The tour begins at Malpighi Square (p.zza Malpighi), where the sarcophagi of three glossators are located. Here is also the Church of Saint Francis, where the first medical faculty was located. In 1211, the Lesser Brothers of the Franciscan order arrived in Bologna, and after Saint Francis addressed the city’s residents, the Commune allocated land to the order for the construction of its church, which began in 1235 and was completed in 1263. Next, you head to the main square, Piazza Maggiore, where you visit the Cathedral of St. Petronius, dedicated to the patron saint of the city. The church was founded in 1390 according to the design of architect Antonio di Vincenzo. Work continued until the 17th century, but the church was never completed. The exterior facade is made of white and pink marble and brick. The central portal was crafted by the Sienese master Jacopo Della Quercia. Inside the Basilica, there are 22 chapels with frescoes and various works of art, as well as the longest meridian in the world.
From the Cathedral of St. Petronius, under the Aviglione portico, you head to the Archiginnasio Palace (Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio), where the University of Bologna was located from the 16th century until 1803, when Bologna was captured by Napoleon, who moved the University to the Palazzo Poggi on Zamboni Street. Inside the building, the Municipal Library and the famous Anatomical Theatre, where anatomy lectures were once held, have been preserved.
Passing through the Medieval market, you emerge at Piazza di Porta Ravegnana, where the Two Towers (Le Due Torri) – the towers of Asinelli and Garisenda – are located, symbols of the city. In Medieval Bologna, there were about a hundred towers and tower houses belonging to the city’s main families. The height of the tower indicated the power of its owners.
You exit onto Zamboni Street – the heart of student life in Bologna.
You pass by magnificent medieval palaces belonging to important families of Bologna, such as Palazzo Malvezzi and Palazzo Manzoni Salem. The Church of San Giacomo Maggiore, founded in 1267 for the Order of Augustinians, was completed in 1344 under Romanesque-Gothic influence, with later Renaissance modifications added. In 1445, in this church, Annibale Bentivoglio purchased a chapel for his family, which was decorated with frescoes by Lorenzo Costa and Francesco Francia.
In addition, he financed the decoration of the church-monastery complex of St. Augustine. Because of this, inside is a true art gallery created by the best artists: Ludovico Carracci, Pellegrino Tibaldi, Jacopo della Quercia, Paolo Veneziano.
At the end of the portico, built at the behest of Giovanni II Bentivoglio, is the entrance to the Oratorio di Santa Cecilia (oratorio di Santa Cecilia), an ancient Romanesque church, restored in 1504 and decorated with frescoes by Francesco Francia, Lorenzo Costa, and Amico Aspertini, who together most fully represent Bolognese painting of the Renaissance.
The Conservatory Giovanni Battista Martini, the Church of San Giacomo, to the right of which is still the functioning Philharmonic Museum, created in 1804, thanks to the collaboration of the Municipality and the Academic Philharmonic, which decided to provide the city with a prestigious music school. Among the first students was Gioachino Rossini, who studied here from 1808 to 1809. In the famous Bossi Hall, concerts were held for the 15-year-old musician and his first wife-singer Isabella Colbran. In 1942, the Lyceum became state-owned and was named the Giovanni Battista Martini Music Conservatory, in honor of the Bolognese Franciscan monk who became known throughout Europe for his musical culture and extraordinary bibliographic and iconographic collections.
The City Theater was opened on Zamboni Street in 1763 with Gluck’s opera, becoming the first venue for exquisite city performances. Numerous operas by Rossini were presented in 1850 personally by Giuseppe Verdi, who conducted the first opera “Luisa Miller” and had a triumphant success. Subsequently, the square in front of the theater was named in his honor. And the greatest fame of the City Theater is still associated with the name of composer Richard Wagner and his directors A. Mariani, L. Mancini, G. Martucci, who staged most of the first Italian dramas of the innovative and romantic German composer.
Palazzo Poggi (Palazzo Poggi): a palace built in 1549 by the Poggi family to assert their power and wealth. In 1711, the Bologna Senate acquired this building to house the Institute of Science and Arts. There, in 1725, a powerful tower of the astronomical observatory La Specola was built. And from 1803, by Napoleon’s decree, the University moved here from the Archiginnasio, and now the Rectorship and administrative offices are located here. Inside, in addition to the magnificent frescoes by Tebaldi and Niccolò dell’Arca, there are numerous university museums, such as the Museum of Zoology, the Museum of Astronomy, the Museum of Anatomy, the Museum of Anthropology, as well as the Museum of Obstetrics and the Museum of Wax Figures.
