Campogalliano: scales, Bugatti and lakes on the Modena plain

Few towns of eight thousand people can claim two such different claims to fame as Campogalliano, on the plain just west of Modena. Italians know it as the town of weighing scales; car lovers the world over know it as the place where the Bugatti legend was reborn.

The town of the scales

From 1860, when Francesco Crotti set up his workshop here, Campogalliano grew into a true industrial district of weighing instruments. Its Museo della Bilancia, the only museum of its kind in Italy, gathers more than six thousand scales, steelyards and documents, telling the story of an object that became the very symbol of justice.

The blue factory

On the edge of town stands the famous Fabbrica Blu, the strikingly modern blue factory built by the entrepreneur Romano Artioli when he revived the Bugatti marque in 1987, in the heart of the Motor Valley a few kilometres from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati. Here the celebrated EB110 supercar was created before production ceased in 1995, and the silent plant has since become a place of pilgrimage for enthusiasts.

Lakes and good food

Beside the river Secchia, the Curiel lakes offer walks, birdwatching and fishing in a protected riverside park, while the town's tables serve the wines and flavours of the Modenese plain, from Lambrusco to balsamic vinegar.

Getting there

Campogalliano is about ten kilometres north-west of Modena, beside the junction of the A22 Brenner motorway with the A1, within easy reach of Carpi and Reggio Emilia.