Memorial of Ciro Menotti
“Your first thought is to unite”, this was the motto of the young Ciro Menotti, animated by a strong patriotic sentiment, who joined the Carbonari and was arrested, for the first time, following his alleged collaboration in the riots of 1821. Convinced of the support of Duke Francesco IV d'Este, in 1831 he was the main protagonist of the failed "Estense Conspiracy". He deserves credit for having, among the first, thought and sought freedom for Modena, but above all the unity of the peninsula under the same flag. After being sentenced to death by hanging, decided by Duke Francesco IV and that took place on May 26, 1831 in Piazza Cittadella in Modena, his body was placed in the town cemetery and, only in 1868, moved to the cemetery of Spezzano, next to the remains of his wife and daughter. The remains of the martyr were then transferred, in 1929, in a funerary chapel in the nearby parish church.
Portrait of Ciro Menotti
(photo by Archivio Ente Parchi Emilia Centrale)