Emilia-Romagna · Modena
Spilamberto
A 69-meter Po-plain town on the Via Romea, headquarters of the Consorteria that has certified a DOP product since 1967.
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- By car
- 37 min from Bologna
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 12,825
Known for
ACETO BALSAMICO
Home of the Consorteria dell'Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena since 1967, which certifies the DOP twelve- and twenty-five-year product.
NOCINO
Walnut liqueur from green walnuts picked on the night of San Giovanni; the Ordine del Nocino sits in the Torrione.
ROCCA RANGONI
Fortress held by the Rangoni marquises of Modena for 650 years, restored and reopened to the public for cultural events.
CILIEGIA DI VIGNOLA
The commune also lies inside the Ciliegia di Vignola IGP production zone.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- J8°
- F12°
- M15°
- A18°
- M22°
- J28°
- J31°
- A31°
- S26°
- O20°
- N13°
- D8°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Giovanni Battista, 24 June
Why come
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 fortress they built still anchors the centro storico, with the medieval bell tower at the edge of the borgo holding both an archaeological museum and the headquarters of the walnut liqueur order.
In 1967 a group of local enthusiasts founded the Consorteria dell'Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena here, and it still certifies the twelve- and twenty-five-year-aged DOP product through annual blind tastings. An eighteenth-century Este road that ran from Modena to Massa leaves the town heading south, a reminder that Spilamberto has always sat at a crossing point: the old route running through it toward the north and Rome, another road departing from it toward the south, the river marking its edge. A plain town that became, almost by local initiative rather than geography, the place where a regional product got its rules written down.
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 68 km away
Apuan Alps: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The mountains behind Versilia. 8 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Read the guideOr take the Sunday letter: one town a week, free.
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Read on
Spilamberto in our articles
The best towns known for what they grow within 45 minutes of Bologna6 towns, Spilamberto among them.
The best towns that cure their own meat within two hours of Padua6 towns, Spilamberto among them.
The best towns that cure their own meat within two hours of Verona6 towns, Spilamberto among them.
The best towns you can reach by train within 45 minutes of Bologna6 towns, Spilamberto among them.
How to get there
From Bologna (BLQ), about 32 minutes by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 1h 30m away.
By car from the centre of Parma 54 minutes.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Bologna, Verona or Florence?
Coming by train into Modena? Spilamberto is about 23 minutes away by road.
What to see
Rocca Rangoni
The fortress anchors the centro storico, its walls facing onto the streets that grew up around it rather than set apart from them.
Torrione
Medieval bell tower at the edge of the borgo, housing the Antiquarium museum and the headquarters of the Ordine del Nocino Modenese.
Museo dell'Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale
Museum at Villa Fabriani laying out the production cycle in physical form: the cooked must, the graduated run of casks, the attic rooms where fifty years of seasoning take place.
Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
Parish church from the seventeenth century, with a 1685 façade and an interior holding works from the Modenese baroque school.
Greenway del Panaro
Cycle and walking path running along the river bank, connecting Spilamberto to Vignola and the Modenese plain to the Apennines.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Spilamberto fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Living here
- Population 12,825, up 4.1% since 2015
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest public hospital Vignola, 6 km as the crow flies
- Full fibre reaches 76% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Nearest airport Bologna, 32 min drive
- Regional capital Bologna, 37 min drive
Could you live here?
Spilamberto meets 2 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 12,825 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Modena, a city of 184,153, is 24 minutes by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the centre.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City. The rest of the series, and the best towns to move to, arrive in the Sunday letter.
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter
Common questions
- What is Spilamberto known for?
- Spilamberto is a 69-meter Po-plain town on the Via Romea, headquarters of the Consorteria that has certified a DOP product since 1967.
- Where is Spilamberto?
- Spilamberto is a comune in the province of Modena, in Emilia-Romagna, at 69 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Spilamberto?
- Bologna (BLQ), about 32 minutes by car.
- Can you get to Spilamberto without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Parma to Spilamberto?
- About 54 minutes by car.
- When is the best time to visit Spilamberto?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Spilamberto?
- The town keeps its patron saint's day: Giovanni Battista, 24 June.
- Which other towns are like Spilamberto?
- Collecchio, Faenza and Imola.
- How many people live in Spilamberto?
- 12,825 at the 2023 count.
- Is Spilamberto a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Spilamberto is a small town that meets 2 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Modena, is 24 minutes away by car. The nearest public hospital is in Vignola, 6 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 76% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 69 m
- Population: 12,825
- Surface area: 29.79 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
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