This building, which dates back to the 16th century, plays a crucial role in the history of Carpi at the time of the Nazi-Fascist occupation. In the church rectory the communists Corassori, Losi and Sbrillanci meet on December 27, 1943 with Bishop Aldo Valentini to establish the first National Liberation Committee (CLN) unit of Carpi sharing a common goal: finding communal ways of fighting in order to overthrow the fascist regime and free from the German occupation. After some contacts with Bishop Vegilio Dalla Zuanna and other anti-fascists, the CLN was formed by representatives from all opposition parties: communists, Catholics, members of the Action Party, of the Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity as well as the independents.
The guiding and coordinating activity of the various Resistance actions begins. Meetings are mainly held inside the premises of the town seminary and inside the houses of Don Benatti and lawyer Scaglioli.
This committee managed the first of seven partisan zones created in the Modenese plain, encompassing the municipalities of Carpi, Soliera, Novi, Campogalliano and some hamlets of Modena. The partisan formations that operated there were among the most active in the province, conducting significant military actions particularly from the spring of 1944.
The resistance was not only military. At the same time, the CLN adopted strategies to protect the area's agricultural assets, redistributing to the local population part of the goods removed from requisitions and raids by the Germans. At the same time, the CLN started also to work underground inside the factories promoting sabotage actions against production and recruiting new members.
A distinctive feature of the CLN's work was being deeply-rooted with the population, which allowed it to exercise de facto government functions, even before the Liberation. A symbolic moment of this control of the territory is represented by the speech given at Palazzo Scacchetti on Liberation Day April 22, 1945 by Emilio Cabassi, president of the Carpi CLN known by the battle name Franchi, despite the presence of belligerent Germans in the town.
