Palazzo da Mosto is an imposing fifteenth-century palace overlooking Via Mari and Via Dante.

Historical Notes

Palazzo da Mosto was built between 1488 and 1495 by order of Francesco da Mosto, ducal farmer, responsible for tax collection for the Este family. The palace stood in a secluded part of the city, away from the commercial streets, in the San Pietro district. This area of ​​the city had been designated, since the 13th century, as a convent for the Mendicant religious orders. The palace was not far from the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, built in 1374, and the Carmelite convents of Corpus Domini and San Marco.

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After some transformations in the seventeenth century and the purchase by the governor Giovan Battista de Mari in 1750, in the second half of the nineteenth century, the complex was used as a nursery school, at the behest of Pietro Manodori, president of the Monte di Pietà.

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The Architecture

Today, Palazzo da Mosto overlooks Via Mari and Via Dante, joining a series of houses on the southern side and the 20th-century building known as “delle Ancelle” to the north. The façade and side feature a sequence of rectangular windows on two floors, with terracotta frames still visible on the north side. The building is crowned by a cornice with a terracotta frieze featuring a vine scroll, originally painted, shields with male heads, and the da Mosto family coat of arms.

The entrance to the building is provided by an arched door, with smooth jambs, strip cornices and capitals decorated with dentils, ovals and half daisies.

The Interior

The Four Ground Floor Rooms

In the four connecting rooms on the ground floor, you can admire a long decorative cycle with mythological themes. In the first room, you can recognize Vulcan in his workshop, Venus with Cupid, Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit, with a sickle in her hand, Pan with his bagpipe, Silvanus, god of the forests and the countryside, and Vertumnus, who presides over the ripening of fruit.

In the second room, the frieze continues with representations of Apollo on the sun chariot, perhaps heading towards Python, the dragon-serpent who protected the oracle of Delphi, and a she-bear surrounded by stars, recalling the myth of Callisto and the Great Bear. Then, Jupiter, Mercury in flight, and the long narrative of the myth of Proserpina.

In the third room, the frieze depicts knights, a battle between Christians and Ottomans, warships, a military camp, ox-drawn carts, sheep, and, finally, a crouching woman cooking with a rotisserie.

There are no surviving documents regarding the decorative cycle on the ground floor of Palazzo da Mosto. Critics believe it dates back to the 16th century, suggesting the artist was Giovanni Giarola.

The main floor

The large reception hall and the rooms flanking the north side retain precious coffered ceilings, with heraldic coats of arms and decorations from the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. In one of the northern rooms, the coffered ceiling bears the date 1495.

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At the end of the 17th century, the palace underwent a series of renovations, including the elimination of the 15th-century loggia, replaced by the monumental hall overlooking the courtyard, and the introduction of late Baroque-style painted decorations.

The monumental staircase, also in Baroque style, dates back to the 18th century.

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Today Palazzo da Mosto is a cultural and exhibition space available to the city.

Palazzo Magnani stands on one of the most majestic streets in the heart of the city, Corso Garibaldi.

Historical Notes

The first records of Palazzo Magnani date back to 1608, when documents attest to its ownership by the Becchi family.

In the corner of the palace, between Corso Garibaldi and Via Vicedomini, is an admirable two-faced Janus, dated 1576 and attributed to Prospero Sogari, an artist from Reggio Emilia known as Clemente.

Architecture

The façade of Palazzo Magnani features an elegant neoclassical design, with a sequence of ashlars, two rows of windows, and an imposing cornice with a frieze. Above the large door, you can admire the stone balcony with carved figures and bas-reliefs.

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The complex extends over approximately 3,000 square meters, including the main building, the noble palace, and the stables. The building to the north of the palace features two courtyards.

 

Inside the noble palace, the grand staircase, with stone steps and late-19th-century decoration, leads to a large gallery supported by stucco-decorated corbels. The decorative features on the main floor are exquisite. The entrance loggia features floral motifs with cherubs, and two views are depicted above the doors. One depicts the castle of Castelnovo Sotto, the Chioffi family’s hometown.

Among the various rooms, the dining room, the Sala à manger, is certainly worth admiring, with its frescoed ceiling depicting the god Bacchus amidst a display of game, cabbages, and pumpkins.

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Palazzo Magnani, home of the Palazzo Magnani Foundation, is today a vibrant cultural center and venue for major exhibitions. The Foundation promotes and disseminates the visual arts, organizes cultural events and initiatives, and enhances the local area.

Palazzo Magnani Foundation Reggio Emilia website: https://palazzomagnani.it

 

Palazzo Fontanelli Sacrati is located at Via Emilia San Pietro, 27, in Reggio Emilia.

Historical Notes

The origins of Palazzo Fontanelli Sacrati date back to the late 15th century, a period of great urban transformation for Reggio Emilia. In 1492, the brothers Giovanni, Andrea, and Jacopo Fontanelli, members of one of the city’s most prominent families, decided to unify and reorganize the properties they owned along Via Emilia San Pietro, incorporating pre-existing buildings purchased in 1451 by the Da Correggio family. This operation reflected the taste and custom of the time, when noble families sought to give monumental form to their prestige through the creation of coherent and spectacular residences, capable of affirming their dynastic and social identity.

Architecture

The current façade is the result of 20th-century renovations; in the internal courtyard, Renaissance columns are re-adjacent to the left side and a crenellated wall painted with the coats of arms of Reggio Emilia families associated with the Fontanelli family.

Interior

The complex originally developed around three courtyards and incorporated the current Casa Borzagni-Cremonesi, recognizable by its 16th-century Ionic capitals.

The Ducal Palace, now Palazzo Salvador Allende, is located at Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi, 55-59, in Reggio Emilia.

Historical Notes

The Palazzo Ducale overlooks the heart of Reggio Emilia’s historic center, along the elegant Corso Garibaldi. The building stands opposite the monumental Basilica of the Blessed Virgin of Ghiara, in an area once characterized by the Convent of San Pietro Martire and a cluster of medieval buildings.

Architecture

The building features a sober and imposing neoclassical facade that extends along Corso Garibaldi. The large volume was conceived as a palace of representation and government: three internal courtyards, a complex series of rooms spanning multiple floors, and a layout that emphasizes solemnity but also clarity of architectural axes

Interior

After crossing the entrance and past the courtyards, the interior of the Palace features state rooms with impressive painted and tempera decorations. Of particular note are the decorations by Vincenzo Carnevali and Prospero Minghetti, who worked on some rooms on the main floor. 

Palazzo Busetti is located in the heart of Reggio Emilia, in Via Emilia, 1a.

Historical Notes

Located in the heart of the historic center, overlooking Piazza del Monte, the palace was born from the ambition of a wealthy 17th-century family, the Busetti counts. Construction began at the behest of Ferdinando Busetti in 1657 and was completed in 1674. Upon the death of his heirs in 1699, the estate passed to a charitable foundation. In the same year, the Episcopal Seminary was built, followed by the Jesuit college, along with a small theater, a church, and a large porticoed courtyard

The Architecture

The design is attributed to Bartolomeo Avanzini, an artist also active on the Palazzo Ducale in Modena, with Gian Lorenzo Bernini initially involved in the conceptual design phase. The architectural language of Palazzo Busetti is intended to be that of a Roman-style residence: a late-Renaissance/Baroque facade out of scale with the surrounding fabric, a rich decorative repertoire of shells, garlands, masks, and volutes, framing the openings and creating a play of contrasts between smooth and curved surfaces and between light and shadow.

The Interior

The interior reflects the monumentality of the building exterior. The ground floor retains high vaults with stucco decorations and medallions framing paintings by Francesco Viacavi, a student of Luca Ferrari, known as ‘da Reggio’.

Palazzo Ancini Palazzo Ancini is located in the heart of Reggio Emilia, in via Farini 1. 

Historical notes

Palazzo Ancini is located in the heart of Reggio Emilia, on Via Farini, and is one of the most elegant noble residences in the historic center. Its origins date back to the 16th century, when the building belonged to the Ruggieri family. Over the following centuries, it changed hands several times: to the Pegoletti family in 1659, to the Sormani Counts in 1766, and finally to the Ancini Counts in 1821, from whom it took its current name. Upon the death of Count Giovanni Ancini in 1887, the palace was donated to the Congregazione di Carità, marking the transition from private use to a public function that continues to define its history today.

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Between 1924 and 1930, the building underwent a major restoration and aesthetic redesign by professor and architect Luigi Bertolini. At a time when eclectic historical tastes intertwined with the civic needs of the modern city, Bertolini reinterpreted the façade in a Mannerist and Baroque style, giving the building the solemn and decorative appearance that still distinguishes it today. The building thus became a symbol of continuity between the aristocratic memory of Reggio Emilia and the new bourgeois and institutional identity of the twentieth century.

 

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Architecture

The main façade, overlooking Via Farini, expresses the restraint and elegance of a Renaissance composition enriched by twentieth-century additions. 

Interiors

The main staircase leads to the piano nobile, where the palace’s most representative aspect unfolds. The eighteenth-century staircase retains later pictorial decorations: in 1920, the Reggio Emilia artist Anselmo Govi ​​painted a large frescoed ceiling dedicated to Charity, in homage to the building’s new purpose as the headquarters of the charitable Congregation.

Ex Caserma Zucchi, today Palazzo Dossetti, is located at Viale Antonio Allegri 9, in Reggio Emilia.

Historical Notes

The Ex Caserma Zucchi, now Palazzo Dossetti, was built in the heart of the 19th century, during a period of great urban transformation in Reggio Emilia. It was designed by architect Pietro Marchelli (1806-1874), a leading figure in Reggio Emilia’s architectural culture, who also designed works such as the Teatro Ariosto and the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo.

Entrance to the ex Caserma Zucchi, now Palazzo Zucchetti, from Viale Allegri

Beginning in the 1980s, after its military function was abandoned, the building was gradually repurposed for cultural and educational purposes, becoming one of the centers of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE). On February 9, 2013, the Reggio Emilia university building was named after Constituent Assembly member and jurist Giuseppe Dossetti.

This transition is part of a broader urban regeneration process that has affected several Italian historic complexes, transformed from military spaces into places of education and active citizenship.

The Architecture

Pietro Marchelli’s design fully reflects the neoclassical style, which found fertile ground in Reggio Emilia during the 19th century.

The architecture, defined by an imposing and solemn façade overlooking Viale Allegri, is part of the trend of 19th-century public buildings that combined functionality and representation. The restoration work carried out in the 2000s, during its conversion into a university campus, respected the original neoclassical design, enhancing its monumentality while ensuring the usability of the interior spaces for classrooms and academic offices.

The interior

The interior of the Caserma Zucchi still retains the monumentality of the original layout, despite being profoundly transformed by its various functions over time. During the university conversion, the large spaces once used as warehouses, stables, and dormitories were reinterpreted for educational purposes, with the creation of classrooms, libraries, and common areas.

 Luciano Fabro’s Araba Fenice 

The Araba Fenice (Phoenix) is located in the portico of the Ex Caserma Zucchi. 

Created in 2005 by Luciano Fabro, a master of contemporary art, the work consists of a column of Iranian travertine-gold marble, approximately seven meters high, composed of three stacked drums.

The Synagogue is located at Via dell’Aquila, number 3, in Reggio Emilia.

Historical Notes

The Synagogue of Reggio Emilia is one of the symbolic places of Jewish memory in the city.

It stands in the heart of the ancient Jewish ghetto, established in the second half of the 17th century and bordered by Via Caggiati, Via della Volta, Via dell’Aquila, and Monzermone, in accordance with the segregation policies that affected most Italian cities. A first temple existed in this area as early as 1672, built by the local Jewish community to provide a place of worship within the ghetto, as mandated by the ducal authorities.

The current synagogue was built between 1857 and 1858 based on a design by architect Pietro Marchelli (1806–1874), a key figure in Reggio Emilia’s neoclassicism.

After the war, the synagogue increasingly assumed the value of a place of memory, as well as of worship, becoming a point of reference for the city during moments of commemoration and reflection on the Holocaust. Today, the building no longer hosts regular religious services, but is open for events, celebrations, and guided tours, especially on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The Architecture

The synagogue features a sober and balanced neoclassical façade, a testament to Pietro Marchelli, who skillfully adapted the monumental language of classicism to simple, functional forms for a place of community worship.

The façade is punctuated by columns and pilasters, culminating in a triangular tympanum, following a pattern typical of 19th-century religious architecture, but reinterpreted with restrained elegance and without excessive decoration.

The rectangular interior is enriched by the presence of lateral women’s galleries, once intended for women according to Jewish tradition, which contribute to the sense of verticality and solemnity of the space.

The central axis leads to the Aron ha-Kodesh, the sacred shrine containing the Torah scrolls, located on the eastern wall and highlighted by a 19th-century decorative scheme combining stucco and pictorial motifs. The interior decorations reflect the eclectic taste of the 19th century, with ornamental inserts that, though simple, contribute to a serene and solemn atmosphere.

The prayer hall also preserves some original liturgical furnishings, testifying to the vitality of the Reggio Emilia Jewish community until the mid-20th century. The choice of a sober yet solemn neoclassical style is part of a period in which many Italian Jewish communities, emancipated or in the process of emancipation, sought to build synagogues that reflected dignity, social recognition, and urban roots.

Today, the Reggio Emilia synagogue is not only an architectural monument, but above all a place of civic memory. Its presence in the heart of the former ghetto brings to life the history of the Jewish community, from the period of segregation to Nazi-Fascist persecution, up until the return to democratic life.

In recent decades, the building has been used as a cultural center for exhibitions, conferences, concerts, and educational activities, becoming an integral part of the city’s fabric and a tool for interreligious and intercultural dialogue.

Palazzo Franchetti overlooks Via Emilia S. Stefano, at number 33, with a secondary entrance on Via Raimondo Franchetti.

Historical notes

Palazzo Franchetti is an elegant noble residence along Via Emilia, in a refined urban setting, it today houses the “A. Manzoni” Middle School. The building reflects the late 19th-century taste, with a sober yet dignified façade.

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The palace was purchased in 1885 by Baron Raimondo Franchetti, a member of one of the most influential families of the 19th-century Italian Jewish bourgeoisie. After his death, the building passed to his nephews Raimondo and Guido, sons of Alberto Franchetti. In 1921, the palace was sold to the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, which divided up the surrounding park and converted the building into a school, now home to the “A. Manzoni” Lower Secondary School.

 

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The Architecture

The palace, spread over four floors and composed of fifty-nine rooms, is an example of late Baroque architecture with neoclassical influences. During the renovation, approximately 200 workers were employed, many of whom were artisans from Venice, who contributed to the creation of valuable interior decorations.

The Palace interior

Inside, the palace retains original decorative elements, including frescoes, gilded stucco, carved wood paneling, and marble floors. The monumental staircase, with a wrought-iron balustrade, connects the main floors and is one of the most significant architectural elements of the building.

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Guido Tirelli created the Grand Hall in an eclectic style, with stucco, molding, and paintings in Art Nouveau style by the artist Giuseppe Tirelli.

 

In 1925, the new owner, Eugenio Terrachini, called Guido Tirelli back to complete the project that had been interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War.

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The collection

Baron Raimondo Franchetti Jr. (1889–1935), a well-known explorer and collector, enriched the palace with numerous objects collected during his travels in Africa and Asia. 

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Among the collections were hunting trophies, ethnographic objects, weapons, clothing and musical instruments from regions such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Java, Borneo, Celebes and New Guinea. In 1911, returning from an adventurous journey, he donated a significant part of these finds to the Chierici Museum in Reggio Emilia. Many of these objects are currently preserved at the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia, particularly in the ethnography and zoology sections.

 

Many of these objects are currently preserved at the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia, particularly in the ethnography and zoology sections.

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The Ariosto Theatre is located in Piazza Vittoria, in the city centre.

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The city’s second-largest theatre after the Valli Municipal Theatre, the Ariosto Theatre is situated in Piazza Vittoria and stages drama and dance performances. It was built in1878 on the ashes of the Cittadella Theatre, which burned down during a fire on the night of 21 to 22 April 1851. All that remains today of the theatre designed by Antonio Cugini in 1740-41 are the octagonal vestibule with Ionic pilasters, the austere entrance hall with four Doric columns and the portico on the south side.
The reconstruction project was commissioned to the architect Achille Grimaldi and financed by Ulderico Levi, a wealthy member of an important Jewish family in the city.

The Church of San Pietro is a Catholic place of worship situated in Via Emilia San Pietro, in the old town centre of Reggio Emilia.

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The Benedictine monks built the new monastery and started constructing the small cloister in 1524 and the large cloister in 1542. As the large cloister was being completed in 1586, the old church had to be torn down because it was inconsistent with the new building plan. Construction work on the new church started in 1586 and was completed in the 1630s.

The Church of San Pietro is a Catholic place of worship situated in Via Emilia San Pietro, in the old town centre of Reggio Emilia.

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The Benedictine monks built the new monastery and started constructing the small cloister in 1524 and the large cloister in 1542. As the large cloister was being completed in 1586, the old church had to be torn down because it was inconsistent with the new building plan. Construction work on the new church started in 1586 and was completed in the 1630s.

The Church of Santi Girolamo e Vitale Martiri is an artistic heritage monument and place of worship situated in the city centre of Reggio Emilia.

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In November 1443, the Observant Franciscan Brotherhood, founded by Friar Bartholomew of Parma, acquired the chapel and the Orto di San Vitale garden. Two years later, the Bishop of Reggio consecrated the church and the new altar with the name of Saint Jerome and Martyr Saint Vitalis.

Palazzo Spalletti Trivelli is located in Via Emilia San Pietro, on the corner of Via San Nicolò.

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This elegant palace was built in the late 15th century on a site where a tavern called Osteria del Cavalletto is known to have stood since 1415. In 1685, the palace belonged to Count Paolo Bossi, who then sold the property to the brothers Fabrizio and Orazio Guicciardi, two silk entrepreneurs who needed to boost the family’s prestige in order to obtain a noble title. The façade, divided into three levels, was designed by the architect Giovanni Maria Ferraroni (1662-1755) and was built in the mid-18th century. A series of major works to adapt the palace to the Neoclassical style started in 1830, the year when the building was acquired by Count Gianbattista Spalletti Trivelli. The renovation works were carried out by the engineer Pietro Marchelli (1806-1874) and the painter Prospero Minghetti (1786-1853), both of whom taught at the School of Fine Arts of Reggio Emilia.
Palazzo Spalletti Trivelli became public property in the late 17th century, and after 1940 became the headquarters of Credem bank. The Palace houses important collections of masterpieces of Emilian art from the 16th to the 18th century, as well as oriental and contemporary art, alongside archaeological finds exhibited in the basement where we can see the archaeological remains of the forum of the ancient Roman city of Regium Lepidi.

The Church of San Giorgio is a religious building situated in Via Farini, in Reggio Emilia’s old town centre.

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The Church of San Giorgio was mentioned in the records as early as 1146, but its current appearance is the result of interventions carried out in the 17th century following the establishment of the Jesuits in Reggio Emilia.
The bell tower designed by Andrea Antonio Pozzo da Trento was annexed to the main church building between 1675 and 1678. Then, between 1701 and 1720, Palazzo San Giorgio was built opposite the church to a design by the architect Giuseppe Torri. The building housed the college, the schools and the living quarters of the members of the Jesuit community, who were active until the suppression of the order in 1773.
In 1859, the palace became a state school and library. Today it houses the city’s most important library, the “Antonio Panizzi” Municipal Library.

The Baptistery of San Giovanni is located in Piazza Prampolini, next to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, and is annexed to the Bishop’s Palace.

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The Baptistery of San Giovanni is one of the city’s most important historic buildings. It dates to 1040-49 but has undergone many interventions over the years. Most notably, in the 15th century, the Bishop of Reggio Emilia Bonfrancesco Arlotti had its façade adapted in the Renaissance manner and the Bishop’s Palace extended to incorporate the baptistery, previously a freestanding building, in the main architectural complex.

The Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, commonly known as San Giovannino, is situated in Piazzetta San Giovanni in the old town centre of Reggio Emilia.

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The church was first mentioned in the 12th century. The present-day structure, with its austere, unfinished brick façade, dates to the 16th century and was designed by the architect Antonio Casotti. Of the original medieval structure only the perimeter remains today.

The Cavallerizza Theatre is located near Foro Boario, the present-day site of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, close to the Valli and Ariosto theatres.

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The Cavallerizza theatre owes its name to the fact that, from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, the building housed the stables for the horses of the Zucchi artillery barracks, which have now been transformed into the main building of the city’s university. In 1986, the municipality transformed the Cavallerizza into a theatre. In 2002, on the occasion of the international conference of “Architecture and Theatre” studies, the Cavallerizza theatre was dedicated to Cesare Zavattini.