Vignola ( Modenese: ; Bolognese: ) is a city and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Modena The Province of Modena ( it, Provincia di Modena) is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena. It has an area of and a total population of about 701,000 (2015). There are 48 ''comuni'' (singular: ''co ...

(

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Its economy is based on agriculture, especially fruit farming, but there are also mechanical industries and service companies. The city is mostly known as the birthplace of the Renaissance architect Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola.

History

Vignola, whose name derives from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''vineola'' ("small vine") is located near an ancient Etruscan road connecting

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second m ...

. However it is mentioned in the Middle Ages as having been founded in 826 as, according to the legend, a castle to protect the lands of the nearby

Abbey of Nonantola Nonantola Abbey, dedicated to Saint Sylvester, is a former a Benedictine monastery and '' prelature nullius'' in the commune of Nonantola, c. 10 km north-east of Modena, in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The abbey church remains as a bas ...

. Vignola was a possession of those bishops until 1247; during the wars between

Guelphs and Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, r ...

its territory was contented between the communes of

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and seat o ...

and Bologna, until the Grassoni family installed their seigniory in Vignola. This lasted until 1399, when it was acquired by the

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

; two years later it was conceded as a county to Uguccione de' Contrari from

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

. With the death of Ercole Contrari in 1557, Vignola was assigned to Giacomo Boncompagni, son of

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

. The Boncompagni rule fell with the Napoleonic Conquest of Italy, and, after the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...

of 1814, Vignola became part of the

Duchy of Modena A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between ...

Main sights

*Town Museum *The Castle (''Rocca''), built perhaps in the Carolingian era but known from 1178; it was turned into a patrician residence by the Contrari family in the Renaissance era. It houses a chapel with late-

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

frescoes (early 15th century), and a hall (''Sala del Padiglione'') with frescoes from the same age. *''Palazzo dei Contrari '' *''Palazzo Boncompagni'' (or ''Palazzo Barozzi'') *''Torre Galvani'' *'' Villa Martuzzi''

Transport

Vignola is served by

Vignola railway station Vignola ( it, Stazione di Vignola) is a railway station serving Vignola, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, ...

, terminus of the

Casalecchio–Vignola railway The Casalecchio–Vignola railway is an Italian railway connecting Casalecchio di Reno to Vignola, in Emilia-Romagna. History For decades, the Casalecchio–Vignola railway was used only as a freight line. Passenger service was reinstated on 1 ...

Notable people

Jacopo Barozzi Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola ( , , ; 1 October 15077 July 1573), often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Chur ...

(1507–1573), architect *

Giacomo Cantelli Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola (February 1643 − 30 November 1695) was an Italian cartographer and engraver of the 17th century. Early life Born in Vignola, Cantelli attended the University of Bologna. Career Cantelli was hired as secretary by ...

(1643–1695), cartographer *

Ludovico Antonio Muratori Lodovico Antonio Muratori (21 October 1672 – 23 January 1750) was an Italian historian, notable as a leading scholar of his age, and for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books. Biography Bor ...

(1672–1750), historian *

Antonio Paradisi Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

(1736–1783), poet and economist *

Patrizia Reggiani Patrizia Reggiani (; Martinelli; born 2 December 1948) is an Italian convicted criminal and former socialite. She was convicted in a highly publicized trial of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci. Early life and marriage t ...

(1948-), Ex-wife of

Maurizio Gucci Maurizio Gucci (26 September 1948 – 27 March 1995) was an Italian businessman and the one-time head of the Gucci fashion house. He was the son of actor Rodolfo Gucci, and grandson of the company's founder Guccio Gucci. On 27 March 1995, he wa ...

Twin towns

* Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, since 1982 * Witzenhausen,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, since 1982 *

Angol Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Nahuelbuta Range and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the Bío- ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

, since 1998

References

Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna Castles in Italy {{EmiliaRomagna-geo-stub