Tomb of Ciro Menotti

The life of Menotti

Ciro Menotti was born in 1798 in Migliarina di Carpi, to a wealthy family. He married the wealthy, young widow, Francesca Moreali di Spezzano, with whom he had four children: Achille, Polissena, Adolfo and Massimiliano. The couple lived in Modena and periodically stayed in Spezzano, at Villa Moreali, their summer residence. After the death of Menotti and the initial exile of the family, his wife and daughter Polissena lived there until their deaths and his sons frequently returned there as well. Massimiliano, who loved the area of his youth, built and lived in the so-called Villa Paradisino, a short distance from Villa Moreali Menotti, near Villa Campori in Spezzano.

Ciro Menotti and his patriotism for the Unification of Italy

Ciro Menotti, a leading figure of the Risorgimento, joined the Carboneria and was arrested for this. He is credited with being one of the first people to seek not only freedom for Modena, but also unification of the country under the same flag.

After being condemned to death by hanging, and being executed on 26 May 1831 in Modena, his body was buried in the town cemetery and only moved to Spezzano cemetery in 1868, where he was buried alongside his wife and daughter. His remains were moved into a funerary chapel inside the Parish Church of Saint John the Apostle in 1929.

Ciro Menotti, portrait by Adeodato Malatesta

Tomb of Ciro Menotti

The tomb is located in Spezzano church and was completed in 1929 by the artists Bisetti and Lazzaretti. The Renaissance style chapel is covered in multicoloured marble, with the coats of arms of the towns of Carpi, Modena and Fiorano, where Menotti was born, lived and died and where he now rests.

There is a large bronze medallion on top of the sarcophagus, by the sculptor Ivo Soli, depicting the patriot with a commemorative epigraph. A cast iron votive lamp lights the chapel, behind gates with the symbols of glory and martyrdom. The remains of Menotti and his family are inside a burial recess under the floor. The names of his family members are written on the right-hand wall: his wife Francesca Moreali, his children Polissena, Adolfo and Massimiliano, his great-grandson Ciro; his eldest son, Achille, is buried in Turin.

Information brochure.

Ciro Menotti. His life, places and ideas, documentary by Cristina Provenzano and Marco Amendola. Pongofilms.it Production - 2011