San Cesario sul Panaro is a town in the province of Modena, located in the high plain of Modena along the banks of the Panaro. The discovery of the remains of huts and a cemetery dating to the Neolithic period evidence that the area was inhabited since the VI-V millennium B.C. Subsequently civilized by several populations such as the Terramaricola, the Villanova, the Etruscans and the Romans. Mentioned for the first time in an edit of Nonantola of 752 with name of "Vilzacara", after the year 1000, the possessions were incorporated into those of the Benedictine Abbey of Nonantola, whose monks undertook a major reclamation of wetlands. In 1112, Matilde of Canossa acquired from the monks of Nonantola "the Court and the Forest" of Vilzacara, ceding it to the local church, dedicated to the martyr Cesario, and so the name Vilzacara was replaced by San Cesario. After a period of bloody struggles for the control of territory, the town was ceded to the Boschetti that retained the jurisdiction until 1796, when all feudal rights were abolished.
Sites of Interest:
- the Basilica of San Cesario, one of the most prestigious buildings in the Romanesque style of the region, which was built in the X century on the site of a pre-existing place of worship, of which materials were used to complete the new one. Majestic and beautiful at the same time, with a simple façade decorated with an elegant mullioned window, while inside are preserved several masterpieces of the artist Antonio Begarelli;
- Villa Boschetti, with frescoed rooms and a magnificent staircase;
- the Clock Tower, the only remains of the old fortification of the village.