The patron saint of Scandiano is Saint Catherine of Alexandria, celebrated on 25 November: her image was once painted in a small niche on the side of the building facing Via Cesare Magati, and the fresco is now kept in the Town Hall.
The symbol of the town is the Rocca dei Boiardo, dating from the 12th century: the town's first building nucleus and for eight centuries a symbol of its political power, it was transformed into a noble residence by the Boiardo counts between 1423 and 1560 and into a Renaissance palace by the Thiene and Bentivoglio marquises and the Este princes. The poet Matteo Maria Boiardo was born in the fortress, and the scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani carried out his experiments there; it also hosted Francesco Petrarch, John Calvin and Pope Paul III.
