Before the Romans this was the land of the Boii: around 400 BC the Celtic tribes made the area between the Taro and the Reno the centre of their settlements, and when Rome conquered Cisalpine Gaul the latinisation of the Celts began — from that comes the local dialect, which belongs to the Gallo-Romance family. The castle, on the other hand, is born of a decision: in the thirteenth century it was resolved to fortify Formigine to defend the eastern side of the Modenese territory, and the excavations of recent years have shown how far that choice militarised the whole zone. In 1524 a clock was put on the main tower, and ever since it has been called the clock tower; in the seventeenth century new dungeons were made along the curtain wall.
The fief passed from the Pio to the Calcagnini, and in the seventeen hundreds the decline was broken by a road: the new way to Tuscany, opened in 1778, which today is called via Giardini and is the one you arrive by. Then came the bombing of the war, which struck the town and the castle; and in 1946 the Calcagnini heirs decided to sell it. The comune bought it and made it the town hall: when the offices moved out and the fortress was restored and reopened to the public, with a multimedia museum inside telling its history and its sieges, the council chamber stayed where it was. In summer the castle park becomes an arena for events. Around it is a well-kept centre of low arcades and squares to stroll in, and we are in the Motor Valley and the ceramic district: Maranello and its red cars are ten minutes away, Modena fifteen. Balsamic vinegar matures in family lofts here too, and the tortellini fear no comparison.
Castello di Formigine · Chiesa di San Bartolomeo Apostolo · Villa Gandini
Tagliatelle al Ragù · Aceto Balsamico di Modena
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Next up: Saint Bartholomew, patron of the town whose castle became the town hall, Tuesday 24 August
Nearest airport: Bologna Marconi, 40 km away
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📅 Every year, on 24 August
Formigine celebrates Saint Bartholomew the Apostle on 24 August, in the parish church dedicated to him; the town's castle, fortified from 1200 and once belonging to the Pio and Calcagnini families, was purchased by the municipality in 1946, after Second World War bombing, to become its seat.
Castello di Formigine The castle in the centre of Formigine, born in 1201: the rocchetta, a clock tower and a multimedia museum. Chiesa di San Bartolomeo Apostolo Formigine's parish church, rebuilt in 1727 in the old church of San Rocco: the façade dates from 1911. Villa Gandini Formigine's neoclassical villa, now the town library: a frescoed atrium and a historic garden with three small Cooked grape must and wine vinegar aged in wooden barrels: Aceto Balsamico di Modena has held Protected Geographical Indication status since 2009.
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The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Formigine, but an easy day trip away.
