Montecuccoli di Guiglia Castle and its appurtenances (Castello Montecuccoli di Guiglia e pertinenze)

The Castello di Guglia was probably built from the 10th century onwards on a hilltop in the Modena Apennines on the right bank of the Panaro river. It was granted as a fief by Nicolò III d’Este to the Pio di Carpi family, who retained the domain until 1510. After being damaged in the earthquake of 1571, the complex was rebuilt by the Montecuccoli family who converted the fortress into a noble palace.

The complex appears today as a monumental stately residence featuring an L-shaped layout organised around an inner courtyard, embellished on the entrance side by a loggia richly decorated with stuccoes, enclosed on the northern side by a lower service building and open to the surrounding landscape along the eastern side. The entrance to the castle is along the western side, in line with the courtyard loggia. It is a monumental portal flanked by two pairs of semi-columns on a pedestal surmounted by a broken tympanum and crowned by a pedestal. The complex of buildings seems to revolve around the quadrangular tower, surmounted by corbels and dovetail battlements, that stands near the south-western corner. Probably built during the second half of the 16th century in the south-eastern corner of the complex, is the Clock Tower.