Modena
— the brick the Po valley turns gold.
Not only on a wall.
“A small medieval city on the Po plain, between Bologna and Parma. The Romanesque cathedral and the leaning Ghirlandina tower hold the centre, both begun in 1099 and inscribed by UNESCO in 1997. Modena gave the world Pavarotti, balsamic vinegar aged in attic barrels, and the test tracks of Ferrari and Maserati a few kilometres outside the walls. — from the studio
Modena, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Modena sits on the alluvial plain of the Po, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, about 40 kilometres northwest of Bologna and 55 kilometres southeast of Parma. The historic centre is laid on the Roman grid of Mutina, founded as a colony in 183 BC. Today the city holds about 185,000 people and serves as the capital of the Province of Modena. The Modenese plain is one of Italy's wealthiest food regions, producing Parmigiano Reggiano, Lambrusco, prosciutto, and the traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena.
The Cathedral of Modena, the Torre della Ghirlandina, and the Piazza Grande were inscribed as a single UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The cathedral was begun in 1099 by the architect Lanfranco and decorated by the sculptor Wiligelmo, whose biblical reliefs along the façade are among the founding works of European Romanesque sculpture. The bell tower beside it, the Ghirlandina, rises 89.32 metres above the square. The whole ensemble is built from the same pale Veronese marble and warm brick that catches the late light.
The cathedral and the Piazza Grande are at the centre of the walled old town and open daily, with the cathedral generally closed to tourists during Mass. The Casa Museo Pavarotti, in the tenor's former villa just outside Modena, opens Tuesday to Sunday. The Ferrari museums are split between Modena city (Museo Enzo Ferrari) and the factory town of Maranello, 18 kilometres south. Spring and autumn carry the most comfortable weather; July and August are hot on the plain.