Mirandola is a city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

of Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna

Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, in the Province of Modena

Province of Modena

The Province of Modena is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena.It has an area of 2,689 km², and a total population of 659,925 . There are 48 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Modena.At May 31, 2005, the main comuni by population...

, 31 km northeast of the provincial capital

Modena

Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....

 by railway.

History

Mirandola originated as a Renaissance city-fortress. For four centuries it was the seat of at Duchy

Duchy of Mirandola

The Duchy of Mirandola was a state which existed in Italy from 1310 until 1711, centered in Mirandola and ruled by the Pico family.-History:...

, a possession of the Pico family, whose most outstanding member was the polymath Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was an Italian Renaissance philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when at the age of 23, he proposed to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, natural philosophy and magic against all comers, for which he wrote the famous Oration on the Dignity of...

 (1463-1494). It was besieged two times: in 1510 and 1551.

It was acquired by the Duchy of Modena in 1710. The city started to decay after the castle was destroyed in 1714.

Main sights

• The Palazzo del Comune is a 15th century edifice of Gothic
  Gothic architecture
  Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
  
   style. The castle
  Castle
  A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
  
   of the Pico family has been recently restored and it is now open to the public.
• Palazzo della Ragione, in late Gothic style.
• Palazzo Bergomi (15th century)
• Palazzo Comunale (1468, largely restored in the 19th century), with the portraits of the Pico and other artworks, including an Adoration of the Magi once attributed to Palma il Giovane.
• The cathedral
  Cathedral
  A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
  
  , dating from the end of the 16th century, has been restored. S. Francesco is a fine Gothic church. It houses the tombs of the Pico family, including that of Prendiparte Pico (14th century).
• The Baroque Church of the Gesù (1690).
• The 15th century Collegiata.

External links

• Official website