A city of stunning beauty, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List: this is Modena. Piazza Grande is a triumph of Romanesque Art, with its Cathedral and 87-metre high Ghirlandina Bell Tower, the traditional symbol of the city. You can look for traces of the House of Este by visiting the Ducal Palace, now home to the Military Academy of Modena, the Estense Galleries, the Museum Palace, the AGO project sites and the Ducal Palace of Sassuolo, the centre of the Italian tile industry. Take some time to visit the castles and hamlets of the area, such as Vignola, Carpi, Formigine, Spezzano, Castelvetro, Levizzano, and Maranello. Then explore the Romanesque pievi, century-old abbeys like Nonantola (virtual tour), the pristine nature of the Sassi di Roccamalatina and Mount Cimone, the Salvarola thermal baths and the Salse di Nirano Natural Reserve. Modena is also the city of Bel Canto, with Luciano Pavarotti’s House Museum, and of world-famous celebrity chef Massimo Bottura, the ambassador of Modena’s cuisine (video) in the world. As a matter of fact, the city is renowned for its many PDO and PGI products, such as the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, which you can learn all about at the Spilamberto Museum. In Castelnuovo Rangone (Modena) there is the MuSa, Museo della Salumeria Villani, an exhibition area that pays tribute to the history, crafts, traditions of the art of salami and gastronomic excellences of the territory. In Formigine, the city of many Formula 1 mechanics, you can admire the “behind the scenes” protagonists of a stable, in the exhibition : “Paolino and his friends : The Formiginesi of Formula 1”.