Palazzo Rainusso

Address and contacts

Flli. Cervi, 20 - 42048 Rubiera
Phone 0039 0522 622209 - Municipal information office

Opening times

Currently closed for restoration

How to get there

Rubiera

By car
Rubiera is 12 km from the Reggio Emilia exit of the A1 motorway – National Road 9, Via Emilia –, is located on the Via Emilia and has a Train Station.
The Palazzo Civico is in the Town historical center

By train
From the Reggio Emilia railway station, Trenitalia regional train

By bus
Bus n. 2 for Rubiera

Historical notes

Around the middle of the 16th century, Palazzo Rainusso was the site of the convent of the Conventual Friars of the Madonna, first mentioned in 1570. Little information is available, but it seems that the ancient Sanctae Marie Nove de Hyrberia church was located here, as cited in a document of 1342. The original nucleus seems to have been constituted by the church and the eastern and southern wings. The cloister was built in 1635. The various needs of the friars led to the further development of the structure, with the construction of new rooms and additional buildings around a new courtyard near the northern wing of the original cloister. In 1768, with the ecclesiastic suppressions of Francesco III, the complex was appropriated and subsequently sold to Count Greppi of Milan, who transformed it into a summer residence. During this period, massive restructuring works were carried out: the eastern face of the building assumed the typical architectural characteristics of the 18th century with broad windows, cornices and balustrades, with a precise and often forced symmetry that led to the sharp cutting of the church apse and the construction of the branch on the north-eastern corner.
Subsequently the complex was purchased by Cavalier Rainusso, from whom it takes its name. Of notable architectural interest, the palazzo has two floors and an inner cloister including arches, in part masonry, divided by terracotta pilasters.
Inside, the chapter-house and a large eighteenth-century hall are of particular interest, and numerous doors are decorated with ornamental motifs and landscapes. The wrought iron gates that close the historical park, with centuries-old trees of indubitable naturalistic importance, are a fine work attributed to the Modenese Giovan Battista Malagoli (1729-1797). Following the death of Cavalier Rainusso in 1906, the property was administered by the Charitable Institutes of Santa Margherita Ligure, who sold the building to the Municipality of Rubiera in 1979.