One day in Carpi in the Modena area, what to see

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by letygoeson29, Mar, 2021Emilia-Romagna, Italy

If you’re looking for the perfect destination for a day trip in Emilia-Romagna, Carpi is the ideal choice. Located in the Modena area, this charming town captivates with its history, Renaissance art, and the beauty of its buildings and squares.

Visiting Carpi in one day will immerse you in a rich and diverse culture, allowing you to discover fascinating places that tell centuries of history, including some of the darkest years of recent history. In this article, I will guide you through the must-see attractions in Carpi in a day.

With Anita , who was my photographer and guide, we thoroughly explored its streets, squares, and palaces, not overlooking those sadder places that, however, make this fascinating corner of Emilia-Romagna so unique.

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What to see in Carpi in one day

Piazza dei Martiri

Carpi is a lively town in the province of Modena, known primarily for its industrial and craft activities. Its historic center is built around Piazza dei Martiri, one of the largest in Italy, covering 16,000 square meters. It embodies the Renaissance ideal of a square and is surrounded by important monuments: Palazzo dei Pio, the Cathedral, the Theatre, and the Town Hall.

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Monuments to visit in Carpi

On the west side, the Renaissance Portico Lungo connects a series of low buildings with 52 arches, culminating in a large arch, known as the “voltone,” decorated in terracotta. Facing it is the impressive Pio Castle, built between the 14th and 16th centuries by the noble family that ruled the city.
To the south, the Portico del Grano and the 18th-century Palazzo Scacchetti, now the Town Hall, define the entrance to the ancient main road.

The Pio Castle

The central body of the Pio Castle overlooks the square with a majestic Renaissance facade adorned with niches and windows featuring colorful frescoes of Roman emperors. The castle combines towers and bastions with monumental Renaissance architecture and now hosts Carpi’s museums: the Museum of the Palace, the Museum of the City, and the Museum Monument to the Deportee.

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Campo di Fossoli

About six kilometers from Carpi, Fossoli is a historical site connected to the tragic events of World War II. The camp, built in 1942, became a holding place for Jews and political prisoners. Primo Levi, traveling to Auschwitz in the second convoy, recalls his experience at Fossoli in his book If This Is a Man and the poem Sunset at Fossoli. Over 5,000 political and racial prisoners passed through Fossoli, sent to concentration camps like Auschwitz, Mauthausen, Dachau, and others.
Between 1945 and 1947, it became a refugee camp.

Everyone discovers, sooner or later in life, that perfect happiness is unattainable, but few dwell on the opposite consideration: that perfect unhappiness is also such. The moments that oppose the realization of both of these two limit states are of the same nature: they result from our human condition, which is the enemy of every infinity.

Primo Levi

Writer 1919-1987

Museum Monument to the Deportee

Located on the ground floor of Palazzo Pio, the Museum Monument to the Deportee commemorates the victims of the Holocaust. The emotionally powerful spaces feature works by artists like Longoni, Picasso, Guttuso, and inscriptions from letters of condemned European resistance fighters. The exhibition includes objects from concentration camp detainees and culminates in the Hall of Names, with over 13,000 names of Italians who died in camps. The courtyard displays 16 stele with names of extermination sites. The museum preserves the memory of two tragic historical events: the Holocaust and the persecution of the Istrian and Dalmatian refugees.