Nonantola

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Nonantola
coat of arms
Nonantola (Italy)
Nonantola
Country Italy
region Emilia-Romagna
province Modena  (MO)
Local name Nunântla
Coordinates 44 ° 41 '  N , 11 ° 2'  E Coordinates: 44 ° 41 '0 "  N , 11 ° 2' 0"  E
height 20  m slm
surface 55 km²
Residents 16,112 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density 293 inhabitants / km²
Post Code 41015
prefix 059
ISTAT number 036027
Popular name Nonantolani
Patron saint San Silvestro
Website www.comune.nonantola.mo.it

Nonantola is an Italian city in the province of Modena ( Emilia-Romagna region ) with 16,112 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

history

The history of the city is closely linked to Nonantola Abbey , a Benedictine monastery founded by St. Anselm in 752 . Anselm is venerated as the city's patron saint. After the decline of the abbey in the 13th century, it was given to a Commendatarabbot in 1419 . At the same time, the dispute between Modena and Bologna about the place itself began, which was decided in 1412 in favor of the Este family . In 1419 a municipal constitution was issued.

Villa Emma

Between July 1942 and September 1943 there were around seventy Jewish children and young people in the Villa Emma , a summer residence on the outskirts of the city. They came from Germany and Austria and from Croatia. Almost all of them were orphans or their relatives were detained. The organization " Kinder- und Jugend-Alijah ", founded by Recha Freier in 1933 , took them on and brought them to Italy. After the German occupation of Italy , the children and young people and their 13 carers were hidden by Italian citizens until they were able to flee to Switzerland. All survived, only the supervisor Goffredo Pacifici had decided to stay in Italy after the children had fled to help others escape. He was probably murdered in Auschwitz .

The city was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Merit for saving the children and their contribution to the Italian resistance movement. The "Villa Emma Foundation", established in 2004 in memory of these events, conducts research and educational remembrance work in the immediate vicinity of the villa.

Attractions

Facade of the abbey

Among the buildings that have survived from the Middle Ages are two towers, called dei Modenesi and dei Bolognesi , and the Pieve di San Michele Arcangelo from the 9th century. The most important sight, however, is the Romanesque Abbey of Nonantola, dedicated to the holy New Year's Eve .

Personalities

literature

Web links

Commons : Nonantola  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
  2. ↑ Memorial sites portal on places of remembrance in Europe , accessed on September 14, 2014