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Chiesa di S. Luca: this church is dedicated to the devotion for Our Lady of Saint Luke, a Byzantine icon. The sanctuary is on a hill, Colle della Guardia, and it is one of the symbol of Bologna. It was built by Dotti (1723/1757). The portico has 666 arches, and it is the longest in the world (3.796 m) – it links the church to the city. The shape of the church is that of a Greek cross. Behind the main altar there is the chapel dedicated to Our Lady. One of the artists who worked here was Guercino.
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Archiginnasio: this elegant Renaissance building has a portico made of 30 arches. This portico forms the Logge del Pavaglione together with the portico of Museo Civico. This building was the first seat of the University. The courtyard is really charming with two loggias, the stairs, the halls and the salons, all covered by polychrome coats of arms of Italian and foreigner students. The anatomy theatre is very interesting: it was used for medicine lessons and it was completely coated with wood. There are the famous statues of Spellati by Ercole Lelli (1735).
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Fontana del Nettuno: this fountain is a masterpiece by Giambologna, it is considered one of the most beautiful and elegant Renaissance fountains (1564/1566). The bronze statue portraying the god of the sea is called by citizens "the Giant". The fountain has some interesting elements, for example that of the "finger of the Giant". According to a tradition, Tommaso Laureti wanted to create a statue of Neptune with the biggest genitals in the world. But the ecclesiastical authotrities didn’t like this idea. So he designed the statue in such a way that from a particular perspective, the index finger of Neptune seems like an erect penis. In the past women of Bologna were so uneasy for this reason that "bronze trousers" were put on the statue. The whole fountain is "erotic": for example water gushes from the breast of the nymphs.
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Piazza Maggiore: this square is the real heart of Bologna. It is one of the most charming squares in the world thanks to the beautiful buildings surrounding it. Palazzo del Podestà (XIII century) is surmounted by a tower, Torre dell’Arengo: it has a bell of 49 quintals that rings when there are important events in the city. Palazzo Re Enzo gave hospitality to Frederick II’s son, from 1249 to his death (1272). Palazzo D’Accursio, built in the XIV century, is the seat of the town hall and it is surmounted by a tower, Torre dell’Orologio (1444). Palazzo dei Notai was built between 1381 and 1442. Palazzo dei Bianchi during XV and XVI century was the seat of the exchange.
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Cattedrale Metropolitana di S. Pietro: this cathedral became "Metropolitan" in 1582 thanks to Pope Gregory XIII, who transformed Bologna in an archdiocese. The building was first built in the first years of Christianity. The façade is of XVIII century and it is by Torreggiani. Inside there are precious works of art, for example some stoups of 1220, made with red marble, coming from the ancient Romanic church.
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Basilica di San Petronio: this basilica is dedicated to the patron of the town, S. Petronio (eighth bishop of Bologna from 431 to 450). It is the biggest and the most important of the city and the fifth Catholic Church in the world. It was built in 1390 by Antonio di Vincenzo: it should have been bigger than the San Pietro Basilica in Rome, but part of the funds for this church was used to build the Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio and so a smaller church was built. According to a legend, one of the reasons of Martin Lutero’s rebellion against Catholic religion, was the money used to build this basilica. In the church there is an important, still working, organ, built around 1470 by Lorenzo da Prato: the oldest in the world that is still functioning. Another more recent organ (1596) is by Baldassarre Malamini. Also this organ is still used. The façade has never been completed. On the middle portal there are some of the most precious Renaissance sculptures: stories taken from Ancient and New Testament, by Jacopo Della Quercia (XV century).
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Collegio di Spagna: this building is closed by tall embattled walls. It was founded in 1367 for the Spanish students that attended the Studium in Bologna. Inside there is nice courtyard, a rich library with precious codes.
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Palazzo Magnani: it was built in 1577 by Domenico Tibaldi. It has an elegant classic style and preserves the frescoes about the settlement of Rome by Ludovico, Annibale and Agostino Carracci (1588/1591). There is also the important monumental fireplace by Ambrosini.
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Palazzo Poggi: it was built in 1549 by Pellegrino Tibaldi, it contains the main seat of University and several university museums.
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Palazzo della Mercanzia: this Gothic building was erected between 1384 and 1391. It is characterized by the warm red of the bricks. It is crowned by a Ghibelline battlement and has a small terrace with a marble canopy.
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Palazzo Bevilacqua: it was built in the second half of XV century and the façade is coated by ashlar. The courtyard is really beautiful: in the middle there is a marble pit. In one of the rooms of the palace some sessions of Council of Trento took place in 1547.
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Palazzina della Viola: it is an elegant building, with a portico and some loggias, it was built at the end of XV century by Annibale Bentivoglio to give hospitality to Collegio Ferrerio for students from Piedmont.
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Basilica di S. Stefano: this basilica is made of four buildings erected between X and XIII century by Benedictines (at the beginning there were seven buildings). These buildings recreate a symbolic representation of the Passion of Jesus Christ. In fact in the past this place was called "Sacra Hierusalem". From the church dedicated to the Crucifix (Chiesa del Crocifisso), like a corridor, visitors go to the most beautiful of the four churches, that of San Sepolcro. It contains the tomb of S. Petronio, and it is made like the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. In the middle of the courtyard there is a fountain, Fontana di Pilato, the basin has Longobards incisions of VIII century. There is also a marble basin donated by Liutprando and Ilprando, kings of Longobards. The church dedicated to Saints Vitale and Agricola is the most ancient in the city and was built in V century. Inside the church dedicated to the Holy Trinity there is a museum containing paintings and religious objects, among them the wood statues of the Three Wise Men by Simone dei Crocefissi (1370). The Benedictine cloister is very charming with its two loggias.
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Basilica di S. Domenico: the erection began after the death of the saint (1221). The façade is Romanic; at one side there is a Renaissance chapel, cappella Ghisilardi. The chapel dedicated to Saint Dominick, cappella di S. Domenico, is really wonderful with its marble arches containing the body of the saint. In it there are sculptures by Nicolò Pisano: the urn (1267) the wonderful marble cymatium (1469-73) by Nicolò dell’Arca (the statues portraying S. Petronio, S. Procolo and the angel on the right are by Michelangelo). Paintings are really beautiful, too. The Renaissance wood choir by Fra’ Damiano da Bergamo (1528-51), was considered by contemporaries the eighth wonder of the world and Charles V admired it, too. The cloisters and the cell of the saint are very charming.
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Basilica di S. Francesco: this basilica is Gothic with a French influence. It was built around the half of 1200 and it was ordered by the Franciscan community that moved in town in 1218, led by Bernardo di Quintavalle, one the first disciples of Saint Francis. The most interesting element is the marble altar-piece on the main altar, made between 1388 and 1393 by two artists from Venice, Jacobello and Pier Paolo Dalle Masegne. The XIII century mausoleums are very interesting: they are by Accursio, Odofredo and Rolandino de’ Romanzi. There are several sepulchres along the walls: among them, there is the tomb of Pope Alexander V, by Sperandio (1482).
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Chiesa di S. Maria dei Servi: this church has a wide arcaded court, supported by thin marble columns. It is in Gothic style and was built by Servi di Maria community between 1386 and 1437 following a project by Andrea da Faenza, general of the community, maybe helped by the architect of S. Petronio, Antonio di Vincenzo. Inside there are important works of art, such as a painting by Cimabue portraying Our Lady (Madonna in trono), of XIII century and frescoes by Vitale da Bologna.
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Chiesa di S. Maria della Vita: this church was founded in the second half of XIII century by Battuti di S. Maria della Vita confraternity, one of the first Italian confraternities created after the Disciplinati movement, organized in 1260 in Perugia for a wish of Raniero Fusani. The duty of the confraternity was the auto-flagellation, the assistance to pilgrims and to ill people in the near hospital (it doesn’t exist today). The building is elegant and there is a beautiful statue portraying the Pietà, made in 1400 by Nicolò dell’Arca. Over the main altar there is a fresco portraying Madonna della Vita made in the second half of XIV century.
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Chiesa di S. Giacomo Maggiore: this church was built between 1267 and 1315 by Eremitani di S. Agostino friars. There is only a big nave, containing precious works of art, such as Cappella Bentivoglio, one of the most beautiful of Renaissance in Bologna, decorated with wonderful paintings; Cappella Poggi and Anton Galeazzo Bentivoglio’s tomb by Jacopo della Quercia (1453) are very interesting, too. The portico (1477-81) is really elegant: it is supported by light columns and crowned by a rich decorated frieze.
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Chiesa di S. Cecilia: it is decorated with wonderful fresco portraying episodes taken from the life of the saint and of S. Valeriano, made in 1504-06 by the best painters of that time.
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Chiesa di S. Michele in Bosco: next to the church there is a former monastery, called degli Olivetani, one of the greatest in Italy. This church is on a panoramic point on the hills near Bologna and the parvis is like a terrace over the city. Inside the church is very elegant, it is made of two floors and is decorated with beautiful paintings and sculptures of XVI and XVII century. The sacristy and the night choir are really interesting; they are decorated with wonderful XVI century frescoes.
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Chiesa del Corpus Domini: this church is called the church of the saint because there is the perfectly preserved body of S. Caterina de’ Vigri, who founded in 1456 the first monastery of Clarisse nuns in Bologna. It is one of the most loved sanctuaries in Bologna. It was built between 1477 and 1480 by Nicolò Marchionne da Firenze and Francesco Fucci da Doccia. The façade is in Renaissance style, with elegant terracotta basso-relievo by Sperandio di Mantova. There are some interesting paintings by Franceschini and by Lodovico Carracci, the tomb of the physicist Luigi Galvani and of Laura Bassi, a famous scientist in XVIII century. Next to the church there is a small chapel, containing the body of the saint.
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Chiesa di S. Maria della Pioggia: in 1561 Bologna was hit by a terrible drought. Many citizens took part to a procession to pray for the rain. In the following days it rained a lot. Thus there was the beginning of the worship for Madonna della Pioggia (Our Lady of the Rain). Inside the church there is a small painting portraying Our Lady with the Holy Child surrounded by seven angel heads. Maybe the painting is by Michele Di Matteo (1400). It is over the main altar of the church that is made of a nave and three side chapels, covered by a painted barrel-vault.
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Chiesa di S. Martino: it was built in the first half of 1300. It is an elegant church, with beautiful Renaissance chapels where there are precious works of art, such as the paintings by Francesco Francia, Amico Aspertini, Paolo Uccello, Lodovico Carracci, Lorenzo Costa, Girolamo da Carpi, Alessandro Tiarini and Girolamo da Sermoneta (he created the altar-piece portraying Our Lady and the Saints, 1548). The organ is really interesting for its sound and its decorations. It was created in 1500. On the parvis there is the columns dedicated to Our Lady (Beata Vergine del Carmelo) by Andrea Ferreri (1705).
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Chiesa del SS. Salvatore: this church is very ancient and elegant. The façade is decorated with three big copper statues by Orazio Provaglia. The church contains important art treasures and it is in Baroque style, similar to many Baroque churches in Rome.
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Chiesa di S. Bartolomeo e S. Gaetano: this elegant church contains works of art by Lodovico Carracci, Guido Reni and other artists of 1600.
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Chiesa di S. Giovanni in Monte: this church has an elegant façade; the portal is dominated by a strong eagle, symbol of Saint John, the Evangelist, made by Nicolò dell’Arca (1481). Inside there is a nave and two aisles. The windows on the facade are really beautiful (XV century), the altar-pieces are very precious and were made in XIV – XVIII century, and then there is an interesting XVI century choir. In the middle of the church there is a column, surmounted by a Romanic cross. The wooden Christ was made in XVI century.
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Chiesa di S. Paolo Maggiore: it was built between 1606 and 1611. The vaults are characterized by a rich decoration painted by Antonio and Giuseppe Rolli, who painted Saint Paul in Athens in XVII century. Over the altar there are paintings by famous artists, such as Guercino, Giuseppe Maria Crespi and Lodovico Carracci.
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Cenobio di S. Vittore: this coenoby is very charming, surrounded by nature. Inside there is a beautiful wood choir made in 1424-26. The near cloister is really airy. It was built in XII century and restored at the end of 1400.
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Chiesa dei SS. Gregorio e Sirio: on the façade there is the coat of arms of Ghisilieri family that lived in this building. The bell tower is the tower of the family transformed in 1532.
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Chiesa di S. Girolamo della Certosa: it is a great ancient monastery. Since last century it has been a graveyard. It is full of interesting works of art. The shape is that of a reversed T. There are beautiful paintings by masters from school of Bologna and a precious choir made in 1539 by Biagio de’ Marchi.
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Torri Garisenda e degli Asinelli: these two towers are considered the symbols of Bologna. They are at the entrance of the city, on the ancient via Emilia. They were very important from a military point of view, and they represented the wealth and the strength of the family. At the end of XII in Bologna there were around one hundred towers. Today there are around twenty. Torre degli Asinelli was built at the beginning of 1000s by Asinelli family. It is 97.20 m tall (it is the fourth in Italy, after that of Cremona, Siena and Venezia). The staircase is made of 498 steps. Torre Garisenda, was built in the same period, but it is less tall (47 mt). It has a slope of 3.22 m.
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Pinacoteca Nazionale: this pictures gallery is dedicated to artists from Bologna: Vitale da Bologna, Guido Reni, Cossa, Guercino and Carracci family. The two main paintings are "Madonna in Gloria" by Perugino (1491) and "Estasi di S. Cecilia", painted by Raffaello in 1515 in Bologna.
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Casa Giosuè Carducci: the famous Italian poet, Giosuè Carducci, lived here from 1890 to 1907, when he died. Giosuè Carducci went to live in Bologna because he had been called as a teacher of Italian eloquence at the University. In 1906 Queen Margherita di Savoia bought the flat where Carducci lived (on the second floor), and the whole villa, called "Piombo" (with a garden). She had already bought the library and the archive of the writer because she wanted to preserve the integrity of his collections. On 22nd February 1907 the house was donated to the municipality. Near the building there is a park dedicated to Giosuè Carducci: in this park there is the great marble monument, "Monumento Carducci", made by Leonardo Bistolfi in 1928.
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Museo Storico del Soldatino Mario Massacesi: this museum contains around 15,000 toy soldiers of the beginning of XIX century. They are made of paper, lead, stucco, plastic, wood, and are made in various parts of the world. There are also the toy soldier belonged to Giacomo Leopardi, and the tin ones "of Norimberga", and toy soldiers from XIX and the beginning of XX century. The most rare pieces are the paper toy soldiers of pontifical army (1820); there are also tools used in war-games, war machines made of tin (1910-40).
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Museo storico della Tappezzeria: this historical museum dedicated to tapestry is the only one in Italy and contains more than six thousand pieces. There are Italian, Middle and Far East fabrics, etc. The exhibition contains lace, broidery, tools and machines, accessories used to weave, etc.
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Museo Storico della Radio, dei Grammofoni, del Cinema e degli strumenti musicali meccanici (1760-1960): this private museum is dedicated to radio, gramophones, to cinema and to mechanical music instruments and contains 800 objects (collected by the owner, Cavalier Giovanni Pelagalli in more than 30 years).
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Museo Morandi: this museum is in Palazzo d’Accursio, the real cultural heart of the town and contains the richest collection of the works by Giorgio Morandi (281 works, among them 78 paintings made from 1910 to 1964, 20 watercolours, 92 drawings, 87 ‘acqueforti’, 2 sculptures and 2 plates). Then there is the reconstruction of the studio of the artist, with the real furniture, the tools, etc. There is also a room where there are all the ancient works of art collected by the artist during his life; a "room dedicated to memories", containing his personal objects; a library and an archive with all his books about art and literature and historical documents about the artist himself.
