Piazza Roma

Castelvetro presents a pictoresque appearance with its beautiful skyline of towers and steeples. Piazza Roma is certainly the heart of the village, from here it is possible to see all the most important monuments of Castelvetro: the Town Hall palace, Rinaldi Palace, the Clock Tower and the Prison Tower. The square, as it is today, was built between 1934 and 1935, when all the buildings located in the northern area of the Castle (with the exception of towers)were destroyed, in order to create an open space overlooking the valley. During the Fifties the paving of the piazza took place creating, through the use of black and white stones, the idea of a chessboard. For this reason Piazza Roma is also known as “Piazza della Dama”.

The Clock Tower

The tower is the symbol of the village, it dominates the Piazza Roma representing what remains of the ancient fortified structure on the east side of the Castle. The square tower, probably built between the XI and the XII century, has an expanded base in order to enlarge the thickness of the walls; this provides a great stability. During the time of Italian City-States (XII-XIII century), at the top of the tower had been placed a bell with the function to call the people in the square. On all side there is a clock, which gives the tower its name; moreover, on the southern wall there is a meridian there is a sundial that marks the time.

The Town Hall Palace

Formerly known as the Palazzo del Secondogenito (Palace of the second son), it was inhabited until the age of Napoleon by members of Rangoni family. Duke Francesco IV of Modena gave it the function of summer residence of the Jesuit college-boarding school of SantaChiara, for this reason he made important changes to accomodate it. The presence of Rangoni family ended with the advent to power of Bonaparte and the establishment of the Cisalpine Republic. Fiefs were abolished and Castelvetro became a municipality, dependent on the Central Administration of Modena. A first restoration of the palace, to make it suitable to town hall functions, was followed in1937 by another arrangement of the façade in order to harmonize the building with thearchitectural lines of the square.

Rinaldi Palace

The gothic- medieval style of this building’s façade, after the repairing of Piazza Roma in (1935-37), is in armony with the Town Hall palace and the slope is characterised by elegant Ghibelline crenellations. Inside the palace is still visibile the apse of the ancient parish Church dedicated to Saints Senesio and Theopompus. Some excavations digged up finds of Etruscan age and a lot of skeletons, vestiges of the ancient cemetery once situated near the church.

The Prison Tower

Built in the second half of the sixteenth century using a similar material similar to that used for façade of the Rangoni Palace, the tower is more than twenty feet tall, had its basis is similar to Clock Tower's. In origin, it was used as a prison (there is still some evidence   inside), and later (after 1815) was renovated and converted to different uses. The restoration required in 1998 brought the tower to its original splendor. Entering the historic centre from the south side of Castelvetro, this monument appears surprising and impressive; that is currently the only access  for those who use any means of transport so the centrality assumed by the Tower is emphasized.

Rangoni Palace

The Palace was built with the Castle, but only when Castelvetro became the capital of Rangoni family's fief (XV century) it was expanded and acquired strong residential and representative character. Already in 1564, when it hosted the poet Torquato Tasso (a young student on the run from Bologna) the palace  took over the structure and the features that still distinguish it: the imposing entrance, the large and decorated reception room, the courtyard, the balcony which offers interaction between two wings of the palace, the honour grand staircase. During the Renaissance it was enriched by decorations attributed to the painter Scaccieri and that can be still admired on the ceilings of some rooms: at the ground level in the "Hall of the Dolphins", on the first floor in the "Bear Room". In the "Little angels hall"  and in the "Tasso room" there are some noteworthy monochromatic medallions referring to Torquato Tasso's most famous poems (the Aminta and the Jerusalem Delivered) and four paintings representing various moments in the life of the poet.

The Perish Church and the Steeple

Under the direction of the architect Carlo Barbieri and the manufacturer Eudosio Barani, on April 12 1897 the Archbishop-Abbot of Nonantola Carlo Maria Borgognoni laid the foundation stone of this temple with a liturgical rite. From 1897 to 1899 the people of Castelvetro erected the church from the foundations, then in 1907 it was consecrated. The Steeple, detached from the main body of the Church about two meters, is located south of the central apse and connected to the Church through a small corridor. Sleek and slim, in style with the main building, it stands over the sky with its 48.5 meters in height. The first stone was laid on April 1, 1929 by the architect Uccelli assisted by the engineer Manfredini. The work was completed in one year only.

The Oratory of St. Anthony of Padua

The Oratory is located inside the castle, near the eastern wall. From 1636 to 1670 it was occupied by the Franciscan Fathers who left it because the chapel needed major repairs. For some time they continued to celebrate the holy mass on St. Anthony's day (June 13), then the Church was neglected until 1862 when Father Rinaldi reopened it to celebrate the sacred functions in the period when the Parish Church was impraticable. Abandoned again, the church is now deconsecrated. The brick façade has two pilasters with Doric capitals that reach the nearly triangular gable. On the roof rises a small bell tower, with four windows. The interior is rectangular and there were three stone altars with paintings of St. Anthony of Padua, St. Francis of Assisi and the Our Lady.

The Cavallini Oven

Leaving the center of Castelvetro, on the right side of the road along the stream Guerro, it is possible to observe the Cavallini oven. Unique in its gender, it represents an important example of industrial archeology. It was built over the remains of ancient kilns still using the ancient techniques inherited from Romans. In 1882 it became a furnace Hoffmann type, with continuous cycle of baking: the heat moved from one chamber to another, where clays were placed to be cooked; then the cooled bricks were left out to dry and stored. For nearly a century, the furnace was the main source of income for many families, but today the building needs urgent consolidation work in order to preserve it.

The Castle of Levizzano

The Castle is located in the beautiful hilly landscape of Levizzano, hamlet of the Municipality of Castelvetro. The building, built in the ninth century as a defensive bulwark against the Hungarians, consists of a wall at the center of which stands the so-called "The Matildic Tower". In the souther area there is a little deconsacrated chapel dedicated to Sts. Adalbert and Antoninus. In the XII century the complex was renovated and expanded: a part of the feudal palace was erected and was created an underground tunnel which connects the palace to the Tower. The "Rooms of Bishops" date back to the sixteenth century, they are decorated with wooden ceilings and ancient frescoes. With the last restoration works, completed in 2007, the enormous cultural and historical value of this building has been recovered. Today the Castle is the ideal location for exhibitions, cultural activities, conferences and caterings.

OPENING CALENDAR Castle of Levizzano

The Parish Church of Levizzano

The Parish Church,dedicated to Saint Antoninus, was built in 1903 and is situated on a hill south of the Castle. The characteristics features of neo-Romanesque style are still visible in the façade decorated with a porch, a circular rose window, biphoras and hanging arches. Inside the building it’s possible to see other typical features of Romanesque architectural style: three naves, round arches and cross vaults. The crucifix, created with pulp papier mache in the round and finished with polished, polychrome stucco, is located on a large wooden green cross. It is decorated with carved golden friezes and cherubs in relief. In the right side aisle's chapel there is a painting, dating back from the mid eighteenth century (1756), representing Saint Antoninus martyr kneeling in prayer. Next to him there is an angel holding a book and a sword; another angel comes from  the clouds with a crown of roses for the Saint. In the background, a light gray curtain and the Castle of Levizzano.

Campo San Rocco (former Napoleonic Cemetery)

In the small underlying suburb of the Castle of Levizzano, there is a recently restored former Napoleonic Cemetery worthy of mention. In compliance with the introduction of the Napoleonic “Edict of Saint-Cloud” law in Italy in the early 19^th century, the burial ground was built just outside the town walls, in the field of San Rocco at the foot of the Castle. It is one of the few remaining examples of its kind in Italy today. It is characterized by a succession of arches which run around the perimeter and, in the center, there is a little chapel. Today the cemetery is no more a graveyard but it is a striking setting for concerts and other cultural events.

The Sanctuary of Puianello

The Sanctuary, built in 1716 for want of the Marquise Teresa Rangoni, was dedicated to Our Lady of Health. The brick façade has very simple lines, in the central part it is divided into two square compartments, surmounted by a gable, flanked by two lower and narrower parts, corresponding to the Sacristy of and to the accomodations of the Capuchin Friars, who govern the Sanctuary since 1947. On the façade there was only a simple portal and a rectangular window but, in recent times, it has been recently decorated with a polychrome stained glass window, depicting Our Lady of Health. On the tympanum is placed an iron cross. A dome, sitting on the roof in the middle of the Sanctuary, is surmounted by a large cross that is illuminated and visible in the distance. Two bell towers rise on the sides of the presbitery: they  have a rectangular shape with a central elevated  spire, surrounded by four ornamental pinnacles. The Baroque interior, with Latin cross plant, preserves some valuable works of art and the painting of "Our Lady of Health" attributed to the painter Giacomo Cavedoni from Sassuolo (1577-1660).