No survey of XVII Century Modena would be complete without mention of the Collegio San Carlo and the arcade ( or "Portico") of the same name. Apart from its importance in the city's architectural history, this building is also a key point of reference for the people of Modena. When people agree to meet "in centro", they know very well that they mean the area between the College's arcade, the Molinari bar and the well known news stand on the cross-roads where via Farini and via San Carlo meet via Emilia. The work of Avanzini, who also designed the Palazzo Ducale, the arcade was designed to create a striking effect, forming a curve which leads the eye on along the 31 elegant marble columns transformed by perspective into a kind of wall. The arcade seems to force via Emilia into a curve leading to the entry to the College and the San Carlo church, but a slice of pavement which gradually projects beyond the columns really keeps the street itself on a straighter path. Although it was built in a series of stages and only completed in the late XVIII Century, the arcade faithfully maintains the lines of Avanzini's design. It is curious to note that the shop at n. 151 has always been a pharmacy, ever since the first part of the arcade was completed, and tradition also states that there has always been a book shop under the arcade, although it has occupied a number of different premises.

The arcade crowns a building opened in 1626 to house the Collegio dei Nobili, which soon acquired the name San Carlo after the congregation which ran it. Transformed into a Foundation in the 1970s, it now contains a University Hall of Residence, a Library and an active Cultural Centre, which is open to the city.