# Bologna: falling in love with La Rossa



## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Day 1, Saturday 16/1: “Ciaaao, I am Bolooogna”*

Preparing for my short internship in Italy in 2016, I was looking forward to visiting Bologna as the sightseeing and nightlife destination of choice, being among Italy’s largest and most vibrant cities, with a well-preserved historic center that is among the most extensive in Europe, and located only 35km from Imola where I was based. So that’s where I headed right away on my first weekend. After my arrival, I lost more than an hour at the train station trying to figure out when the last train to Imola was, how to buy tickets, and which bus line to take to go to the center and back, all the while being harassed by beggars from Eastern Europe (a not so pleasant first contact with the city), then finally boarded the bus that stops right outside the historic area, which I learned at that moment is pedestrianized on weekends. While asking the driver for instructions, I was overheard by an old woman who spoke surprisingly good English, and she offered me to show me around some of the main sights of the center, where she was planning to meet her husband later.

We got down next to the Basilica of San Francesco, and walked eastwards towards Piazza Maggiore, the city’s most central and best known square. Since we were chatting all along, it was only when we actually reached the square that I snapped my first pictures of the city. Here we see the impressive Palazzo d’Accursio with its landmark clock tower, housing the city hall, and the medieval looking Palazzo dei Notai:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

On the other side is the huge Basilica of San Petronio (Saint Petronius), patron saint of Bologna. The picture eerily evokes Giosuè Carducci’s poem Nella Piazza di San Petronio (“On the Square of St Petronius”):

“Surges in the clear winter the dark turreted Bologna,
And the hill over it laughs, white with snow
It is the suave hour when the dying sun salutes
The towers and your temple, divine Petronius”

I have to say that, despite the clear winter sky, the weather was bitterly cold, and I was wearing a scarf around my neck for one of the first times of my life!


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

I’ll get back to these same landmarks over the next days of my visit and provide some information about them. After I asked for a map and information at the tourist center on the northern side of the square, my guide showed me the surprising “whispering arcade” located right next to it (again, more on this in the next days), and by that time, it was already late afternoon and the sun had started to set. We walked through one of the arches of the elegant Palazzo dei Banchi on the eastern side of Piazza Maggiore, to find ourselves in the narrow alleys of the Quadrilatero, the old medieval market, lined with shops selling Grana Padano cheese and mortadella (a specialty of Bologna) as well as tables and chairs:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Walking through the market area, we arrive to the dark and medieval looking Via Sampieri:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Then take Via Santo Stefano southwestwards towards the homonymous square. This is where I first take notice of the elegant and extensive porticoes that Bologna is famous for, of which there are over 45 km sheltering the sidewalks all around the city, but particularly in the historic center. The one below runs under Palazzo Bolognini:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

At the southeastern end of Santo Stefano square stands the unique Basilica of Santo Stefano, which is actually a complex of several interconnected religious edifices. It is locally known as Sette Chiese ("Seven Churches") and Santa Gerusalemme ("Holy Jerusalem"), because according to tradition it was built by Bologna’s patron saint San Petronio, then bishop of the city, who wished to create a complex of seven churches that reproduced the locations of Christ’s Passion.

The entrance to this ecclesiastical labyrinth is through the largest and most prominent church, the 8th century Church of St Stephen or of the Holy Crucifix, which also gives its name to the whole complex:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

The name refers to a large suspended crucifix dating from the 14th century, and the church also contains a Baroque sculpture of the crucifixion, but my attention was caught instead by a large Nativity scene that had been set in the holiday period and still hadn’t been removed:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

To the other side is the late 4th century Church of Saints Vitale and Agricola, which is actually the oldest part of the complex. It is dedicated to two saints, a servant and master, who were the first two martyrs from Bologna at the time of Diocletian. In the 15th century there was a belief that the remains of Saint Peter were housed there, and as a result, the Pope of the time had the roof removed and the church filled with soil to prevent it from affecting the pilgrim trade in Rome!


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

In the middle is the 5th century Church of the Holy Sepulcher, intended to be similar to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Built on the site of a Roman temple to Isis, it is octagonal in shape, and thus in all probability was originally a baptistery. Temples to Isis were usually rededicated in Christian times to the Madonna or Saint Mary Magdalene, and although this one was named after the Holy Sepulcher, during the middle ages, the prostitutes of Bologna would come here on Easter Sunday to pray in memory of Mary Magdalene. This part also originally housed the relics of San Petronio, found here in the 12th century, but in 2000 the body of the saint was moved to the much larger Basilica of San Petronio, where his head already was:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

The 13th-century Holy Garden or Courtyard of Pilate, so called to commemorate the location of Jesus’ trial, is accessed from inside the Church of the Sepulcher. It is bordered by a portico in Romanesque style with cruciform columns in brick, while in the center is an 8th century limestone basin called Catino di Pilato (“Pilate's Cat”). The basin was once believed to be the one used by Pontius Pilate to wash his hands before sending Jesus to his death, however the most plausible theory today states that it was a receptacle for donations of bread and wine to be distributed to the clergy and the poor:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

The complex also houses a Benedictine cloister, larger than the courtyard of Pilate and built on two floors, of which the lower one bears large pre-Romanesque (10th century) arch openings, while the upper one is a 12th-century Romanesque loggia with some grotesque capitals shaped like human heads. In its center stands an impressive limestone well:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

The bell tower, originally from the 13th century but raised in the 19th century, can be clearly seen from the cloister:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

We exit the complex, and it feels good to be back to the light after the dark and otherworldly atmosphere inside! Heading back to where we came from, we pass through the triangular square of San Stefano, lined with palaces. The most impressive of these is the 15th-century Palazzo Isolani on the northeastern side, with its reddish hue, white Corinthian capitals of the portico’s columns, and the elegant ogival arches above the windows that bear medallions with busts:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

On the other (southwestern) side of the square is a picturesque group of houses dating back to the 13th-15th centuries, in well-preserved Gothic style. Notable is Casa Sforno, whose part of the portico bears only one arch that is however higher than all the others. The Sforno were Jews who came from Barcelona to Bologna in the 15th century:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

We stop at a small eatery in a side alley where I have fresh ravioli with a ricotta and spinach filling in a 4-cheese sauce, fresh pasta being one of the culinary specialties of Bologna. By the time we continue towards Piazza di Porta Ravegnana, home to the city’s emblematic “Two Towers”, night has fallen and it’s time for me to part ways with my guide and head for a wild night out, but not before snapping this shot of the lit towers:










While I didn’t see much of Bologna on this first day, it was enough to make me realize the immense artistic and architectural wealth to be found there, and I can’t wait to be back next day to explore for more!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice new thread, cat; great photos from Bologna :cheers:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Guys, for every other day I spent in Bologna I'm going to post a map of the city with my itinerary as usual (the first afternoon was nothing but a quick glance), so let's "waste" a few posts so I can directly post the map on the second page  Any questions/discussion about the previous pictures?


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## Brazilian001 (Apr 22, 2012)

Glad to see you have finally opened your own Bologna thread! Great start, I'll be waiting for the next updates! kay:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Italy is full of magic.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Please poost more photos from Bologna, cat :cheers:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

openlyJane said:


> Italy is full of magic.


It is! Italian cities are overall the most attractive among those I have been to.



christos-greece said:


> Please poost more photos from Bologna, cat :cheers:


Coming right away! I was not at home today, that's why I didn't post anything.


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Here is first of all a satellite map of the city, with the red rectangle delimiting the areas I visited, and a detailed map of the center showing my itinerary, where the numbers reference the locations of the pictures:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Day 2, Sunday 17/1: “I think I love you ma’am!”*

*Map: 1*

Taking the same bus as the previous day, I get down again next to the Basilica of San Francesco. Founded in the 13th century by the Franciscan friars, it is considered the first and one of the best examples of French Gothic architecture in Italy. The apse of the church looks onto the main street while the façade looks onto a small square on the other side. Remarkable are the flying buttresses and the two bell towers, the largest of which is in 15th-century Gothic architecture while the other is Romanesque of 1260:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 1*

At the feet of the apse stand three 13th-century mausoleums of the Glossators of the Bolognese School, who were some of the most important professors of law of the Studium, as the University of Bologna was called until 1800. The one seen here (the green pyramidal structure) houses the ark of the jurist Accursio and his son Francesco:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 2*

Across the street stands one of the four surviving gates (out of a total of 18) of Bologna’s second circle of walls, built in brick starting the 11th century as the city began to grow, and thus commonly called Cerchia del Mille (Circle of the Millenium). These gates were all surmounted by a tower and often took the name of the street on which they opened; the one seen here is called Torresoto di Porta Nuova (since it opens on Via Porta Nuova), or alternatively Voltone di San Francesco (in reference to the church across the street):


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 3*

A little bit to the north is a palace whose peach tones are beautifully highlighted by the bright sun rays. But don’t let the sun fool you, the weather was still very cold:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 4*

Further north, the square intersects with Via Ugo Bassi, which follows the route of the antique Via Aemilia, and whose current aspect is the result of the enlargement works executed in the interwar period. It is lined with grand buildings in neo-Renaissance or eclectic style, atypical of fascist architecture of that era, with elegant porticoes and upscale shops on the ground floor:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 5*

The street is closed to traffic on weekends, so I decide to follow it eastwards till the area of Piazza Maggiore. The salmon-colored palace on the left, built for the Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni, is especially imposing. Torre Asinelli, the tallest of the emblematic “Two Towers”, forms a dramatic backdrop at the eastern end:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 6*

While to the other side stands the deconsecrated 17th-century church of Santa Maria delle Laudi, popularly known as "Ospedaletto" as it also housed the hospital of the Compagnia dei Laudesi. The small brick building with two axes is what remains of Palazzo Ghisilieri. Built in the 15th century, it passed later into the hands of the Swiss family Brun, who turned it into one of the most refined hotels in the city until World War 2, when it was badly hit by an air raid:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 6*

I’m especially impressed as well by the large building on the right, whose main floor features large ornate balconies at the corners, and which houses several hotels:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 7*

I decide to briefly take a look at the smaller Monte Grappa street, which runs almost parallel to Ugo Bassi. While it’s nowhere as impressive, it has a cutesy Mediterranean feel and I like the warm colors of the buildings, oscillating in a palette of ochre and peach:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 8*

The huge bell tower of San Pietro cathedral can be seen in the back:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 9*

I return to Via Ugo Bassi, eager to admire more monumental palaces:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 9*

Of particular interest is Palazzo della Zecca, as it was originally built in the 16th century. The modernization and enlargement works of the 20th century gave it the same character as the rest of the street, but the older façade was saved and transferred to the back side:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 9*

On the corner of the first floor is a panel depicting the logo of Assicurazioni Generali, a winged lion:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 10*

The remaining stretch of the street however is more peculiar. While the left side still shows a row of building with porticoes (the so-called Portici della Gabella), the right side is occupied by an imposing medieval brick structure, part of the extensive complex of Palazzo d’Accursio that also houses the city hall:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 10*

This part of the complex sits on ancient remains that most likely correspond to the Roman forum, as the spot coincides with the intersection of the ancient Cardo Maximus and Decumanus Maximus streets. In the 14th century, a fortified structure was built, destined to host the troops of the Palazzo Communale, and transformed later into a veritable fortress with crenellated walls, an internal garden, stables and lodgings for the pontifical guards. The large corner tower, called Torrone, dates from this period:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 11*

The area previously occupied by the garden was used in the second half of the 19th century as a stock exchange, hence the name Sala Borsa the whole structure is still known with. Since 2001, it has housed the public library of Bologna, which by extension is known as Biblioteca Salaborsa:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 12*

Set against the northern wall of the complex is the impressive Fontana Vecchia (“Old Fountain”). It was built in 1563 to provide the population with drinking water, as the water of the Fountain of Neptune (to be seen soon) was for the exclusive use of Palazzo d'Accursio:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 13*

Right afterwards, I arrive to the intersection of Via Ugo Bassi with Via dell’Indipendenza, the main vertical artery of the center that extends until the central railway station. To the right are the interconnected Piazza del Nettuno and Piazza Maggiore, the heart of the city and home to several of its most important landmarks, while Via Rizzoli continues towards the emblematic “Two Towers”:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 34*

I decide to explore the area south of Piazza Maggiore. Before leaving, here is a nice panoramic shot of the square showing its landmark buildings:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 38*

Looking west from the level of the Basilica’s façade is the rather austere Portico della Morte (“Portico of Death”), which takes its name from the building along which it runs, a former hospital run by the Company of Death, and today home to the Civic Archaeological Museum. The members of the Company of Death took care of the serious and incurable patients and comforted the condemned to death:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 39*

The portico perpendicular to it runs under the Archiginnasio, built in 1563 to serve as the first permanent seat of the Studium, as the University of Bologna was known back then. Known as Pavaglione, it is made up 30 columns of stone forming 29 arches, and since the 19th century has housed shops of well-known clothing companies and household items, cafes, and the famous Zanichelli bookshop:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Following the Pavaglione, I soon arrive to Via Farini and meet a different face of the city. Via Farini is considered one of the most luxurious areas of Bologna and one of the major haute-couture shopping centers in Italy. Its construction was started at the end of the 19th century, when the surrounding area was subject to demolition works intended to make the city representative of the new, post-Unification political course, becoming thus a sample of bourgeois architecture.

*Map: 40*

The first palace to catch my eye is the elegant Palazzo Cavazza, with balconies at the two ends of its façade, and busts of illustrious scientists and artists lined below the cornice. It served as the city residence of the counts Cavazza, whose salon became a reference point for the Bolognese cultural, political, artistic and philanthropic life, and a crossroads of the most eminent personalities of the time. The portico of the Palace was seriously damaged during the bombings of 1943, and later restored:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 41*

I walk east towards Piazza Cavour under the elegant narrow portico of the north side of the street:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 41*

The square’s western side is entirely occupied by the grand neoclassical Palazzo della Banca d’Italia:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 42*

The palace is notable for its splendid portico decorated with paintings in vivid colors:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 42*

Each part of the vault represents a historical episode, starting from the most ancient history, up to more recent episodes linked to the Italian Unification:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 43*

Further to the east is the interestingly shaped Palazzo Lucchini Zambeccari, which is actually one of the area’s oldest surviving buildings, having been erected in the 16th century by the Lucchini family, a rich family of bankers and silk merchants of Genovese origin:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 49*

The facade was redesigned in the 1873 in eclectic style by the palace’s new owners, the Zambeccari family:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

The colonnades are a real feature. I love them. They provide shelter from all types of weather, plus they create an air of learning/idealism: Such cloisters exist in churches and universities.


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

openlyJane said:


> The colonnades are a real feature. I love them. They provide shelter from all types of weather, plus they create an air of learning/idealism: Such cloisters exist in churches and universities.


I love them too, they're perhaps the main reason why I "fell in love with La Rossa"


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 43*

Across the street stands one of the area’s most monumental palaces, Palazzo di Residenza della Cassa di Risparmio di Bologna. In 1868, the Cassa di Risparmio of Bologna entrusted the task of creating a prestigious representative office to one of the protagonists of Italian eclecticism, Giuseppe Mengoni, known in the same years for the construction of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 45*

The majestic palace covered with variegated marble and cast iron finishes was completed in 5 years. On the area currently occupied by it there were previous buildings, some dating back to the Gothic period, demolished to make room for the palace itself, then to the post office building and the adjacent Piazza Minghetti:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 50*

The Palazzo di Cassa di Risparmio was designed following the example of avant-garde architectural schools present at the Paris Exhibition that year. The goal was not to adapt to the urban context, but rather to transfigure it with a monumental work unrelated to the place, in line with the change that took place within a few years from the Unification of Italy: the model of reference was no longer Italian history, but the great European capitals:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 46*

Many workers were called to perform every type of architectural, sculptural and furnishing decoration. This is especially visible on the northern façade where the main entrance is located, and my heart skips a beat when I get to see the abundance of intricate details:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 49*

Another noteworthy feature of the palace is the portico along Via Farini, surmounted by a stuccoed ceiling and decorated with elegant metal lamp holders still in use:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 45*

The western façade of Palazzo di Cassa di Risparmio looks onto Piazza Minghetti, opened in 1893 and decorated with trees and flower beds. Together with the nearby Piazza Cavour, it was intended to give the area the characteristics of a city - garden, a typically 19th-century romantic style conception. In the center of the square stands the statue of Marco Minghetti. In the back is one of the surviving medieval towers of Bologna, the 12th-century Torre Toschi, built as the name suggests by a family of Tuscan origin. It is 26 meters tall (but was originally taller) and embedded today in other buildings:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Halfway through the first day, let's open the next page already


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 46*

As there is plenty of light, I decide to take better pictures of “Little Venice”, the uncovered stretch of Canale delle Moline that is found nearby. The Bolognese canal network was developed gradually between the 12th and 16th centuries, drawing water from the Savena and Reno rivers that flow a few kilometers outside Bologna, and connected to the natural Aposa stream that flowed through the city. The canals were initially needed to feed the moat of the second circle of city walls and to power Bologna’s numerous wheat mills:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 47*

After the processing of silk was introduced from Lucca to Bologna towards the end of the 13th century, the canal network allowed a large-scale silk spinning industry to flourish in the city, which became the largest textile center in Italy. A navigable canal was also opened for commercial traffic, Canale Navile, which crossed the plain to join the Po River and from there the Adriatic Sea, and through which Bologna commercialized its silk yarns in all of Europe:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 47*

The water mills, already several dozen in 1300, became hundreds in the 17th century, with 40% of the population of Bologna living of silk spinning. Canale delle Moline, which powered many of these mills, rejoins with the other canals and the Aposa stream further north, forming the navigable Canale Navile. The water network was progressively covered starting in the 1950s, and is today almost completely buried, except for Canale Navile, which was still used for navigation until the 1950s:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 47*

On Via Piella, from where both stretches of the canal can be seen, stands another one of the four surviving gates of Bologna’s second circle of walls, Torresoto di Porta Govese or Voltone dei Piella. On the side of the gate is a Madonna with Saints from the 17th century:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 48*

Afterwards, I decide to explore the area west of Via dell’Indipendenza, where I noticed there were several interesting palaces the previous Sunday while going out for the night. I cross the lively street, snapping one more picture of the impressive brick and terracotta palaces I saw that Sunday as well:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 48*

And of an interesting portico with a red stuccoed ceiling on the other side:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 49*

I first encounter the small church of Santa Maria della Pioggia. Originally known as the Church of San Bartolomeo di Reno (“di Reno” refers to the fact that Canale di Reno flowed alongside it before being covered), it was later dedicated to the Virgin of the Rain, of which a painting considered miraculous is preserved inside. Traces of faded paintings and of a clock can still be seen on its simple façade:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 49*

The north-south street running in front of it, Via Galliera, is lined with elegant palaces that were often residences of senatorial families. The first one south of the church is Palazzo Felicini Fibbia, built in 1497. It preserves almost entirely its original Renaissance architecture in brick with terracotta ornaments and a portico with Corinthian stone capitals, which I feel helped inspire the design of the newer and larger brick and terracotta palaces on Via dell’Indipendenza. Interesting are the small occuli (circular windows) opening below the cornice:










Some texts of modern commentators affirm that Leonardo da Vinci, who had arrived in Bologna in 1514, began to paint his Mona Lisa in this palace.


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 49*

Facing it is Palazzo Bonasoni, built in the 16th century and incorporating the porticoes of pre-existing 15th-century buildings, which is why some irregularities can be seen in it. Characteristic are the mid-trunk collars of the columns, the decorations of the capitals, and the stone ornaments above the windows. Another peculiarity is the elevation of the palace respectively to the street level, with the portico being accessed through a flight of stairs:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 50*

Bellow is the beautiful Casa Calzolari, also known as Palazzo Pallavicini Nuovo. Built in 1876, it is not as old as the rest of the street’s palaces, but undoubtedly one of the most eye-catching with its abundance of carvings and decorations, particularly on the portico’s arches, on the window frames, and below the cornice:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 51*

Another singular structure is found next to it, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. One of the oldest churches in Bologna, with origins dating back to the 5th century, it was rebuilt several times, taking its current shape in 1665, when its original orientation was reversed and the new façade on Via Galliera equipped with a portico and two rows of windows (however the triangular pediment on top is a mid-20th-century addition). The impressive 12th-century bell tower is made of exposed brick with a molded cornice. The church is closed for restoration as it was damaged by the 2012 Emilia earthquake:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 50*

Next to the church stands the beautiful and imposing Palazzo Aldrovandi Montanari, a senatorial palace built in the first half of the 18th century. Lacking the typical portico seen in older Bolognese palaces, it is nonetheless the largest and most visible structure on Via Galliera:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 53*

The valuable Rococo façade, ornamented with Istrian marble, is characterized by the low height of the ground floor, desired on purpose by the owner. The windows are very ornate and peculiar, with those of the ground floor crowned by undulating arches and covered with elaborate wrought-iron grates, unique in their kind, and those of the main floor crowned by ogee-shaped arches:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 51*

Also remarkable is the monumental portal, supporting a curved balcony onto which opens a large window surmounted by a broken pediment, in the center of which rises the family’s coat-of-arms. The palace once housed a large art collection, which eventually made its way to the National Gallery of “Lundun”:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 52*

There are other interesting buildings on the other side of the street. Among the most noticeable ones is Casa Cervi Bertoni, on the corner with Via Volturno. Built in 1478, it shows a mix of Bolognese Renaissance and Gothic styles, expressed in particular in the pointed arch windows, and likely helped inspire the brick palace with Gothic features I saw earlier on Via dell’Indipendenza. The capitals of the portico’s columns are also peculiar. Next to it is another brick and terracotta building, Casa Argelati, with three beautifully decorated mullioned windows on the first floor:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 52*

A little below is the 16th-century Palazzo Dal Monte Gaudenzi. The palace exemplifies a more sober style of Bolognese Renaissance, with its façade lacking terracotta ornaments, being instead enriched by ornamental Corinthian columns in sandstone. The small front balcony was added in the 18th century, and the palace was made taller with the addition of a top floor slightly set back in late 18th-century style:










Like Palazzo Bonasoni a little bit north, the portico is elevated above the street level and accessed through a flight of stairs; in fact, the same happens with all the palaces on that side of the street for some reason.


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 53*

Next to it is Palazzo Conforti, another palace built in the 16th century, and originally completely decorated with terracotta. Almost completely destroyed by the bombing of 29 January 1944, it was rebuilt a few years later. You can notice that some of the columns have square sections or a number of flat faces:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 54*

Arriving to Via Manzoni, I notice right away Palazzo Ghisilardi-Fava with its elevated portico. Built in the late 15th century on pre-existing medieval houses, it fully represents the architectural model of the Bentivoglio period, and is considered one of the most illustrious examples of Bolognese Renaissance. The palace also stands on Roman remains, and large blocks of selenite attributed to the imperial fortress of the early city walls can still be seen in its masonry structure. Additionally, the 13th-century Torre dei Conoscenti, with the typical characteristics of a tower-house, rises in the courtyard of the palace and is incorporated into it. The palace houses today the Medieval Civic Museum of Bologna:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates once again, cat :cheers:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 62*

I decide to continue my exploration of the more western parts of the historical center, and exit Piazza Maggiore from the southwestern corner, between the city hall and Palazzo dei Notai. I encounter a large fortified structure right next to the city hall, whose name and function in this very central part of the city I’m clueless about:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 61*

It turns out to be the fortified hind part of Palazzo d’Accursio, whose northern flank I saw the previous week walking on Via Ugo Bassi. The square towers at the corners and in the middle of the western side (Torroni) look especially impressive, even more so under these particular light conditions:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 60*

A different kind of tower is visible towards the southwestern corner (in the back), closer in shape to the city’s surviving noble towers. Called Torre dei Lappi, some scholars hypothesize it was originally one of the gateways of the first circle of walls, before being bought and restored by the Lappi family for their personal needs. The Lappi resold it in the 14th century to the Commune of Bologna who wanted to expand the Palazzo Communale, into whose wall it was then incorporated. The tower originally stood taller (probably 30 meters), but was lowered during the Napoleonic era to its current 18 meters:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 61*

Next to Torre Lapi is the entrance to the narrow portico of Palazzo Caprara with its elegant groined vault. Erected in 1603, the palace is notable for having housed Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805, who decided to buy it the following year:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 62*

A little west stands Palazzo Dall’Armi Marescalchi, originally from 1466, but rebuilt in the 17th century and later expanded. It is noticeable for its heavy architraved portico and the protruding decorative elements on its façade. The palace west of it, Palazzo Sorra Munarini, was joined to it in the 19th century, and later raised by two floors in neoclassical style; this is where famous Bologna native Guglielmo Marconi (after whom the city’s airport is named) was born in 1874:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 64*

Across the street from it stands the interesting 16th-century Casa Castaldini, notable for its Gothic elements such as the beautiful terracotta cornice and the pointed arch that gives access to the portico. However, the building’s northern façade is screaming “restore me now!”


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 63*

Facing Casa Castaldini is a huge church of pinkish brick, in a style apparently widespread in Emilia Romagna, the church of San Salvatore. It was built in its current form in the 17th century, as shown by the decorative elements typical of churches of that period: large windows with sandstone frames, pilasters with Corinthian capitals, large frieze with inscriptions in Latin, etc.


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 65*

The façade is typical of Baroque churches of the 17th and 18th centuries, and divided by a cornice into two parts, with a large window opening in the upper part and set within a showy stone frame. The façade also has four niches containing terracotta statues of the Four Evangelists, originally painted in fake bronze, and a pediment crowned by three copper statues:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 65*

The portal opening in the center is particularly impressive, and its dimensions give me high expectations of the interior, which I’m more than happy to visit as the church is open:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 66*

The interior consists of a single nave, and is characterized by large clusters of Corinthians columns and pilasters in pale stone that divide each side into three chapels:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 66*

Each of the central, larger chapels is flanked by two pairs of niches housing marble statues of saints and prophets; a skillfully carved walnut pulpit is additionally found outside the left one:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 66*

Each of the smaller, “protruding” chapels has a fresco panel on the arch above it depicting one of the Four Evangelists. The last chapel on the left houses a fine 16th-century Crucifixion and Saints, which was admired by the famous Tuscan art historian and architect Vasari:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 66*

While the chapel facing it on the right side has an elaborate altarpiece housing the 14th-century Madonna della Vittoria (“Madonna of Victory”), which until the 18th century was preserved in another church:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 66*

The apse surrounds an elaborate polychrome marble altar, and is lined with a marble balustrade and divided by pilasters into five sections. In the central section is the main altarpiece depicting Jesus the Savior in Glory, while the four other sections house paintings of prophets:










I’m surprised to learn about an odd 16th-century canvas housed in the right transept and depicting The Miracle of the Beirut Crucifix, an unexpected reference to the capital of my homeland, but which I didn’t get to see. The said canvas tells of an event of the year 320 in the Roman city of Berytus (today’s Beirut), when a stolen crucifix began to bleed, causing the local Jewish population, who had been persecuting Christians, to convert.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates once again, cat


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 67*

Exiting the church, I continue southwards on Via Cesare Battistsi, which is actually not named after the far-left criminal (although Bologna’s strong leftist character may lead one to think so) but after a patriot hanged by the Austrians during WW1. I find an open portal which leads into a peaceful porticoed courtyard, all in brick and terracotta except for the stone capitals. The courtyard belongs to Palazzo Felicini Calda:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 68*

On the left is a large building of unusual and austere character, entirely in bare brick and with a ground floor reminiscent of a fortress. I didn’t manage to find its name, but suspect it is actually part Palazzo Monti Salina right to the south, as it appears to form a certain continuity with it:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 69*

The façade of Palazzo Monti Salina looks onto another street, Via Barberia, and reminds me of Palazzo Aldrovandi Montanari which I saw earlier on Via Galliera, both in terms of size and layout, but with a more sober decorative apparatus and a darker color. It was indeed built in roughly during the same period, in 1738. Aside from its eye-catching red color, the palace is notable for its majestic door supporting the balcony, which in turn is surmounted by a “French window” on which is articulated an elaborate coat-of-arms:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 69*

To the other side is the deconsecrated church of San Barbaziano, whose presence there is already documented in 12th-century documents. Rebuilt in its current form in 1612 incorporating some of the chapels of the older church, it was suppressed by Napoleonic order in the late 18th century and sold together with its convent. It was stripped of its contents and turned into a warehouse, then a garage; the bell tower was demolished in the 19th century, and finally a huge fire damaged the interior in 1922. The church currently lies in a state of abandonment, as none of the restoration plans proposed since 1981 have been implemented  :


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 70*

Further on Via Barberia is Palazzo Marescotti Brazzetti, built in the 16th century in Renaissance style over a cluster of smaller buildings. The palace has the peculiarity of presenting no facade, but merely a portico with terracotta arches and stone capitals, surmounted by a narrow loggia:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 71*

Under the portico opens a beautiful monumental sandstone door. Another peculiarity of the palace is that it housed for over 50 years the largest communist section of the Western world… obviously that of Bologna, The Red One! epper:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 72*

Shortly ahead is Palazzo Zambeccari, a 18th-century neo-Renaissance palace in the same style as many palaces I saw in Florence the previous day: grated windows on the ground floor, with alternating triangular and circular pediments on the main floor, and with decorated architraves on the second floor. I like the contrast between the warm pink color of the friezes and the ochre sandstone of the decorations:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 72*

Across the street stands another brick church, that of San Paolo Maggiore, built in the 17th century for the Barnabites. The façade follows the usual Baroque order, with two parts separated by a frieze, onto which open a portal and a central window framed in sandstone, and crowned by a pediment bearing a prominent coat-in-arms. The frieze separating the two parts is also in sandstone, decorated with triglyphs and fleurs-de-lis, and even has its own pediment. The façade also has four beautiful sandstone niches housing terracotta statues of San Filippo Neri, San Carlo Borromeo, San Pietro and San Paolo:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 73*

While the façade is undoubtedly worth a look, it did not make me suspect how otherworldly beautiful the interior of the church was. It is dimly lit, but the ceiling, the dome, the apse, the sacristy and the arches above the side chapels are all richly decorated with amazing trompe-l'oeil architectural frescoes realized in the late 17th century:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 73*

The entire vaulted ceiling is covered with frescoes depicting scenes of Saint Paul at the Areopagus in Athens, however, due to the lack of light and the fact I couldn’t use the flash, this is as good as the picture gets, but you can still get an idea of the incredible trompe-l’oeil effect and the level of detail:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 73*

The main altar is surmounted by a ciborium of colorful marble and gilded bronze, and features a dramatic sculptural group of The Beheading of Saint Paul. On the side walls flanking the altar are two painted panels set in beautiful Baroque frames, while seven more panels line the choir of the apse behind it, all depicting episodes of the life of Saint Paul:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 73*

There are four chapels on each side of the church, all decorated with frescoes and paintings, so I don’t remember why I took a picture of only one, maybe the lights were turned off in the others. The chapel is dedicated to the Childhood of Christ: its central altarpiece is Christ Being Presented at the Temple, executed by an artist from Pisa, and crowned by marble cherubs. On the sides of the chapel are The Nativity and the other the Adoration of the Magi, while the frescoes on the vault represent the Circumcision, Jesus Among the Doctors, and the Flight to Egypt:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 74*

This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful church interiors I have seen, and I deplore that the poor light conditions don’t allow for clearer pictures, hoping to find it open again during my last visit.

Going back outside, I continue southwards until Via Urbana, onto which looks an extensive brick façade. My attention is caught by a niche at the corner housing a terracotta statue of Saint Anthony of Padua; this is the corner of the Corpus Domini monastery, founded in the mid-15th century as the first convent of Poor Clares in the city, and to which a sign below the statue points:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates, cat :cheers:


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## skymantle (Jul 17, 2010)

Bologna is one of my favourite cities in Europe...so cultured and beautiful, yet hasn't sold its soul to tourism. :cheers:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

skymantle said:


> Bologna is one of my favourite cities in Europe...so cultured and beautiful, yet hasn't sold its soul to tourism. :cheers:


Exactly, and that's why I fell in love with "her"!


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 75*

The convent complex was founded by Santa Caterina de' Vigri, who lived in it until her death. Her perfectly preserved body is still kept inside the church, which for this reason is also known as Chiesa de La Santa (“Church of the Saint”). Construction began in 1475, and ended a century later with the completion of the external enclosure and the placement of terracotta statues at the corners (among which the one I saw earlier). The main façade in dark brick, but enlivened with fine terracotta designs, is from the period of original construction. One can notice two panels depicting a rampant lion, emblem of the Felicini, the most generous financiers of the church, and large, richly decorated occuli, today buffered:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 76*

The sanctuary was hit hard by bombing during World War 2 due to its proximity to the Cialdini barracks, and almost all its splendid decorative apparatus was lost, but the Renaissance façade fortunately remained intact, especially the portal with its magnificent terracotta reliefs, to which the church owes its fame. The base of the portal features on either side an amphora flanked by a pair of winged male bearded figures. On each side is a winged cherub, standing on a shell and holding a vase from which sprouts an exuberant vegetable decoration. The capital of the left side is adorned with two satyrs, and the one of the right with two chimeras. The architrave is decorated with a series of male heads, and crowned by a large shell surrounded by a variety of decorative patterns:










Although the church appears to be open, I didn’t visit it for some reason I can't recall; my guess is there was a mass or prayer going on inside.


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 78*

I return to Via Urbana to continue westwards, and soon encounter one more brick church on a perpendicular street. It’s the church of San Procolo, erected (or maybe rebuilt) in the 11th century by the Benedictine monks, who dedicated it to the martyred soldier Saint Proculus of Bologna. The legend says that after the saint was beheaded, he held his severed head in his hands and walked to the spot where the church was later erected. It was rebuilt and modernized several times, and its brick façade in early Gothic style, with the delicate tracery at the top and around the circular central window, was added in the 17th century, however a 14th-century painting is preserved in the lunette above the entrance:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 77*

On the same street (Via Massimo d’Azeglio) stands the singular Palazzo Marsigli, built in the 14th century and later modernized. Despite its unfinished facade, it is noteworthy for its unique covered balcony-veranda (also called “tamburo” or drum) at the corner, built in 1685, and reminiscent of the mashrabiya of Islamic architecture:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 79*

Across the street from it is the 15th-century Palazzo Sanuti Bevilacqua, one of the most remarkable monumental palaces in Bologna. It does not in any way exemplify the local architecture of the same years, having instead a façade of beveled (diamond-shaped) grey sandstone of Porretta, in typical Tuscan Renaissance architecture:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 80*

Continuing further west, I arrive to Piazza San Domenico, on which stands the homonymous Basilica, where the remains of the founder of the Dominican order are kept. San Domenico (Saint Dominic) arrived in Bologna in 1218, originally settling at the Mascarella church (today’s church of Santa Maria della Purificazione, which I saw this morning on Via Irnerio), and moving in 1219 to the church of San Nicolò of the Vineyards, located at that time in the outskirts of Bologna, where he spent the last two years of his life:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Continuing on the next page...


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 81*

For the next 25 years after their arrival, the Dominicans bought all surrounding plots of land around the church. Following the death of San Domenico in 1221, a new monastic complex was built, and the church was expanded and grew into the present day Basilica in late Romanesque style, which was consecrated in 1251 and became the prototype for many other Dominican churches throughout the world:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 82*

The Basilica is one of the most important in the city and is known to house a wealth of artworks. However, the interior is not lit well enough for me to take any good pictures, so I think it’s better to return for a more thorough exploration on my next (and sadly last) visit to this city I loved so much:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 83*

It is getting dark, so I decide to end my exploration here, and start preparing for what will likely be my last night out in Bologna. I head north towards Piazza Cavour, on the southern side of which stands Palazzo Silvani, built in 1865 in a compact Tuscan neo-Renaissance style:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 84*

A little bit to the east opens Piazzale Galvani, created in its present form in the 16th century to give greater prominence to Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio (partly visible on the right). The apsidal area of San Petronio Basilica looms over the square, while in the center stands the marble statue of Luigi Galvani, a Bolognese scholar famous for having discovered biological electricity, depicted here observing the frog object of his experiments:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 84*

The right side of the square is occupied by the famous Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, built with the aim of creating a unitary place where to carry out the university teaching of different disciplines, as the Studium (as the University of Bologna was known back then) had never had a permanent seat before. The palace, finished in 1563, consists of a single floor supported by 30 columns of stone that make up the Pavaglione portico. The sandstone frames of the windows are particularly noteworthy. The palace remained the seat of the University 1803, and houses today the Municipal Library of the Archiginnasio, the largest in Emilia-Romagna, which preserves important books and about 35,000 manuscripts:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 84*

On the other side stands the interesting Palazzo Ratta Agucchi, completed in 1872. It is immediately noticeable for the bossage pattern engraved on the plaster, while another peculiarity is the two orders of Corinthian-looking pilasters, in shades of yellow (ground floor) and orange (main floor). A closer examination additionally reveals the capitals of the pilasters are actually composed of winged chimera figures, with similar ones occupying the space above the windows:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 85*

I dedicate my last pictures of the day to a few spots on Via Farini I hadn’t photographed the previous week. One is the 19th century Palazzo Guidotti, characterized by a portico with capitals decorated with friezes and portraits of celebrities:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 86*

I also take a full picture of Palazzo Lucchini Zambeccari from the western side:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 86*

In that spot, under the portico of Galleria Cavour (one of the most expensive shopping districts in Italy, surpassed only by Via Monte Napoleone in Milan, Via della Spiga in Milan and Via dei Condotti in Rome) a pleasant little surprise awaits me: at the end of the vault is a medallion carved in sandstone, surrounded by flowers and leaves, and housing a beautiful Madonna bas-relief. Bologna is really full of surprises, and I can only hope to be able to see a few more of them during my final visit!


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*DAY 4, Thursday 28/1: “We can’t be together, but…”*










I arrive once again to Bologna Centrale station on the last day of my stay in Italy, with mixed feelings. On one hand, I’m heartbroken this is going to be my last day in Bologna, and more generally in Italy after I only scratched the surface of the innumerable treasures this country has to offer, but on the other hand I’m excited and looking forward to seeing as much as possible of what remains to be seen in the city, including my long awaited climb of Torre Asinelli:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 1*

Exiting the railway station, I realize I still haven’t taken any picture of it after all these visits. Built in 1871, it underwent various renovations over time, and its central façade is in a simplistic version of Renaissance style, possibly as a result of a renovation in the fascist era. The station is infamous for having been the theater of the so-called “Bologna Massacre” of August 2, 1980 (at the height of the dark period of modern Italian history known as the Years of Lead), when at 10:25, a time bomb hidden in an unattended suitcase detonated in an air-conditioned waiting room full of people seeking refuge from the August heat, completely destroying the station’s left wing and claiming 85 victims. The left clock is permanently stopped at 10:25, the time of the explosion, to commemorate the massacre, which was the worst attack in Italy since World War 2:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 1*

In front of the station opens Piazza delle Medaglie d’Oro (“Square of the Golden Medals”), whose name refers to the workers who died during the construction of the Bologna-Florence railway line. The area was damaged during the bombings of World War 2 and subsequently rebuilt; among its most prominent buildings is the large one in neo-Renaissance style housing the Mercure Bologna Centro hotel, while the yellow corner building is Galleria II Agosto 1980, named after the day of the Bologna Massacre:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 2*

I decide to take a look at some of the gates of Bologna’s third circle of walls, and cross the square to take a bus and go east. Ponte Galliera can be seen crossing the railway lines towards Bolognina, originally developed as a manufacturing district, and today Bologna’s most multi-ethnic area. On the corner stands an imposing palace housing another yet branch of the omnipresent Assicurazioni Genarali insurance company:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates as always, cat


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 4*

Bologna's last circle of walls, polygonal in shape, corresponded to the perimeter of the current Viali di Circonvallazione, an uninterrupted succession of 3-lane boulevards that surround the historic city center with a length of 8 kilometers, allowing traffic between different neighborhoods while circumventing the densely built center. This set of walls had 12 gates and was surrounded by a ditch system. There is a theory that each of the 12 gates represents one of the 12 signs of the Zodiac, supported by the fact that the University at the time of their construction included Astrology in the curriculum of the medical school. The bus goes past Porta della Mascarella, which I already saw on my previous visit, and I get down in the vicinity of the next gate to the east, Porta San Donato:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 3*

It was built in the 13th century on the ancient Via San Donato that connected Bologna to the Argenta valleys and to Ferrara:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 5*

In the 14th century it was equipped with a drawbridge, protected by a “projection” which can still be seen today:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 6*

The gate was closed and restructured several times in the following centuries for security reasons. After a long controversy, part of it more than one meter wide was demolished in the 1950s, as it was hindering the flow of vehicles from the center’s ring road to Via San Donato:


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## cameronpaul (Jan 15, 2010)

Thanks for the great photos of Bologna. Such an amazing city and one of Italy`s best kept secrets. Not overwhelmed by tourists (yet)!


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

cameronpaul said:


> Thanks for the great photos of Bologna. Such an amazing city and one of Italy`s best kept secrets. Not overwhelmed by tourists (yet)!


You're welcome! Stay tuned, there are still many more photos coming of my last day there. By the way, I understand at your user title that you love Paris? Because there is an upcoming Paris thread in my future plans as well if you're interested


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 9*

Via San Donato has been renamed Via Zamboni within the walls, and connects Porta San Donato to the Two Towers. This is the heart of the university area, housing the offices of many faculties of the famed University of Bologna. Founded in 1088 as a center for the study of medieval Roman law, it is the world’s oldest university in continuous operation, as well as one of Italy’s and Europe’s leading academic institutions, with about 86,500 enrolled students in its 11 schools. Among its most illustrious alumni are Dante, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Nicolaus Copernicus, Luigi Galvani and Guglielmo Marconi, as well as several pioneers: Paracelsus, founder of the discipline of toxicology, Gasparo Tagliacozzi, a pioneer of plastic and reconstructive surgery, Augusto Righi, a pioneer in the study of electromagnetism , and Laura Bassi, the world's first woman to earn a university chair in a scientific field of studies:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 7*

Among the area’s most noticeable buildings is an elegant brick and terracotta palace in Renaissance style, originally from 1862 but redesigned in 1903 with a trapezoidal layout intended to create a connection between the older university area and the new one on Via Irnerio, drawn in those years. The palace houses the university’s Institute of Mineralogy and the Luigi Bombacci Mineralogical Museum, whose collection includes 50.000 pieces, among which 142 meteorites and 400 pieces of rare Sicilian amber:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 8*

Its portico is equally interesting, presenting a vault lined with red arches and a fine stone floor:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 8*

Across the street is the Giovanni Capellini Geological Museum, housed in another interesting building from 1881, and whose collection includes more than 1 million fossils from around the world. Both museums originally belonged to the department of Natural History of the University of Bologna, which was divided into 3 parts (mineralogy, zoology, and geology) in 1862:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 10*

A row of simplistic porticoed façades follows on Via Zamboni, among which stands out the small church of Santa Maria Maddalena, originally built in the 13th century:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 11*

It was rebuilt in the late 16th century, then again in the 18th century with the addition of a porch. Its most singular feature is the six terracotta vases of classical inspiration, planted with succulents:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 12*

Further down is Piazza Vittotio Puntoni, named after a former rector of the University, and onto which opens the northern façade of Palazzo Poggi. The palace, whose nucleus was built in the mid-16th century, is one of the largest in Bologna, second only to Palazzo Communale:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 13*

In 1714, it became the seat of the Institute of Sciences of Bologna, a model learning establishment in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment, before eventually becoming the headquarters of the University of Bologna in 1860. The university atmosphere can be clearly felt in this spot, with many bikes and motorbikes parked on the square:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 13*

To the east is this elegant eclectic building, housing the Office of Master Studies. Next to it is the University Library, whose nucleus was the original library of Palazzo Poggi, the oldest in the city, and which preserves ancient and precious manuscripts:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 14*

On Via Zamboni stands one of the original 16th-century parts of the palace. The numerous decorated ceilings and frescoes inside make it one of the most fascinating decorative complexes of Northern Italy, but I didn’t have enough time on my hands to visit it:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 14*

Its portico is also interesting on its own, with its high groined vault, Doric columns in sandstone, and large grated windows surrounded by decorated frames:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 15*

I decide to return to Porta San Donato and continue southwards along the ring road to see some of the other gates. I encounter Porta San Vitale 500 meters further, which despite its current modest appearance, guarded one of the oldest and most important roads branching off to the east of Bologna: the road to Ravenna, the ancient imperial capital, from which Bologna depended from an ecclesiastical point of view for many centuries. The gate was built in 1286, and comprised a mighty tower that was demolished at the beginning of the 16th century. It underwent repeated modifications over the centuries, and was downsized for the last time in the 1950s:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 15*

Across the road from it is the main façade of Sant’Orsola Hospital, founded in 1592 just outside the walls and dedicated to Saint Ursula. The hospital became affiliated with the School of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Bologna in 1869:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 16*

In 1978 it merged with the adjacent Malpighi Hospital to form The Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Polyclinic, the largest hospital in Italy in number of beds, with 1,535 beds and 5,153 employees (of which 857 doctors). The hospital boasts international excellence in the fields of oncologic hematology, hepatology and pediatric surgery:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 15*

South of Porta San Vitale stands this elegant eclectic building, remarkable for its corner terrace and the protomes (human heads) on the top part of the corner column:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 17*

While further south can be seen one of the last remaining stretches of the third circle of walls. Most of the walls were demolished between 1902 and 1906 following the directives of a regulatory plan drawn up in 1889 based on the urban models of the late 19th century (similarly to that of Vienna, where the medieval circle of walls was demolished and replaced by the Ringstraße). The demolition plan generated bitter controversy and divided the city's public opinion. Its supporters believed that the walls posed a limit for the city’s development, as well as an aesthetic problem. Also there was considerable unemployment at the time, and the demolition was seen as a job creation scheme:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 18*

On the other hand, the "conservatives" (mostly intellectuals and figures of the world of culture) were convinced that the historical and architectural value of the medieval walls justified their maintenance. The demolition eventually went on, with this section being one of the last remaining. The Municipality's plan also included the demolition of the twelve gates but, thanks to the intervention of intellectuals who defended their historical and artistic value, 10 of them (out of 12) were saved:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates once again, cat


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates once again, cat  :cheers:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 33*

The inside of Palazzo Tartagni’s portico is rather austere, in true 15th-century taste:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 30*

The most peculiar of these palaces however is undoubtedly Palazzo Davia Barghellini, a 17th-century senatorial palace housing today the Museo d’Arte Industriale, which displays objects belonging to the Bolognese artistic handicraft from the 16th to the 19th century. The façade is characterized by the absence of a portico, as is often the case for senatorial buildings, windows with protruding stone frames and pediments, and a cornice lined with round openings:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 31*

The somewhat chaste façade is animated by a large portal with a balcony supported by two magnificent telamons, which gave the palace its colloquial name, Palazzo dei Giganti or “Palace of the Giants”. These were completed using four huge blocks of masegne, the sandstone of the high Bolognese Apennines, and celebrate the social status of the Barghellini family. Also noticeable is the coat-of-arms above the central door-window:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 34*

Rather than continuing further towards the heart of the center, I decide to head back east and see which other gates of the third circle of walls I can find. I take Via Fondazza going south, which leads me to the deconsecrated church of Santa Cristina della Fondazza, originally founded by Camaldolese nuns in 1247, but rebuilt in 1602 in Baroque style, before being suppressed by Napoleon. A copper statue of Santa Cristina originally stood atop the bell tower, but was damaged by lightning and later replaced by a ball and a cross. The church is today used as a concert venue, while its convent complex houses the Department of Visual Arts of the University of Bologna:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 35*

I continue southwards on Via Fondazza, and soon encounter another church, that of Santa Maria del Carmine and Santi Giuseppe e Teresa. The complex was originally founded in the 16th century, and in the 18th century became the site of a monastery of Discalced (Barefoot) Carmelite nuns, who opened the modest looking church, run today by Carmelite nuns of Indian origin:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 35*

Facing the church and in stark contrast to its simplicity and small size, this monumental eclectic palace stands at the corner of Via Fondazza and Via Dante, which converge at that spot onto Via Santo Stefano. My search of the palace’s name didn’t return anything despite its size and beautiful decorative elements, among which stand out the window frames of the main floor, crowned by pairs of mermaid-looking creatures:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates once again, cat


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 36*

Walking southeast along Via Santo Stefano, I soon arrive to the monumental complex of the Baraccano, established in the 15th century by the Confraternity of the same name, and presenting a huge portico with 28 beautiful arches. The portico runs under the so-called Conservatory, originally established as a hospital for pilgrims and later converted into a hospice for unmarried girls and prostitutes; for this reason it is rather nicely known as Portico delle Putte del Baraccano (“of the Wh*res of the Baraccano”) :naughty::


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 36*

It was built in 1491, and stands out among the Renaissance porticoes of Bologna for its large loggia set on majestic stone columns, with collars in the middle and beautiful stone capitals engraved with the coats-of-arms of the financiers of the complex:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 37*

Inside the complex is the sanctuary of the Madonna del Baraccano, prospectively framed by a huge vault (Voltone) opened in 1497:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 36*

While the entrance of the Voltone is crowned by a medallion with an elegant terracotta relief of a Madonna with Child, from the 17th century:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 38*

The church was built in the beginning of the 15th century around a fresco of the Madonna della Pace (“Our Lady of Peace”) and later enlarged; the main chapel is the oldest part. The porch was added in the 16th century, and has niches with statues of the four patron saints of Bologna (San Petronio, San Domenico, San Procolo and San Francesco), while its tympanum has a larger niche with a terracotta Madonna:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 38*

The dome was added in the 17th century. The Company of the Baraccano was suppressed by Napoleon, but the church managed to remain open as it was declared a sanctuary, before being restored in 1914. The complex was damaged by the 2012 Emilia earthquake and is undergoing restoration:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 39*

Exiting the complex, I continue to the southeast, passing next to the church of San Giuliano, built in the late 18th century on the spot of a much older church, but incorporating a 15th-century portico in front of its entrance (the three red columns and arches in the back):


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 40*

At the intersection of Via Santo Stefano with the central ring boulevard is another gate of the last circle of walls, Porta Santo Stefano, also referred to as the Gateway to Tuscany. Originally built in the 13th century, it was completely demolished in 1843 and rebuilt in its current monumental form. After the demolition of the walls in 1902, the gate’s two buildings were used for various purposes, among which as public baths and as headquarters of the traffic police:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 41*

I continue along the ring boulevard, which at that spot makes a turn and follows a west-east direction. One can see another section of the wall left standing; it forms the back wall of the Madonna del Barracano church, which is why it wasn’t demolished:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 42*

About 500 meters further, on the left, is the church of Santa Maria della Misericordia, built by the Olivetans in the 15th century right outside the walls, but much altered over time. The impressive porch in front of the façade is from the 18th century. One of the chapels inside houses a rare late-14th-century fresco of a Breastfeeding Madonna, which I didn’t get to see because the church was closed:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Next page


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 43*

A short distance away stands another one of the old city gates, the impressive Porta Castiglione. Built in 1250, it is also called the "Gate of the Canals", because it was next to it that the Savena canal entered the city, whose branches powered dozens of wool and silk weaving factories. The gate was restored and remodeled several times, the last one in 1850, when it assumed its current appearance:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 44*

Across the boulevard from it, the “lost city” of STA.VE.CO. (short for “Stabilimento per i Veicoli da Combattimento”, or “Plant for Combat Vehicles”) spreads on an area of over 93.000 square meters. The area was first developed in 1796 when the troops of Napoleon built a barracks and a military hospital. In the early 20th century, it became a large arsenal totaling 12.000 employees, then after World War 2 a center for the repair of military vehicles (hence its name), before all activity ceased in 1991. The complex has since been in a state of neglect, waiting to be redeveloped, and is slowly being overtaken by the vegetation of the hills behind it. The iconic Pyrotechnic Workshop, almost 200 meters long, obscures the view from the boulevard towards the hills, but at the same time shields the “lost city” from the traffic noise:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 45*

I take Via Catiglione northwards, and soon encounter the simple but elegant façade of the Cavazza Institute for the Blind, with its warm colors and its delicate door and window frames in terracotta, of which the ones on the ground floor additionally contain sandstone shells. The building was commissioned in 1909 by philanthropist Conte Francesco Cavazza, and is notable for housing the unique Anteros Tactile Museum, displaying many panels that reproduce famous paintings, carefully designed to convey to the blind the exact perspectives present in every painting:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 46*

Next to it stands the church of Santi Giuseppe e Ignazio, built in the 17th century but whose façade, in an unusual hot pink tone and housing an elegant clock in the tympanum, was completed in 1840:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 49*

A little further, I decide (for some reason I don’t remember) to stray away from Via Castiglione and follow Via Rialto instead, a narrower street extending towards the northeast that eventually leads me onto Via Santo Stefano again. In that spot stands the imposing Palazzo Sanguinetti, better known in Bologna as Palazzo Garganelli after a commercial establishment formerly housed in it:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 47*

With its plethora of ornaments, especially the intricate carvings on the corner, the pediments of the windows of the main floor, and the panels below the cornice, the palace is a representative example of the late 19th-century eclectic style:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 47*

Across the street from it stands the imposing Palazzo Vizzani-Lambertini-Sanguinetti, built in the mid-16th century by the illustrious Vizzani family (whose coat-of-arms can be seen in the middle of the façade) to serve as their senatorial home:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 50*

The palace stands on a sumptuous architraved portico (instead of the usual arched one) of Doric inspiration, and is also remarkable for the protruding sandstone decorations on the rest of the façade:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 48*

The portico, supported by Doric columns, has a sober barrel vault, in contrast with the richly decorated interior of the palace with its frescoes, innumerable paintings, and exquisitely made furniture, including a cross decorated with 61 diamonds and other gems. It houses today the Department of Foreign Languages of the University of Bologna:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 51*

Further southeast on Via Santo Stefano is the early-16th-century Palazzo Ghiselli Vasselli, which exemplifies the traditional Bolognese architecture of the time with its facade in exposed brick and its mullioned windows. The smaller house on its left has been joined to it and shares the same portico:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 51*

Just across the street is Palazzo Zani, built in the late 16th century as a prestigious residence for the Zani, a family of Tuscan origin, and later elevated by adding an extra floor. The façade is characterized by the use of giant Corinthian pilasters that emphasize its verticality, and the coat-of-arms of the Zani is visible in the top part:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 51*

The high portico of the palace is also interesting, supported by five sandstone pillars with a rusticated finish, rarely seen in palaces of that time:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 52*

I decide not to go further southwest and stray from my approximate intended itinerary, as I want to take a better look at the interior of the Basilica of San Domenico, and climb Torre Asinelli while there is still plenty of light. Heading back northwest, I pass next to Palazzo Vittori Venenti, of 15th-century origin but modified in the 18th century. The two rusticated bands framing the façade and the pilasters between the windows are clearly 18th-century additions, as well as the beautiful wrought iron balustrade of the upper loggia, while among the original 15th-century elements are the small portico and the splendid cornice of terracotta and sandstone, rich in decorative elements:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 53*

A little further is Palazzo Bonora, whose façade was radically modified in 1912 and bears absolutely no resemblance to its original Renaissance appearance. The palace caught my attention in particular thanks to the impressive oriel windows at the edges of the lateral wings, reminiscent of the mashrabiyas of Islamic architecture, and whose pattern is repeated at the connection of the lateral wings and the central part:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 54*

The central part is also remarkable thanks to its large framed windows, its impressive cornice decorated with lion heads, and its long balcony on the main floor supported by ornamented corbels. The palace was donated in 2002 to the University of Bologna, which really seems to own half the city! :nuts:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 54*

The building on the left is the so-called Palazzina in Santa Tecla, built in the 1860s, and whose name references the ancient church of Santa Tecla that occupied the same spot before being demolished in 1798:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 55*

It presents a trapezoidal plan, and its left side is joined to (and forms part of) Palazzo Tacconi on Via Farini, which you might remember from Day 2:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 56*

A sign on the left side points to the church of San Giovanni al Monte, which I decide to check out. Originally a primitive round church of the 5th century, whose foundation is attributed by tradition to San Petronio, it stands on an artificial hill intended to symbolize the Mount of Olives, in the same context of re-enactment of the places of the Passion of Christ as with the nearby complex of the Seven Churches. Rebuilt in late Gothic style in the 15th century, the church presents a façade with a projecting porch, inspired by Venetian and Ferrarese Renaissance architecture. The interior is adorned with numerous valuable frescoes, paintings and sculptures (and originally housed even more that were looted by Napoleon and taken to the Louvre), but as with several other churches I previously saw, it was closed on that day:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Next page


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 57*

I continue westwards and am soon led again to Via Castiglione, where I encounter the 15th-century Palazzo Zagnoni Spada. Despite the simple lines of its façade, the palace has the peculiarity of following a curve of the street, attributable to the ancient Savena Canal that originally ran through it. Also remarkable is the portico with its unusual checkered floor, its large windows, and its sophisticated stucco tabernacles housing icons, among which a beautiful 14th-century Madonna:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 58*

A little below is the monumental brick façade of the deconsecrated church of Santa Lucia, originally from the 5th century, but rebuilt in its current form in the 16th century by the Jesuits, who also redecorated the interior in Baroque style to recall their mother church in Rome (the Church of the Gesu). With the Napoleonic suppression of the Jesuit Order, the church was deconsecrated and closed down, while its façade and apse remained unfinished and in exposed bricks. It was then successively used as a barracks, a gym, and a laboratory, and is today the seat of the Aula Magna (Great Hall) of the University of Bologna:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 59*

I return northwards, then take Via de’ Poeti to go west towards the area of the Basilica of San Domenico, and shortly arrive in front of the 15th-century Casa Berò, characterized by a semi-portico with finely decorated hanging arches in terracotta. These, together with the beautiful terracotta reliefs adorning the mullioned windows, make it one of the more interesting examples of Renaissance civil architecture in Bologna. Notice in particular the corner corbel, made of sandstone, and decorated with a winged figure, perhaps a demon. The area below the eaves was once decorated with paintings, today gone. The house is also called Casa dei Carracci, because it’s supposed to have been at a time the residence and the study of this family of illustrious painters:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 60*

From that spot, Via Rolandino leads you directly to the left (north) side of Basilica, dominated by the huge Chapel of the Rosary, in front of which stands a column in marble, brick and copper with a statue of the Madonna of the Rosary from 1632, commemorating the end of the plague in the city:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 61*

Several other protruding chapels can be seen towards the apsidal area, as well as the summit of the 51-meter tall bell tower, erected in Romanesque-Gothic style in 1313:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 62*

The square in front of the church is paved with pebbles, as it was in medieval times, and another column rises in the middle, topped by a bronze statue of Saint Dominic from 1627. The brick façade with a large rose window was completed in 1240 as the last element of the original church. Its original Romanesque appearance was restored in 1910 by removing an 18th-century portico and replacing it with a portal, whose lunette contains a mosaic depicting Saint Dominic blessing the city of Bologna. The façade is bounded on the left by the Ghisilardi Chapel, a sepulchral structure in Roman style added in the 16th century:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 62*

Just left of the Ghisilardi Chapel stands the mausoleum of jurist Rolandino dè Passeggeri, another one of the Glossators of the Bolognese School, while further in the back is the mausoleum of Egidio Foscherari (not visible here). They are very similar to those of the Basilica of San Francesco, and consist of an aedicule surmounted by a pyramid and resting on a number of marble columns, with a Byzantine marble ark resting inside. The shape of these tombs is extremely specific and has no corresponding structure almost anywhere else in Italy:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 63*

The interior of the Basilica, enlarged and modified over the centuries, was completely renewed in Baroque style with well-balanced proportions in the 18th century, under the sponsorship of the Dominican Pope Benedict XIII. It consists of a central nave and two lateral aisles with 22 chapels in total, delimited by Ionic columns and pilasters. Early on, the church began receiving many works of art from the faithful, and also preserves an organ on which Mozart played during his stay in Bologna:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 63*

The high altar is dominated by a huge altarpiece set inside a gilded frame, depicting the Adoration of the Magi, and flanked by panels depicting Saint Nicholas of Bari and Saint Dominic, while below it is a Last Supper. The monumental wooden choir, with its 102 carved panels displaying scenes from the Old Testament (on the right side) and the New Testament (on the left side), is a 16th-century work of great value:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 63*

The highlight of the church is the Chapel of St Dominic in the south (right) aisle, rebuilt in the early 17th century, and decorated by some of the most important painters of the Bolognese School. The semi-dome of the apse is painted with the fresco of Saint Dominic’s Glory, creating a dramatic setting for the famous sarcophagus where the saint is buried, and the apse itself is lined with niches painted with The Theological Virtues and The Cardinal Virtues, one of which contains a sparkly 14th-century reliquary made to house the saint’s skull:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates, cat


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 63*

The remains of Saint Dominic were moved in 1267 into the magnificent marble sarcophagus at the center of this chapel to be accessed more easily by the pilgrims. The sarcophagus is carved with high relief scenes from the saint’s life, while its lid crowned by eight statuettes of the protector saints of Bologna (two of which were carved by a young Michelangelo), and by a figure of The Redeemer Holding the World, standing on a terrestrial globe decorated with festoons of fruits (representing the Earth) and dolphins (representing the sea). I have absolutely NO IDEA why I didn’t take closer pictures of this wonder, as the chapel appears to be open! :bash:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 63*

Right opposite the Chapel of Saint Dominic is the breathtaking Chapel of the Rosary, created in the late 16th century. In its center is a sumptuous altar framing the statue of the Madonna of the Rosary, surrounded by 15 paintings commissioned to the most celebrated workshops in Bologna and representing the Mysteries of the Rosary. After the plague of 1630, the Madonna of the Rosary became the focus of a rejuvenated cult, and many gifts were presented to this chapel from people who had survived the epidemic. In the second half of the 17th century, the chapel was enlarged, fully painted with a rich scenographic decoration glorifying the Madonna of the Rosary, and enriched with golden stucco decorations and elegant friezes. The abundant use of gold leaf contributes to the diffusion of light and gives the chapel its typical baroque sumptuousness:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 63*

The dome is painted with a vivacious Assumption, where the Madonna is carried up into the sky by the angels and crowned, while in the four roundels at the base of the dome are represented the Merits of the Rosary, handed by the Virgin to Saint Dominic in order to defeat the plague of 1630. The apse above the altar is painted with Heaven and Earth Praising the Madonna of the Rosary, one of the most impressive scenes of Emilian baroque: above a monumental baroque building in illusionistic architecture, the sky opens over two choirs of angels holding a crown made of flowers, symbolizing earthly grace, and a crown made of stars, a symbol of divine glory. Unfortunately I couldn’t use the flash to take these pictures, which is why they came out so dark and grainy:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 64*

I would like to spend more time exploring this church, but I’m running out of time, and want to arrive to Torre Asinelli before 4 p.m. to get enough light for the view from its summit, so I decide to leave and head north right away, frustrated that I couldn’t make the detour to take better pictures of the interior of San Paolo Maggiore. I pass again under the portico of Galleria Cavour on Via Farini, and take another picture of the sandstone medallion with a Madonna, but I don’t think it came out much better than the last one:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 65*

I continue northward on Via Castiglione to reach the Two Towers, passing again next to the fortress-like Palazzo Pepoli Vecchio. As the sky is overcast this time, the lack of light-shadow contrast helps me notice a curiosity: several iron rings supporting snake-shaped iron bars, lining entire length of the ground floor. These presumably served to moorings boats in front of the palace, as through Via Castiglione ran the ancient Savena Canal, which for centuries was completely navigable:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 66*

The Pepoli family enlarged the palace for centuries, building the newest wing in 1723. In 1910 it was ceded to the municipality, and houses today the Civic Museum of the History of Bologna, accessed through this door decorated with splendid terracotta carvings:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 66*

The oldest part of the palace, built in 1344, presents an austere medieval style. Under the crenelated cornice, a faded painted band can still be seen, consisting of a checkerboard pattern of black and white squares that appears in the coat-of-arms of the Pepoli. Elegant painted shapes are visible inside the windows of the second floors, while further up is a small and refined balcony in white marble:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 67*

The door to this part of the palace is also adorned with beautiful terracotta carvings, and the external band is additionally decorated with a checkered pattern, representing the coat-of-arms of the Pepoli:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice updates including the panorama :cheers:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 74*

The interior of the church is divided into a central nave and two side aisles, separated by fluted columns with ionic capitals, and has a rich Baroque decoration executed the 17th century. Although dark-walled, it is well-lit by several large clerestory windows, with the light shining on the decorative gilding of the columns and the arches. In the presbytery is a grand marble altar, behind which is a 19th-century organ enclosed within a neo-Gothic wooden case. The apse has three large paintings of scenes from the life of San Bartolomeo, among which the Martyrdom of San Bartolomeo in the center:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 74*

The dome is frescoed with the Glory of San Gaetano, where the saint is depicted lifted to the heavens by the angels, with his arms open in a gesture of prayer, and receiving from them a crown, a blue sash, and lilies. Looking at the scene are some other saints arriving at the head of a procession exiting from the gates of Bologna, while in the opposite part of the dome Satan is being chased away. The tambour of the dome is beautifully painted in trompe-l'oeil technique, while the four pendentives contain paintings of the Four Doctors of the Church:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 74*

Each of the side aisles contains four chapels with vaulted ceilings, with a dome outside each chapel, all painted in trompe-l'oeil technique, but these are as not well visible as the fresco in the main dome, since the windows in the aisles are fewer and smaller:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 74*

Among the altarpieces of the left aisle, worth noting is the Madonna del Suffragio, twice stolen and recovered. The staircase also houses an oil painting:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 75*

Exiting the church, I come face to face once more with Palazzo Strazzaroli, looking more austere than last time because of the lack of sunlight. The curtain is again closed on the Madonna del Campanello housed in the beautiful central niche, adding to the palace’s otherworldly aura:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 77*

I can’t stay much longer, because I must return to Imola while the bus lines there are still running and start preparing for my flight next morning, so I decide to spend my last minutes in Bologna exploring Via Zamboni (whose name reminds me of the way older Greek people call ham :lol, hoping to find the church of San Giacomo Maggiore open. I buy a Sicilian cannolo at a small nearby shop out of curiosity as I have never tried them. I find the filling maybe a bit too sweet for my taste, and those damn candied orange peels! :bash: But at least now I know what they are. Strolling around while eating my cannolo, I come across an interesting lit building entrance:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 76*

On a widening of Via Zamboni stands the deconsecrated church of San Donato, originally built in the 15th century. The present structure dates from the mid-18th century, and the façade is covered with pictorial decorations that have faded badly, but nonetheless elegantly:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 76*

On the same square is Palazzo Manzoli Malvasia, of 13th century origin, but considerably modified in the 16th century, then renovated in the 18th century when it assumed its current appearance. Of particular interest are the four pinnacles crowning the façade, and the elaborate coat-of-arms in the tympanum. The vault partly seen on the left, surmounted by a mascaron (ornament shaped like a demonic face), is the only original access to the former Jewish ghetto of Bologna that survives today. It is said that the owners of the palace, by means of a cannula inserted in the mouth of the mascaron, once poured rivers of wine for the people on the occasion of a member of the family having been granted a prestigious communal office :booze:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 78*

I arrive in front of the church of San Giacomo Maggiore, built between 1267 and 1343 next to the older church of Santa Cecilia by Augustinian hermits who were originally established near the walls of Bologna along the course of the Savena Canal. Inspired by the simplicity and poverty of the mendicant Order, the church is Romanesque in style, but demonstrates a conception of space already of Gothic inspiration:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 78*

The gabled façade with its late-Romanesque proportions is the oldest part of the church. A central oculus open in the middle, flanked by two large ogival windows in Venetian style (today buffered), with ornaments in Istrian stone and stylophore (column-supporting) lions, executed by Lombard masters in the late 13th century. In the 14th century, four arched sepulchral cells were added to the façade, which is topped by a statue of San Giacomo Maggiore (Saint James the Great). Additionally, a very faded triptych of frescoes of the Virgin and Child with Saint James the Great and Saint Augustine can be seen to the left of the façade, over the portico's entrance:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 79*

In the 15th century, the powerful Bentivoglio family became the church’s protectors and built their noble chapel, then between 1477 and 1481 added the splendid lateral portico on the Via Zamboni, which constitutes the culmination of the first Bolognese Renaissance period:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 80*

The portico extends on the whole length of the complex, and is supported by 36 slender fluted columns with Corinthian capitals and finely decorated sandstone arches:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 78*

Particularly impressive is the frieze of the entablature, decorated on all its length with human figures, small winged cherubs and patterns similar to those on the arches:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 80*
Below the portico is a series of 13th-century sepulchral arches, some of which preserved frescoes, today detached and deposited in the church, and I’m also pleased to find open a small lateral entrance (the main entrance on the façade being closed for some reason):










The interior was remodeled in the 15th century, when many chapels were opened under sumptuously decorated arches, profusely frescoed, and enriched with Renaissance (and later Baroque) altars. Some of the later frescoes, executed in the 16th century, are very Mannerist in color and vigor, and some chapels also house fine polyptychs from the 14th century. This church is definitely among the highlights of my last visit to Bologna, but unfortunately photography is prohibited inside, so I don’t have any material to show.


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 83*

The bell tower of San Giacomo, built in the same period as the portico, is about 55 meters tall, and the concert of its bells is considered among the most beautiful in the city. The Renaissance dome was added in the 16th century. In the apsidal part can be seen the Oratory of Santa Cecilia with its smaller bell tower, also accessible from within the portico. Older than the main church, it contains a cycle of frescoes begun in 1506 about the life of Santa Cecilia that constitute a great example of Bolognese Renaissance art:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 84*

The complex of San Giacomo is enclosed from the rear side by the only surviving section of Bologna’s second circle of walls (Circle of the Thousand), uncovered in 1906 with the demolition of a portico, and whose battlements are clearly visible:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 78*

There are several noble palaces in the area around the church. One of them is the 16th-century Palazzo Malvezzi de’ Medici, whose façade, lined with sandstone windows and friezes, develops over a narrow and particularly dark portico with fine sandstone decorations. This led to the branch of the Malvezzi family who lived in the palace being called "dal Portico Buio" (of the Dark Portico), and to the palace being colloquially known as the "Palace with the Dark Portico" as well. It serves today as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Bologna:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

Next page


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)




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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 79*

Right across the street from the church is the elegant Palazzo Malvezzi Campeggi, a senatorial palace also built around the middle of the 16th century:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 82*

The main floor, supported by a portico of Doric sandstone columns, has elegant framed windows above which open smaller square ones that form a sort of loggia:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 82*

The palace’s most noticeable feature is definitely the portico, presenting beautiful geometrical carvings between the arches and on the entire length of the entablature. Elegant geometrical patterns also line the corner columns, extending along the upper floors of the palace as well:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 81*

The entrance to the palace leads to a large courtyard, surrounded by three superimposed loggias with Doric columns, Ionic columns, and Corinthian pilasters respectively, and medallions depicting the main Roman emperors:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 81*

In the back is a niche housing a beautiful statue of Hercules. Damaged during the Second World War, the palace was subsequently restored, and is today the seat of the School of Law of the University of Bologna (yes, again!):










An interesting peculiarity can be noticed in the names of the palaces in that part of the city: Malvezzi, Manzoli, Malvasia, Magnani… They were all owned by families whose names begin with Ma! No idea why this happens, but they are certainly Ma-gnificent


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 84*

A little further stands the Municipal Theater of Bologna, inaugurated in 1763 on the remains of the older wooden Malvezzi Theater which had been destroyed by fire. It has since become famous for the high quality of its shows, and for the notorious artists who came to perform there from all over the world. The theater was again struck by two fires (that place must be cursed!), the last one in 1931, after which the part above the terrace (whose balcony is the most elegant part of the otherwise uninteresting building) was radically modified:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 85*

Again a little further to the northwest I encounter the rear part of the complex of Palazzo Poggi. While this section looks like a fairly recent addition (maybe late 19th century) judging by the style and the materials, it is peculiar for extending in a broken line, and for having a door-window opening on a balcony and surmounted by a coat-of-arms just at the angle, while these windows are always located in the middle of the façade:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 86*

A wrought-iron gate opens after the balcony, and from that spot can be seen La Specola tower, an astronomical observatory created as part of the Institute of Sciences and Arts. Completed in 1725, it presents a severe neo-Medieval look and a jutting terrace on top, over which stands a chamber with wide windows, rotated 90˚ from the axis of the tower. The Observatory forms one of the most important evidences of Bolognese scientific activity during Baroque age, and inside it are exhibited all the astronomical instruments of past eras used by university scholars:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 86*

Nearby is the small church of San Sigismondo, originally from the 13th century but rebuilt in the 18th century. It is notable for housing the remains of Blessed Imelda Lambertini, the patroness of children taking their first communion. Imelda had entered a Dominican convent at the age of 9. In 1333, on the day of the Ascension, while she was praying in church, a glowing host (sacramental bread) was seen by suspended over her head, and the priest took this as a sign and gave her communion although she was younger than 14 (the minimal age required for that by the Church at the time). Soon after, Imelda went into ecstasy and died that day; she was beatified in 1826:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

*Map: 87*

Time has gone past 5pm, and I have no choice but start heading back to the area of the railway station, as I also want to have a meal in a cheap Chinese restaurant close to Canale delle Moline before going back to Imola. The last structure I snap a picture of is the imposing Palazzo Nuovo Costanzo Bentivoglio, located at the corner of Via delle Belle Arti and Via delle Moline (which leads to the canal), and which I had seen earlier from the top of Torre Asinelli. It is referred to as “Nuovo” (New), as an even larger palace of the Bentivoglio family was located nearby, totaling 244 rooms and 140 meters in length, that was destroyed by the mob in 1507 after the Bentivoglio were expulsed from the city in order to prevent their return. Costanzo Bentivoglio, a descendant of a minor branch of the family, did return later and build the current palace in the mid-16th century. The façade preserves all the classical majesty of the constructions of that time, and is reminiscent of the style prevailing in the palaces of Rome, with its grandiose portal supporting a balcony, its large windows with sandstone frames, and the stone benches lining the base, unique in the context of Bologna. Although the palace was never completed, it had moments of splendor in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it hosted numerous kings and princes passing in Bologna, and later various artists set their studies in its grand salon (hence the name of the street on its side, Via delle Belle Arti or “Street of the Fine Arts”), but it has now stood abandoned for more than half a century:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

I have my late lunch - early dinner at the Chinese restaurant then return to Imola to buy something to eat next day on my flight and pack my luggage. The following day, arriving at Guglielmo Marconi airport, I’m pleasantly surprised to find that the terminal’s design clearly alludes to my favorite city, with its semi-portico-like structure reminiscent of some of the center’s historical buildings and even its red color (La Rossa epper:


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## WasabiHoney (Jan 31, 2011)

The terminal is also pleasantly airy and modern inside, at least in comparison to the horrendous concourse of the Rome-Fiumicino airport through which I had transited some years earlier:










Sadly I didn’t get to take a goodbye aerial shot of Bologna after takeoff, as the intense sunlight messed up the visibility from the window, so it will have to be for my next visit… when and if it ever happens!


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## Brazilian001 (Apr 22, 2012)

Great expose of this magnificent city. Thank you for sharing your photos with us! :cheers1:


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