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Home > Travel Italy > Italy Destinations > Modena
Modena
Italy, officially the Italian Republic or Repubblica Italiana, is a Southern European country comprising of the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it lo Stivale, the boot or, due to its prevalent peninsular geographical nature, la Penisola, the Peninsula.
Modena is one of Italy’s most popular destinations, and is well known for the quantity of cultural related attractions and monuments that the city has embraced. It is a city and a province on the south side of the Po valley, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Modena lies on the Pianura Padana, and is bounded by the two rivers Secchia and Panaro, both of which are the affluents of the Po River. Their presence is symbolized by the two rivers fountain in the city's center, by Giuseppe Graziosi. The city is connected to the Panaro by the Naviglio channel.
The territory around Modena was inhabited by the Villanovans in the Iron Age, and later by Ligurian tribes, Etruscans, and the Gaulish Boii. Although the exact date of its foundation is unknown, it is known that it was already in existence in the 3rd century BC, for in 218 BC, during Hannibal's invasion of Italy. Its exiles founded a new city a few miles to the northwest, still represented by the village of Cittanova. About the end of the 9th century, Modena was restored and refortified by its bishop, Ludovicus.
Presently, Modena is the seat of an archbishop, but is now mostly depicted as the capital of engines, since the factories of most famous Italian car makers like De Tomaso, Ferrari, Pagani and Maserati are located there. The University of Modena, founded in 1683 by Francis II d'Este, has traditional strengths in medicine and law. The city is also well known in culinary circles for its production of balsamic vinegar.
Today, the industrial development in Modena has been a determining factor for its economic growth and population and although the industry is losing force in the last decades, the might of the sector services continues attracting new inhabitants in the city.
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