Editing Modena (section)

===Town Hall===
Facing the Piazza Grande (a [[UNESCO World heritage site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]]), the Town Hall of Modena was put together in the 17th and 18th centuries from several pre-existing edifices built from 1046 as municipal offices.

It is characterized by a Clock Tower (''Torre dell'Orologio'', late 15th century), once paired with another tower (''Torre Civica'') demolished after an earthquake in 1671. In the interior, noteworthy is the ''Sala del Fuoco'' ("Fire Hall"), with a painted frieze by [[Niccolò dell'Abbate]] (1546) portraying famous characters from Ancient Rome against a typical Emilia background. The ''Camerino dei Confirmati'' ("Chamber of the Confirmed") houses one of the symbols of the city, the ''Secchia Rapita'', a bucket kept in memory of the victorious [[Battle of Zappolino]] (1325) against [[Bologna]]. This relic inspired the poem of the same title by [[Alessandro Tassoni]]. Another relic from the Middle Ages in Modena is the ''Preda Ringadora'', a rectangular marble stone next to the palace porch, used as a speakers' platform, and the statue called ''La Bonissima'' ("The Very Good"): the latter, portraying a female figure, was erected in the square in 1268 and later installed over the porch.