The Lost Canals of Modena

Venice wasn’t the only city where people travelled by boat

Map of Modena by Joseph Lelande from 1765 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Visitors to Modena sometimes wonder why the main streets in the old city are called canal. Canal Grande, Canale Chiaro, Canaletto… It’s not a dialect word for street. It’s because those were originally water filled canals, major thoroughfares that ran through the city, connecting the various parts of the the Duchy of Modena to the rest of the world.

The prehistory of the canals

The Po Valley, the Great Plain of Northern Italy, has a long tradition of watercourses that goes back to the Bronze Age, over 5,000 years ago.

Reconstruction of a Terramare village by Riccardo Merlo (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Between the Alps and the Apennines, the Val Padana, the broad central valley is bisected by the Po River, running west to east, eventually emptying into the Adriatic Sea. Most of the valley is barely above sea level and is very flat. The soil type is called marl, a rich, absorbent clay that was covered in grasses and mires. Travelling on foot anywhere in wet weather would have been miserable, tough going, like walking through wetlands without much to indicate where there was solid ground, but yet people thrived there.

Before the times of the Romans, before there were even cities, there were small settlements made by a people that are now called the Terramare. The name derives from Terra Marne, marne being the Italian word for the marl clay. This is a name archaeologists gave them. We have no idea what the people called themselves or the names of the villages they lived in.

The people who settled there transformed the landscape by digging deep wide moats around the perimeter of their settlement. They piled up mud, clay, and branches to build a rectangular island. On top of this, they built rows of houses on stilts and connected them with elevated walkways. These were made from wattle and daub, with hard packed daub floors supported by sturdy branches and wattle. The houses were comfortable with multiple rooms, including workshops and a second storey for storage.

In Montale, a short distance south of Modena the archaeological museum has recreated some of these houses. People are invited to visit and see how people lived in prehistoric times and watch as reenactors cast bronze, make pottery, and weave cloth. The houses are surprisingly cool in the summer and have been standing, with minor repairs, for over ten years.

Reconstructed Terramare houses at the living museum in Montale (Photo by author)

The canals and civil engineering

As time passed, civil engineering improved. The isolated settlements combined to make larger villages and eventually cities, but drainage was always a problem. The sponge-like soil retained water and there was always the danger of flooding from rain or runoff from the mountains. As Modena grew from collections of small farmsteads into a town, the solution to the water problem was to maintain canals that ran through the city. These canals connected into a network that joined the Secchia and Panaro Rivers outside the city, and eventually flowed to the Po River itself. The canal system also provided water for the city’s fountains found in every piazza, and powered textile mills.

1743 map of Modena showing canal system (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The main canal that fed the city, the Modonella Canal, ran from a spring located in what is now the San Faustino neighbourhood, to the southwest of the city walls. It passed near the current location of the Mercato Albinelli, the fruit and vegetable market, and past the Piazza Grande in the centre of Modena. The canal then joined the Canal Grande that flowed to the port and the Ducal Palace to the northeast.

River traffic, as well as roads connected Modena to other communities and the Po River. When the Romans conquered the area, they built paved streets and major roadways, including the via Emilia that connected the cities of the north like pearls on a necklace. However, the canals and moats of the northern cities continued to be used.

The canals provided fresh water flowing through the city. Women washed laundry outside the city walls, and other areas were constructed to be used as magnificent civic bathing pools. Boats moved up and down the canals controlled by senior navigators called the Guild of the Paroni.

The Port of Modena was located just west of the Ducal Gardens and not far from where the train station is now. It was a busy location where barges were unloaded and passenger boats were moored. The canals were so important, that the augurs used by the construction crews became part of the coat of arms for the city.

The coat of arms of Modena. Note the augers in the upper corners. (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Improvements were made to the canal system during the 1600’s. Ramps with sheltering porticoes were built at the ends of roads to make it easier for wagons to access boats on the canal.

The canals provided easy transport to Verona, Ferrara, and the Republic of Venice. The dukes and civic leaders had elaborate boats called bucintori that were decorated in the city’s colours of blue and gold. These would be used on diplomatic missions to negotiate with the governments of Milan or Venice.

The demise of Modena’s canals

The mid-19th century brought expansion to Modena. The city moved beyond its walls and industry increased. The canal system was no longer serving the region as well as the road systems did. The severe cholera epidemic of 1855 brought further concerns about the condition of the canal water and public health. The canal system within Modena was covered over, although some of the waterways remained open until the 1930’s.

The canals still exist after a fashion. The water still flows beneath the streets that give them their names. You can still walk along the via Modonello, Corso Canalchiaro, and Canalgrande and follow the routes that carried cargo, travellers, and even royalty through the city and beyond.

References

Commune di Modena When the sea bathed Modena https://www.visitmodena.it/en/avia-pervia-spazio-1

Coppini, Frederico (2025) Modena’s Hidden Medieval Secret: The Silent Waterways Beneath Our Feet https://blog.rapusia.org/green_tech/2821/modenas-hidden-medieval-secret-the-silent-waterways-beneath-our-feet/

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