Standing on its outcrop of the first hills of Modena, overlooking the Panaro Valley, the “Rocca” is among the most interesting examples of fortified architecture in Emilia. Standing on its dominant outcrop of the first hills of Modena, the Panaro Valley, the “Rocca” is among the most interesting examples of fortified architecture in Emilia. Although it was mentioned in documents from the 12th century, it was under the domination of the Este family and the investiture of Uguccione Contrari that the castle became a refined manor house.

Its imposing mass is softened inside thanks to the frescoes among which are those of the Chapel of Uguccione, an international Gothic jewel defined by the historian Carlo Arturo Quintavalle as “one of the most vivid and intense experiences among the Emilian works of the period” (A.C. Quintavalle, I freschi di Vignola e la pittura emiliana del primo Quattrocento, in "Arte Antica e Moderna", 1962).