This city gave the world the Bologna education system, Bolognese sauce, and the Bolognese dog breed. Here, in medieval surroundings, the spirit of youth lives on. You can walk without an umbrella when it rains. And the force of gravity pulls ancient skyscrapers toward the ground.
Bologna is very conveniently located—it's easy to get to Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome from here. It's comfortable to travel around Italy by train—my colleague wrote about this in a separate publication. But if you want to explore the country in more detail, it is worth renting a car — you can find information about renting a car here.
Three facts about the city
- The first settlement on these lands appeared as early as 500 BC, when the city was named Felsina. A little later, after the territory was captured by the Boii tribe, the place was renamed Bononia. The city became Bologna when it was incorporated into the Roman Empire.
- In 1088, Europe's first university opened in Bologna. Thanks to this, in the 17th century, the city became the intellectual center of this part of the world.
- Nowadays, Bologna has a population of around 400,000, a quarter of whom are students.
What to see in Bologna?
It is worth noting that the historic center of the city is beautifully preserved. The atmosphere of a medieval city reigns here. Ancient churches and imposing palaces, austere squares and winding streets, endless arcades and stone towers — this place has its own character, and cannot be confused with any other Italian city.
The main tourist attractions are located close to each other, so you can see them all while strolling leisurely through the atmospheric streets. The route I have prepared for you is only 3 kilometers long.
A. University of Bologna (Università di Bologna)
Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Copernicus, and four Roman popes studied here. A distinctive feature of the university was its management system, whereby students themselves elected deans and paid lecturers, so if they did not like them, they could replace them. However, over time, this method of organizing the educational process was abandoned.
Anyone can visit the main building, Palazzo Poggi, and admire its frescoes and sculptures. I also visited one of the faculty courtyards to soak up the atmosphere of student life.
B. Window on the Canal (Ventana al canal)
This place is considered the most Instagrammable in Bologna. The window offers a view of the canal—it turns out that two centuries ago, there were canals in the city. Only one has survived to this day; the rest are hidden underground or have dried up.
C. Via dell’Indipendenza (Independence Street)
This is the city's main shopping street, leading from the train station to Bologna's central square. It appeared at the end of the 19th century, although many of the buildings here date back to earlier periods. It's a great place to shop and enjoy the architectural beauty of the area at the same time.
D. St. Peter's Cathedral (La cattedrale metropolitana di San Pietro)
An early Christian church once stood on the site of this temple. Construction of St. Peter's Cathedral began in the 10th century, but fires and earthquakes destroyed the sanctuary. The temple was rebuilt and modernized time and time again. It became a cathedral in the 16th century. The interior of the cathedral looks luxurious because it was built during the Baroque period.
E. Neptune Square (Piazza Nettuno)
This square is adorned with a 16th-century fountain crowned with a sculpture of Neptune, created by the master Giambologna.
The god of the seas gazes upon another important landmark in Bologna—Palazzo Re Enzo. This castle was built in the 13th century. King Enzo of Sardinia was imprisoned there for over 20 years, which is why the building went down in history under his name.
F. Piazza Maggiore
The name itself suggests that it was the main square in the city. Until the end of the 19th century, it was home to a market surrounded by important institutions: the administrative building, the town hall, and Bologna's largest church, the Basilica of San Petronio.
The temple was named after the heavenly patron saint of Bologna. Incidentally, this cathedral was intended to become the largest in Italy, surpassing St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but the Pope did not allow this plan to be realized. Due to his intervention, the facade of the church remained unfinished. Inside, there is the oldest organ in Italy, made in the 15th century. Giovanni Domenico Cassini drew a meridian on the floor of the basilica, marked the signs of the zodiac in different sections, and placed an opening in the roof through which a ray of sunlight falls, indicating the month of the year.
The Church of San Petronio was built in the 14th century, but it only became the property of the church about a hundred years ago. Before that, the basilica was used not only for Christian ceremonies, but also for court hearings, city meetings, and other solemn events.
G. Archiginnasio
It used to be the main building of the University of Bologna. Now it houses a library and an anatomical theater. The latter was equipped back in the 17th century. With coffered ceilings, wooden decor, and carved statues, medical students could watch autopsies from this amphitheater until the 19th century.
H. Arcades of the Palace of the Bank of Italy (Banca D’Italia) and I. Cassa Risparmio Palace
Bologna is known as the city of arches. It has almost 40 kilometers of covered galleries, which appeared back in the Middle Ages. But they were not built so that people could walk through the streets, sheltering from the rain and sun — although this is certainly convenient. It was because, as Bologna grew, there was a need to expand living space — additional rooms were built above the columns, which allowed the roadway to be preserved. Incidentally, there are no arcades in the city that are lower than 2 meters 66 centimeters — this allowed horsemen to move freely through the corridors.
The galleries vary greatly in their decoration: some are wooden, some feature openwork stucco, and others have strange graffiti. The longest arcade leads to the Madonna di San Luca sanctuary, located on a hill, and is almost 4 kilometers long. I marked the most beautiful corridors in the city center on the map.
J. The Two Towers (Le due Torri)
There were about a hundred such skyscrapers in Bologna in the Middle Ages, but only a dozen have survived to this day. In the old days, local residents used them to measure their wealth. The towers, which became a symbol of the city, were built by two of the richest families—the Asinelli and the Garisenda. However, the construction technology was not followed, and the towers ended up leaning. One of them, the Garisenda, had to be shortened from 60 meters to its current height of 48 meters back in the 15th century. It is now closed to tourists. But you can climb the neighboring Asinelli Tower, which is 97 meters high, by climbing almost 500 steps of a wooden spiral staircase. The top of the tower is tilted by 2.2 meters, and the building is constantly being restored to prevent it from falling. To be honest, I didn't dare to climb the Asinelli Tower. If you did, please share your impressions in the comments. They say that the observation deck of the "falling" tower offers a great view of the city.
What should you definitely try in Bologna?
"Fat, red, scholarly" — that's how Dante described the city. Red refers to the roofs of the houses, scholarly refers to the famous university and huge number of students, and fat refers to the hearty meat dishes of the Emilia-Romagna region.
The city of Bologna is known worldwide for three dishes:
- Meat sauce (more precisely, ragout) Bolognese, used to prepare lasagna and pasta.
- Bright yellow egg pasta — tagliatelle.
- And also tortellini pasta—similar to small dumplings, which are served with sauce or in broth.
And then there's mortadella sausage from Bologna! The kind with a huge diameter, speckled coloring, and bits of fat, sometimes even olives, peppers, or pistachios.
Oh, I envy you if you are planning to visit Bologna soon! It will not only be beautiful, but also very tasty. However, you will need a visa to Italy. You can also book a tour to Italy.
