Carpi Hotels - Emilia Romagna

Just twenty kilometers north of Modena, in the direction of Mantova, Carpi offers the tourist visiting the town for the first time, a quite extraordinary vision. The 19th century German scholar and art historian, Hans Semper, first wrote of the beauty of Carpi, town which enjoyed its maximum splendour during the Renaissance period.

Testifying to Carpi's former glory, is the central Piazza dei Martiri which, with its 15.000sqm, is one of the largest town squares in the whole of Italy. Overlooking the eastern side of the square there is the elegant Palazzo dei Pio, referred to locally as the castello, or "castle". The complex houses the Memorial to the Deported Museum opened in 1973 to recall the horrors of the Nazi deportation, and in which to see graffiti on the subject of deportation by such famous artists as Pablo Picasso and Renato Guttuso. Another edifice facing the piazza, particularly worthy of note, is Carpi's Basilica Cathedral.

Each summer, together with Modena and Sassuolo, Carpi hosts the Philosphy Festival: event featuring a rich programme of exhibitions, installations, cinema screenings, art performances, recitals, readings and workshops for children.