L Constructed from 1099 onwards (the first stone was laid on the 9th June) and consecrated by Pope Lucio III in 1184, Modena Cathedral is one of the best masterpieces of Romanesque Europe thanks to the architectural structure of Lanfranco and the sculptural pieces of Wiligelmo. Interventions which altered the original project were realised between the Twelfth and the Fourteenth Centuries by the Campionesi Maestros who constructed the rose-window on the facade and the completed the Ghirlandina Tower.

The construction of the building represented the greatest moment for art and for medieval civilisation in Modena and took place in a very fervent period of reconstruction of churches and cathedrals in all the Italian Po area. As a summary of the spiritual life of the community, the cathedral is at the same time the bible of the poor and of the illiterate (as it testifies the depiction of Genesis which is sculptured by Wiligelmo on the facade) but also a great synthesis of the essential elements of life of the medieval cathedral.

The studies of the last decade have brought to light the points of excellence within the cathedral, precisely defining its unique and original characteristics in the context of Italian and European Romanesque sculpture. From Modena, the innovations introduced by Wiligelmo expand over a wide territorial basin and to the fundamental lessons of sculpture are referable to any of the mediaeval Italian monuments The facade of the cathedral also bears witness to one of the first recognisable signatures of a sculpturer.

In the celebration programme the inauguration of two new museums; the re-opening of the Lapidario Museum, exhibitions, conventions and concerts in the town and in the province.

Two new museums and a third which will re-open after restoration, exhibitions, conventions, concerts of music, conferences, guided-tours. With this programme, realised by the Council and by the Arch-Bishop, Modena celebrates the ninth century of the Cathedral and prepares itself for 2000 year of the Jubilee.

In autumn, with the preparation of a new visit route, the lapidary museum of the cathedral will open: it conserves 150 works of sculptures and architectural fragments dating between the Sixth and Fifteenth Centuries. Amongst these there are the 8 great metope which decorate the roofs of the cathedral and which represent the creatures which, according to Medieval people, used to populate the inexplorable and inaccessible regions at the extreme borders of the earth. Again in the autumn, in rooms adjacent to the vestry, there will be the inauguration of the Treasure Museum of the Cathedral. This contains apparatus and objects of gold and silver used in the course of the centuries for lithurgical celebrations and, amongst valuable works of art, there are 16 precious Flemmish tapestries. The two museums which will have a common reception area, ticket office and bookshop vale, along with the cathedral and the Ghirlandina Tower, an historical and artistic tour which is entirely concentrated inside the cathedral.

The inaccessible or least visited parts of the construction of Lanfranco can be admired in the exhibition "The cathedral revealed" as from 24 April until 4 July unpublished images shot by Ghogo Roli for a new photographic atlas will be held in the san Carlo Church. From the 4 December of this year until 6 February 2000 the san Carlo Church will host a second photographic exhibition dedicated to the significance of the pilgrimage and the Jubilee. From 18 March until 11 July 2000 there will be a demonstration on the courtyards of the cathedral, on the Cathedral itself and on art in Emilia Romagna between the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
The ninth centenary will also offer to scholars the opportunity to test their level of knowledge. From 17 until 19 November the international convention on medieval artist will take place in the centre on art and architecture in Emilia Romagna between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The 3 December, as a day of study, will be dedicated to medieval town-planning in Modena and on the 13 and 14 April 2000 there will be convention which will tackle the theme "The Modenese Church and the problems of assistance in the Thirteenth to Seventeenth Centuries"
In addition, the programme will include holy music in the cathedral and in the churches of the town and the province. Conferences will take place in the main square during the summer and visits conducted by modenese artists.

The celebrations began on 9 June with the unveiling of a plaques in titanium which signal that in 1997 UNESCO inscribed the Cathedral, Ghirlandina Tower and Piazza Grande in the World Heritage List.