Supercar Capital". The Ferrari 360 Modena carries its name. Modena Volley has won twelve national championships and four Champions League titles, and the football club, refounded in 2018, plays at the Braglia.

Food is a matter of seriousness and pride. The family acetaia, the cellar where traditional balsamic vinegar ages in barrels over many years, is a local institution, and Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana has brought the city international attention. The Panini publishing group is based in Modena, and Giuseppe Panini's collection of picture cards and stickers became a museum in 2006.

About 184,000 people live in Modena; a quarter of the city's residents are over 65, and about 18 per cent were born abroad, most often in Morocco, Albania, Moldova, the Philippines or Ghana. The university, founded in 1175 and expanded by Duke Francesco II d'Este in 1686, focuses on economics, medicine and law, and with the Military Academy in the Ducal Palace it brings students and cadets to the centre.

The province is among the most affluent in Italy, built on rich farmland and many small and medium manufacturers. The bank BPER, the Panini publishing group, food companies from cured meats to Parmigiano, the ceramic tile district around Sassuolo and the supercar makers are among the area's main employers. Elsewhere in the province, Carpi is known for textiles and Mirandola for biomedical manufacturing.

Life is lived along the Via Emilia's arcades, at the Mercato Albinelli and in the cafés of Piazza Grande. The flat plain brings thick autumn and winter fog, and humid summers that feel hotter than the thermometer says.

Modena's most famous product is balsamic vinegar. The traditional kind, aceto balsamico tradizionale, is made only in the provinces of Modena and Reggio Emilia from cooked grape must aged at least twelve years in a series of barrels, and holds protected designation of origin; the cheaper, widely exported Balsamic Vinegar of Modena has the lesser PGI protection. Cooking grape must goes back to the Romans, who used it as a sweetener and medicine.

Pork rules the rest of the table. Zampone, a stuffed pig's trotter, and its leaner cousin cotechino Modena, a spiced sausage that dates back to around 1511 in Mirandola, both hold protected status. Tortellini and tortelloni are Modena's pasta, and ciccioli are pork scraps slowly cooked, pressed and aged. Pesto modenese is cured back fat pounded with garlic, rosemary and Parmesan, spread inside crescentine, small round breads from the Apennines also called tigelle, and borlenghi.

Gnocco fritto, diamonds of dough made with flour, water and lard that puff up when fried, is eaten with salumi and cheese. Torta Barozzi, a flourless chocolate cake with coffee, almonds and peanuts, was created in Vignola in 1897, and torta nera is a dark almond and cocoa tart. Lambrusco, the sparkling red of the plain, is the local wine.