Spilamberto

Spilamberto sits on the right bank of the Panaro, fifteen kilometers southeast of Modena, on the line of the ancient Via Romea that ran from northern Europe to Rome. The town is documented from 776. The Rangoni family of Modena held it for more than 650 years, and the Rocca Rangoni they built still anchors the centro storico.

The Torrione, the medieval bell tower at the edge of the borgo, houses the Antiquarium archaeological museum and the headquarters of the Ordine del Nocino Modenese. In 1967 a group of local enthusiasts founded the Consorteria dell'Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena here, which still certifies the twelve- and twenty-five-year-aged DOP product through annual blind tastings. The Museo dell'Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale at Villa Fabriani lays out the cycle: cooked grape must, decreasing-size casks, fifty years of attic seasoning. The Via Vandelli, the eighteenth-century Este road that ran from Modena to Massa, leaves the town heading south toward the Apennines.