Vignola is a city and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Modena

Province of Modena

The Province of Modena is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena.It has an area of 2,689 km², and a total population of 659,925 . There are 48 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Modena.At May 31, 2005, the main comuni by population...

 (Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna

Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....

), Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Its economy is based on the cultivation of fruit, but mechanical industries and services companies are present.

The city is mostly known as the birthplace of the Renaissance architect Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola.

History

Vignola, whose name derives from the Latin vineola ("small vine") is located near an ancient Etruscan road connecting Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 to Parma

Parma

Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....

. 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

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 basilica.-History:...

.

Vignola was a possession of those bishops until 1247; during the wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines

Guelphs and Ghibellines

The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...

 its territory was contented between the communes of Modena

Modena

Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....

 and Bologna, until the Grassoni family installed their seigniory in Vignola. This lasted until 1399, when it was acquired by the House of Este; two years later it was conceded as a county to Uguccione de' Contrari from Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

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

Pope Gregory XIII

Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...

. The Boncompagni rule fell with the Napoleonic Conquest

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 of Italy, and, after the Congress of Vienna

Congress of Vienna

The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...

 of 1814, Vignola became part of the Duchy of Modena.

Main sights

• Town Museum
• The Castle (Rocca)
• Palazzo dei Contrari
• Palazzo Boncompagni (or Palazzo Barozzi)
• Torre Galvani

Twin towns

Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire

Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire

Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France.The commune of Barbezieux, with the neighbouring village of St Hilaire, forms the most important town in Southern Charente....

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, since 1982 Witzenhausen

Witzenhausen

Witzenhausen is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany.It was granted town rights in 1225, and until 1974, it was a district seat....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, since 1982 Angol

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-Bío River and Concepción. This strategic position explains...

, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, since 1998