The New Student's Reference Work/Modena

Modena (mṓ'dắ-nȧ), a city in northern Italy, capital of the province of the same name, 23 miles from Bologna. It is surrounded by walls, which have been made into fine walks. The square tower of the Gothic cathedral, begun in 1099, is one of the great towers of Italy. The palace, built in the 17th century, contains the Este library of 90,000 volumes and a large collection of the works of Guido, Correggio, the Caracci and other Italian masters, among them a reclining figure of Cleopatra by Canova. The university, one of the most famous in Italy, founded in 1678, has an academy of science and art, an observatory, a botanic garden and a military school. It has 45 teachers and 535 students. The trade of Modena is in farming products, and its manufactures are silk, leather, cast metals and vinegar. Modena was an Etruscan city, and was taken by the Gauls, Romans, Goths and Longobards. Constantine the Great destroyed it; Charlemagne made it the capital of a line of counts; and the Este family ruled over it from 1288. The duchy became a part of the Italian kingdom in 1860. Population of the city 70,267.