Camposanto: a riverside town and an 18th-century battlefield

On the left bank of the river Panaro, at the northern edge of the province of Modena, lies the quiet Emilian town of Camposanto. Despite its name, which in Italian usually means a cemetery, the place was in fact named after the Santi family of Ferrara, who held land here in the 14th century.

The Battle of Camposanto

The town's position on the Panaro, long a strategic frontier, gave it a place in European history. On 8 February 1743, during the War of the Austrian Succession, a fierce battle was fought here between a Spanish army and Austro-Sardinian forces, one of the bloodiest engagements of that war on Italian soil.

Life along the Panaro

Camposanto grew from the 14th and 15th centuries around the river, which was diverted into a canal to control flooding and improve navigation; trade, fishing and river crafts drew people to the new settlement. Elegant 18th-century manor houses still look out over the water, recalling the time when the town was a county held by the Forni family.

Where it is

Camposanto stands on the plain about twenty kilometres north-east of Modena and roughly thirty-five kilometres north-west of Bologna.