Castelfranco Emilia ( Western Bolognese: ; Modenese: ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) 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. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

, north-central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The town lies about northwest of

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. Castelfranco either occupies or lies near the site of the ancient Forum Gallorum, a place on the

via Aemilia The Via Aemilia (, ) was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from ''Ariminum'' (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to ''Placentia'' (Piacenza) on the River ''Padus'' ( Po). It was completed in 187 BC. The Via Aemilia connected a ...

between

and

. Near the town, on 14 April 43 BC,

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

and Hirtius defeated

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

in a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

during the

War of Mutina The War of Mutina (December 44 – April 43 BC; also called the Mutina war) was a civil war between the Roman Senate and Mark Antony in Northern Italy. It was the first civil war after the assassination of Julius Caesar. The main issue of t ...

. The village never gained prominence in ancient times. While it was included in the ''

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

'', it was omitted from all other Roman road itineraries. A fortress was built just outside the town in 1628–34 by Pope

Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

as a northern defensive bastion for the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

. By the late 19th century, the fortress had been converted to a prison. In 1861 it was joined with the former comune of Piumazzo. This town is home of the

tortellini Tortellini is a type of stuffed pasta typical of the Italian cities of Bologna and Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region. Traditionally it is stuffed with a mix of meat (pork loin, prosciutto, mortadella), Parmesan cheese, egg, and nutmeg and ...

, a typical Italian food. In this region lambrusco wine is also produced. The church of ''Santa Maria Assunta ''houses '' Assumption of the Virgin'' by

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but al ...

People

* Alfonsina Strada, the only woman ever to compete in the male

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

(1924) *

Valerio Massimo Manfredi Valerio Massimo Manfredi (born 8 March 1943) is an Italian historian, writer, essayist, archaeologist and journalist. Biography He was born in Piumazzo di Castelfranco Emilia province of Modena and, after getting a degree in Classical Arts at ...

, historian, archaeologist and journalist (1943) * Cécile Kyenge, Italian-Congolese politician and current

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(1983)

Twin towns

* Marktredwitz, Germany, since 1997

Sources

Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna War of Mutina {{EmiliaRomagna-geo-stub