Bologna was an Etrurian village (VI – IV century b.C.), its name was Felsina. The town was then invaded by Gauls that destroyed it: a period of decadence started and lasted until the arrival of Romans in 189 b.C. The town became a colony and then a municipality and the name changed in Bononia. Bononia became an important commercial town thanks to its position and to the settlement of the famous Via Emilia. After the crisis of Roman Empire, Bononia was governed by Odoacre and Theodoric the Great, then it passed to Ravenna, was ruled by Longobards and by Franks. Charles the Great gave it to Pope Adrian I in 774 d. C. The most ancient university of Europe was founded here in 1088, students and scholars came here from all over Europe. Students loved very much this town and the university and loved to live and spend their time here. They wrote a letter to Frederick Redbeard describing their condition (1155) and complaining because a student was considered responsible also for the debts of his companions. Frederick Redbeard issued the Edict of Roncaglia stating that a student couldn’t be responsible for the actions and the debts of his friends. During Middle Ages (1115) the town became a free municipality, acknowledged by Emperor Henry V. In 1257 the "Primo capitano del popolo" (Giordano Lucino) issued the so-called "Legge del Paradiso" that made serfs free. After that, there were violent fights among Guelphs and Ghibellines and various families, especially Pepoli and Bentivoglio families. In XVI century a rebellion of citizens ended the government of Bentivoglio family. Bologna entered the Pontifical State (Pope Julius II conquered it at the beginning of 1500s) but it maintained its magistracy and its ambassador in Rome. In 1797 Bologna was invaded by French armies and in 1796 it was proclaimed the capital of Repubblica Cispadana by Napoleon Bonaparte. The town took part to the events of 1831 and in 1848 it entered the Reign of Italy. In Bologna there was the most extraordinary event of human progress. At the end of 1800 Guglielmo Marconi invented the wireless telegraph.

On Saturday 2^nd August 1980, at 10.25 a.m., there was a terrible explosion of a bomb in the station. The bomb was in a suitcase abandoned in the waiting hall. Eighty-five people were killed; more than 200 people were injured. It is one of the most terrible terrorist attacks in Italy.