The Ducal Palace of Sassuolo stands on piazzale della Rosa and is part of the Gallerie Estensi of Modena. It grew out of a castle, the Rocca, built in 1458 by Borso d'Este; in 1499 the Este granted the fief to the Pio di Savoia, but a hundred years later Duke Cesare d'Este confiscated it. It was his grandson, Duke Francesco I, who wanted a great palace for the court's summer stays in place of the old fortress: work began in 1634, to a design by Bartolomeo Avanzini, the architect of the Ducal Palace in Modena.
What to see
The palace is an irregular quadrilateral around a courtyard. The main front faces the square, with a three-arched portico, pediments and a clock: under the portico are the statues of Galatea and Neptune by Antonio Raggi, and at the far end of the courtyard a fountain with Neptune in a large niche, to a design by Bernini. A double-flight staircase leads to the first floor, where the Gallery of Bacchus opens, with the stories of the god painted by the Frenchman Jean Boulanger within the painted architecture of Monti and Bianchi; from there you pass to the apartments of the duke and duchess, frescoed with myths and allegories of the Virtues. In the Hall of Fame, known as the hall of the horses, is Lodovico Lana's portrait of Francesco I on horseback, with Modena in the background.
From the palace a staircase of several flights leads down to the ducal park, which once reached as far as the hills and is now the town's public park. Built against a corner of the palace is the Peschiera, or «Theatre of Fountains», which locals call the Fontanazzo: a large Baroque basin by Avanzini and Gaspare Vigarani.
Visiting
In 2025 the south front was restored and returned to its eighteenth-century colours. Opening times and tickets should be checked on the Gallerie Estensi website.
Our editors' tip
The nineteenth century brought hard times for the palace: sold in the Napoleonic period, at the end of the century it was even used by a cured-meat factory, while the park became a farm, before being acquired by the State.
