Former Zucchi Barracks, head office of Modena and Reggio Emilia University

Address and contacts

Viale Allegri, 9 - 42121 Reggio nell'Emilia
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Opening times

The palace is accessible during the opening times of  the University

How to get there

Reggio nell'Emilia - Town centre

Historical notes

The building works were concluded in 1853 in neoclassical style. In 1854 the soldiers from Palazzo della Cittadella were temporarily transferred to the Foro Boario, that was finally assigned as a Barracks in 1877; in the same year a boundary wall around the courtyard was built.
Ten years later the Foro Boario was officially designated as barracks, named after Carlo Zucchi, the Napoleonic general who participated in the Montenegro and Hungarian campaigns and in the Battle of Beresina.
Until 1975 the Zucchi Barracks were occupied by the army. In the following years the Council appointed it as a display area for the Civic Museums, as the seat of the “Achille Peri” Musical Institute and as the Social Centre “Catomes Tot”.
In the 90s the renovation of the whole building was started and since 2005 the building has housed the offices of Modena and Reggio Emilia University.

The big entrance porch houses “Araba fenice” by Luciano Fabro, a well known artist of “Arte povera” movement. It is a marble “travertino” column seven meters high.