Duomo di San Geminiano (Modena)

The Via Emilia is Modena’s main thoroughfare, and it is in the centre of this city where the old Roman highway picks up one of its loveliest gems, a building recently added to UNESCO’s world heritage list: the Romanesque Duomo di San Geminiano. Begun with funds and support from Countess Matilda in 1099, Modena cathedral was designed by a master builder named Lanfranco and completed in the 13th century.

Complementing the Duomo’s fine proportions are the magnificent carvings by the 12th-century sculptor Wiligelmo above the three main entrances and elsewhere around the church.

Wiligelmo’s followers, and after them the anonymous Lombard sculptors and architects known as the Campionese Masters, carried on the work, making this cathedral a living museum of medieval sculpture. There is some great work from the Renaissance too—altogether, a church one can look at all day and not see everything.

Facade