Whether you’re a professional photographer or a photography aficionado, or whether you’re simply looking for an unusual kind of excitement, these suggestions are sure to stimulate your imagination.
Here are ten places to photograph in the center of Modena—with your camera, with your cellphone, and with your eyes and heart.
Modena’s undisputed heroine is the Ghirlandina Tower. Here are three shots that frame the Tower in particularly evocative ways.
For the first, walk halfway down Via Cesare Battisti until it intersects with Via Taglio. Look toward Via Emilia. Get as close as you can to the walls on your right so that you have a clear view of the Tower. Often, especially in summer, Via Cesare Battisti is dressed up for celebrations and holidays, which will make your shots all that more distinctive.
The second photo opportunity is at the end of Via Sant’Eufemia, looking toward Corso Duomo. Here, too, the two parallel lines of pastel-colored houses along the street point toward the Tower to create magic in your camera lens.
In the center of town, follow Via Emilia to the corner of Corso Canalgrande. Keep Largo di Porta Bologna at your back and look west. Historic Via Emilia seems to point toward the Ghirlandina Tower, framing it in parallel rows of buildings, one of which is a particular stand out: the Baroque-style architecture of the Collegio San Carlo on your left.
In the same area, cross Via Emilia and step under the splendid Portico del Collegio, your next photographic subject. Walk back to the corner of Via Farini and look south. A beautiful view opens before you: the portico and the shop windows along the street.
If you head down Via Farini, you’ll immediately realize why this view is considered so beautiful.
The street ends right in Piazza Roma and its majestic Ducal Palace.
Follow Via Farini until you arrive in Piazza Roma, where you’ll find a fountain and a large reflecting pool in front of the Ducal Palace.
If you find the right angle, you can frame the reflection of the Palace’s façade with the Palace itself in the same shot.
Walk back in the direction of Piazza Grande and find the corner where Via Castellaro begins.
Look toward the Ducal Palace. Above the street, you’ll see the statue known as “La Bonissima” and, in the background, the striking Ghirlandina Tower.
Follow Via Sant’Eufemia toward the very beginning of Corso Duomo and look in the direction of the Modena Cathedral.
You’ll notice a perspective that’s somewhat out of the ordinary: the façade of the Cathedral reflected in the shop windows.
The picturesque Piazza XX Settembre is encircled by the colored house fronts. When the sun is out, the pastels seem to light up like a rainbow.
And finally, if you feel like a bit more of a walk, head to the Enzo Ferrari Museum.
You’ll be struck by the beauty of the Museum’s dome, designed to resemble a giant yellow car hood. On clear days, Modena’s colors really shine: the yellow of the dome against the bright, blue sky.
