History of Carpi

While Carpi is a small town that nearly everyone around the world things you are mispronouncing when trying to say "Capri", it is a town full of a rich history! Their is a castle and a church that have been around for centuries. There are two piazza's, an old one that sits between the castle and church and the new, much larger piazza that has served as the main piazza since the Pio family, or the rulers of Carpi, changed the way the castle faced in the 1400's. Not only does it have many old, beautiful buildings but it also houses a few museums within what use to be the Pio Palace, or the castle. There is a tour that can be taken through almost the entire castle to see where the Pio family used to reside. The museum also shows the progression of the city of Carpi and it's textile empire over the past few centuries. Not only is there a museum that covers the history of Carpi and all that has led to what it is today, but there is also a small commemorative museum that holds artifacts and the strong, brave words of many victims of the holocaust camp that was located right outside Carpi in Fossili. We have had the privelage of going into see both of these museums, and while the Pio Palace is beautiful and full of many paintings and rooms, it was the "Museo della Deportazione" or the Museum of deportation, that really got to me. Across all of the walls there is at least one quote from a victim or survivor of the camp, words of fear, hatred, weakness, courage and strength. There are also many different paintings that were drawn to depict the horror within the camps and the victims of such terrible events. Those carvings in the wall along with the artifacts, such as barbed wire, letters, jumpsuits, etc. made the museum an intense experience that I am so thankful I got to hear about. While it is very sad, the words that were on the walls were not at all what I expected nor thought were possible from people living in such a place. Everyone should go to this museum or at least visit the memorial that is outside the museum in the form of 6 meter tall gravestones with all the names of the concentration, deportation and work camps that were opened in world war 2.