WHERE HISTORY WAS MADE
VILLA "LA PERSONALA"
In the 12th century during the reign of Federico Barbarossa, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire the Personali family lived in Germany and took part in the Holy Crusades.
Midway through the 13th century they crossed the Alps and settled again in northern Italy, specifically in Bedulita, under the municipality of Bergamo, in the Imagna Valley.
Whilst there, in 1308, after founding the small village known as “Case di Personé” they gained the higher rank of “counts” thanks to Emperor Arrigo VIII of Luxembourg, a character also mentioned in Dante Alighieri’s “Paradiso” in the “Divine Comedy”.
The quick growth of the family forced its founders to create new surnames for themselves to be easily identified. One of these was “Personali”, and this specific branch of the family moved near Modena in 1472, precisely in San Giacomo Roncole of Mirandola. At that time Italy was still very far away from being a united country. The family soon became acquainted with the élite of Modena, especially with the Pico family , namesake of the castle of Mirandola.
In the 12th century the “Sons of Manfredo”, from which the Pico family derived, built a Ghibelline crenellated tower near Modena, this became the first home to the Personali dinasty. Then by the end of the 15th century the Counts of Mirandola gave the keep of San Giacomo Roncole to the Personali Counts. It was surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge which was then conjoined with new buildings that made up the villa.
Information
There is no future without the present and there is no present without the past.
The nickname “La Personala” came from the surname of the Counts who owned the villa, and it was only later, around the 20th century, that they joined with the noble house of Ferri hence the addition of its surname. The house soon became a place for nobility, a landmark for the local community and where ordinary judicial trials took place.
On Via Personali, next to the villa, stands the family oratory, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It was built during the first half of the 17th century by Count Francesco Personali for his personal use, given the great distance from the nearest church. The same oratory was later enriched with a chapel for festive masses. Around 1860 it was renewed and blessed from the provost Giuseppe Fei.
From the 90s on, the villa became a luxurious place for celebrating weddings and events: right here, in 2011, the wedding of the showgirl Maddalena Corvaglia and the famous guitarist Stef Burns, officiated by Vasco Rossi took place.
In 2012, the tragic earthquake that hit the entire lower Modena area caused the collapse of the tower (which had stood unscathed since 1100) and the destruction of the interior of the villa as well as the entire surrounding hamlet. Only part of the park was saved, while the swimming pool was also damaged, and the tensile structure dedicated to weddings also collapsed.
The Region and the Municipality of Mirandola, having carried out all the necessary checks and as established by the Law for earthquake victims, allowed through their intervention at Villa La Personala to start again with newfound vitality in 2021, welcoming international guests and becoming a point of reference for the Modena community.