What is Castelvetro di Modena known for?

The deepest and most tannic of the three main Lambruschi, grown on the clay slopes around the town and DOC-classified since 1970. The checkerboard square at the centre of the borgo, paved in alternating white and black stones beneath the four medieval towers. Grape and Lambrusco festival held the last weekend of September, with living-chess matches played on the Piazza della Dama.

Where is Castelvetro di Modena?

Castelvetro di Modena is a comune in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, about 20 kilometers from Modena.

Emilia-Romagna · Modena

Castelvetro di Modena

A 152-meter hill borgo south of Modena whose checkerboard piazza sits above the slopes that grow Lambrusco Grasparossa.

20 km / 12 mi

Nearest hub (Modena)

11,101

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Castelvetro di Modena sits on a hill, eighteen kilometers southeast of Modena and at the northern edge of the Apennine foothills. The medieval centro storico rises around the Piazza Roma, paved in alternating white and black stones that earned it the name Piazza della Dama, the checkerboard piazza, framed by the four surviving towers of the old castle. The Grasparossa grape grows on the clay slopes around the town, the sandy soil and the south-facing aspect producing the deepest, most tannic of the three main Lambruschi; Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro received DOC status in 1970. Above the piazza, the Palazzo Rinaldi houses the Museo del Vino and the Museo dell'Aceto Balsamico, the second tracing the same Modenese tradition that nearby Spilamberto codifies. The municipality holds three institutional signals: Borghi più belli, Bandiera Arancione, Città del Vino. The Sagra dell'Uva e del Lambrusco runs the last weekend of September, when the streets fill with the chess players from the surrounding Lambrusco towns dressed as living pieces on the piazza.

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Gallery

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Known for

Piazza Roma
Checkerboard piazza paved in alternating white and black stones, framed by the four surviving towers of the medieval castle.
Castello di Levizzano Rangone
Tenth-century fortified frazione four kilometers north, with a tower built in the 990s and a fully preserved medieval village.
Museo del Vino
Wine museum inside the Palazzo Rinaldi, tracing the Grasparossa production cycle and the DOC zone established in 1970.
Borgo Antico
Medieval centre on the hill above the new town, with the Torre delle Prigioni, the Torre dell'Orologio and the Palazzo Rangoni Terzi.
Chiesa dei Santi Senesio e Teopompo
Parish church of the borgo, with eighteenth-century rebuilding over earlier medieval foundations and a baroque organ.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through October are the Castelvetro months. The hills around the borgo turn green in spring and red in autumn when the Grasparossa vines colour up before the harvest. July and August are hot, thirty-five degrees in the valley, less in the hills above, and the cantine slow down. The last weekend of September brings the Sagra dell'Uva e del Lambrusco, when the Piazza della Dama becomes a chessboard for costumed players and the town fills with day-trippers from Modena. November through March is quiet, foggy in the lower frazioni, with most agriturismi running only on weekends.