Maranello (Maranèl in Modenese dialect) is an Italian town of 17 693 inhabitants in the province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna, located south of the capital. Since 1943 it has been the headquarters of the Ferrari factory, the prestigious car manufacturer founded by Enzo Ferrari from Modena. In 2009, with the decree of 16 December, the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano conferred the title of city on the municipality of Maranello.
Physical geography
The town is located 19 km south of Modena,
on the provincial road 3 "via Giardini". It is part of the
municipalities of the foothills and of the Union of Municipalities
of the Ceramic District, together with the municipalities of Fiorano
Modenese, Formigine, Sassuolo, Frassinoro, Montefiorino, Palagano
and Prignano sulla Secchia. The inhabited center is squeezed between
the first roughnesses that lead to the Modenese Apennines and the
plain occupied by fields and industries.
Archaeological finds document the existence of Maranello at least
from the Bronze Age (1800-1000 BC), but numerous finds have also
been found from very earlier times, such as the remains of the
Terramare di Gorzano or the Cumarola necropolis dating back to the
Eneolithic ( III millennium BC).
There were also settlements
of populations of Ligurian extraction (Ligures friniates), which the
Roman legions that were gradually conquering Italy subjected between
189 and 179 BC. The confirmation of the Roman presence can be found
in one of the main roads that cross the town, the Via Claudia: it
was an ancient route, perhaps from the Etruscan era, alternative to
a stretch of the Via Emilia that was arranged by the consul Claudio,
who linked the his name.
The discovery in 1987, in the
locality of Torre delle Oche, of the remains of a Roman furnace was
of great importance: since then excavations have been completed
which have brought to light the entire plant with numerous finds
including two amphorae. The material found is exhibited in the
archaeological museum at the Palazzo dei Musei in Largo
Sant'Agostino in Modena.
The name Maranello probably derives
from the settlement of a family from Marano sul Panaro (a
neighboring town to the south), the Araldini or Arardini, who built
the castle that still exists today, strategically located as a
sentinel for access to Frignano. The castle was partially rebuilt
after the earthquake of 1501. The houses around the castle make up
the village called Maranello Vecchio. After ups and downs, the manor
was purchased in 1936 by Giuseppe Graziosi, a renowned painter and
sculptor who worked and lived there. Restored after the Second World
War, it became private property and, therefore, is no longer
accessible to the public.
The aforementioned via Giardini,
formerly the Abetone state road, has assumed great logistical
importance as it has become the road that passes in front of the
Ferrari factory. Wanted by Duke Francesco III d'Este to unite the
Duchy of Modena with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and thus favor the
economic and social development of the country, it was begun in 1766
and finished in ten years: for the time it was a gigantic enterprise
, with a length of almost 100 km in Modenese territory, from the
capital to the Tuscan border. On the route there were post stations,
taverns, fountains, shelter and refreshment places for travelers, a
true ante litteram highway. The project and the direction of the
works were entrusted to the engineer Pietro Giardini who employed
3000 workers in the company. The Duke, enthusiastic about the
result, gave the street the name of its creator.
Thanks to
this road and being at the foot of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines,
Maranello acquired the reputation of a holiday resort for the
Modenese.
In 1943 the war forced Enzo Ferrari to move his
factory outside Modena. The choice fell on Maranello, where Ferrari
already owned land which it expanded with subsequent purchases. This
choice was also guided by the refusal of the municipal
administration of Formigine which did not allow the Drake to open
the new headquarters of the plant there.
At the intersection
of via Giardini and via Claudia, the town has developed which for
many years was called Maranello Nuovo. In addition to the central
core, the Municipality of Maranello is also made up of the
localities of Bell'Italia, Pozza, Gorzano, Torre Maina, Torre delle
Oche, Fogliano and San Venanzio.
Old Town
In the center of Maranello, built between 1894 and
1903, is the parish church, a new hub for the town that was
beginning to develop near the intersection between via Giardini and
via Claudia. The bell tower was erected a few years later, between
1909 and 1913.
Still in the center of Maranello, in addition
to the Piazza Libertà Mosaic (created in 2000, it reproduces the
coat of arms of the municipality), it is possible to admire the
monument to Enzo Ferrari, the work of the Modenese sculptor Marino
Quartieri. The monument to the Prancing Horse, by the Albanian
sculptor Helidon Xhixha, is instead located near the factories and
the Wind Tunnel.
Also noteworthy is the small and picturesque
castle (built around the year 1000 and rebuilt in the sixteenth
century) which is located on the hill near the city center.
Mabic Municipal Library (Maranello Biblioteca Cultura)
The
municipality has a library with approximately 44,000 volumes, as
well as audiovisual media and periodical press. The services offered
are the reference, the local loan and the interlibrary loan.
In autumn 2011, the entire library heritage was moved to the new
headquarters, designed by Arata Isozaki and built in collaboration
with Andrea Maffei, characterized by the curved shape of the lines
of its glass walls and operational since November 19, 2011.
Ferrari places
Tourists and fans come from all over the world
to visit the Ferrari Museum, where historical models and engines of
sports and racing cars are exhibited, as well as trophies and cups,
racing suits and helmets documenting the history of one of the
oldest stables in Formula 1.
In front of the entrance to the
Ferrari factory (also very photographed by tourists), there is the
famous Ristorante Cavallino, where Enzo Ferrari had a small room
reserved for him.
Of considerable architectural interest is
the wind tunnel designed by Renzo Piano, inaugurated in 1997 in via
Grizzaga, at the Ferrari factories: in the tunnel the cars are
tested on a moving carpet synchronized with the wind speed. The
"live" tests are instead carried out in the nearby Fiorano circuit
(adjacent to the Maranello factories, towards Sassuolo).
Other buildings of the Ferrari plants are the work of prestigious
architects: the research center of Massimiliano Fuksas, the new
mechanics of Marco Visconti, the new logistics and sports management
of Luigi Sturchio and, among all the most recent, the building for
the assembly of cars designed by architect Jean Nouvel.
In
the hamlets, which largely retain the rural aspect prior to
industrialization, the parish church of Fogliano, of which there are
evidence of the year 963, the medieval tower "de Pietrobonis" and
the church of S.S. Pietro e Paolo with an organ from 1586 in Torre
Maina.
Near the hamlet of Pozza is the park of Villa
Rangoni-Machiavelli which houses sculptures from the "Severi"
contemporary art collection. The original core of over 100 works,
mostly sold, included important works by Pietro Cascella (The
fountain of the spouses), Giò Pomodoro (The door and the Sun),
Yoshin Ogata (The waterways) and other contemporary artists
(Cassani, Celiberti, Quinto Ghermandi, Guasti, Guidi, Lutz, Augusto
Murer, Perez, Rotar, Davide Scarabelli, Alberto Viani, Roberto
Tirelli, Baraldi, Biolchini, Di Fabio, Tinè, Andolfatto, Doyle,
Legnagli, Magelli, Sacha Sosno) .
In 2005 the villa and the
park were purchased by the Degli Antoni Guido and Cristoforo family.
In 2006, thanks to an agreement between the Degli Antoni family and
the administration of the Municipality of Maranello, the park was
opened to the public, in the following years it was the scene of
various events including the poetry festival and park in bloom.
After a careful upgrading activity carried out by the Degli Antoni
family, since 2010 the Villa and the park have been used to organize
events, demonstrations and ceremonies of both public and private
nature. Over the course of 2013, despite the Villa being commonly
known as Villa Rangoni Machiavelli, the property restored its
original name, Villa Bice.