The Rocca di Sestola rises on a rocky spur above the town, on a site inhabited since prehistoric times. It was a Roman garrison, then a Lombard stronghold, and in the 16th century the Este family turned it into a fortress: the outer walls date from that period. Inside there is a 15th-century fresco cycle dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and a small church, now an oratory.
Today the Rocca is a museum complex run by the E’ Scamàdul cultural association together with the municipality. The Museum of Mountain Life, opened in 1986 in the former stables of the governor’s palace, tells the story of everyday life in the Apennines, with the workshops of the blacksmith, the carpenter and the shoemaker, a kitchen, a bedroom, a cellar, a stable and a room devoted to snow, with sledges and skis of the past. Upstairs, the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments displays more than a hundred pieces from the collection of the Dutchman Eduard Thoenes, from the 17th century to the present day: barrel organs, cylinder pianos, phonographs and gramophones, nearly all in working order and played during the visit.
The tour also includes a room dedicated to the soprano Teresina Burchi, an exhibition of Frignano artists and, in the tower, a display on prehistory and archaeology. The terrace looks out over the town and the valleys; outside the walls, the Covetta park is a good spot for a stroll or a picnic.