‘What is your favourite city?' is a question we are often asked. We can never limit ourselves to just one city because there can be so many different reasons to appreciate a city. But to be honest, Bologna in northern Italy is definitely one of our favourites. Well, why is that? Because it's a city where 'being' and 'staying' has been elevated to an art form. Modern life in a historical setting.
Jan Brokken described it in his book "Stedevaart" (2020) in the chapter about Bologna titled The city of Morandi: "I understand Morandi. If you grew up in a city like Bologna, you don't need to investigate whether life elsewhere is better." He is referring here to the painter Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964), born and raised in this city. A city that Morandi left only six times during his life, and only for short periods. Now, we have traveled much more and seen the world, but during our last visit in September 2023, we also felt that life elsewhere couldn't be better than in Bologna. However, the city is not well known among many tourists. This may be due to its location in the triangle of Florence, Pisa, and Venice, all very famous tourist destinations. But don't worry; the fact that it’s quieter doesn't mean there's nothing to see. Far from it.
Bologna is a city with almost 390,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Emilia Romagna region. It is located in the southernmost part of the Po Valley, right up against the Apennine Mountains. It has a turbulent and complex history. Here, we outline the main points briefly. The city was founded by the Etruscan civilization, a northern Italian people, around 510 BC. In 189 BC, the city became part of the Roman Empire. Two years later, the city was connected by the Via Aemilia, the road from Piacenza to Rimini on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. This can still be seen on the map: a straight line. This led to the city's growth in importance and population, and at its peak, 'Bononia' as it was called, was one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire. In 774 AD, Charlemagne gave the city to Pope Adrian I. In the 11th century, the city managed to break free from the Holy Roman Empire and became a free city-state. Three important pillars of the city date back to this period: the foundation of the university (studium in 1088), the arcades (porticos), and the towers (torres) built up until the 13th century. By the end of the 12th century, Bologna was an important trading centre and the fifth largest city in Europe. It formed the centre of the textile industry with a network of canals and waterways for transport and energy generation. Like neighboring Florence, there were several influential families ruling the city. These wealthy individuals attracted artists and intellectuals. It's worth noting that during the Renaissance, Bologna was the only city where several women were allowed to study at the university.
The history of the city remained closely tied to the Papal State for nearly three centuries, from the early 16th to the late 18th century. In 1530, Charles V was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. During this period, many churches and monasteries (96!) were founded. Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the city in 1796, and Bologna became the capital of the Cispadane Republic until Napoleon was defeated in 1815. Through the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Bologna returned under the authority of the Pope. In 1860, the city joined the Kingdom of Sardinia, which shortly thereafter became the Kingdom of Italy. At that time, the city had over 110,000 inhabitants, with 70,000 living in the city centre. Living conditions in the city were poor. In 1880, a tram network was established. Restoration work took place until World War I, and new roads were constructed. The university expanded, which led to the demolition of some medieval buildings. In the late 19th century, a master plan came into effect, allowing for the demolition of the city walls. Now we can see that this master plan paid little attention to the historical values of the city; everything was focused on progress. There was little space for parks; however, a garden city with Art Nouveau villas was planned to the south of the old city.
On the day the World War I began, socialist leadership took power in Bologna for the first time. Five years later, the first fascist headquarters emerged in this city. This led to significant demolitions to make room for new buildings in an architectural style in line with their own ideology. This is evident in Via Marconi, Piazza Galileo, and Piazza Roosevelt. Meanwhile, a large anti-fascist movement remained present in the city, and a large group of partisans emerged. Bologna suffered heavy damage during World War II. Almost half of the buildings were damaged by the war, prompting a new master plan in 1948. After the first post-war elections, a socialist-communist administration took office in the city, overseeing the implementation of the master plan. The update of the master plan in 1955 envisaged a growth from 450,000 to one million inhabitants.
In 1970, there was a shift in focus towards restoration and preservation of the fine scale within the city. It was also recognised that the belt of hills surrounding the city needed protection and that more green spaces were necessary. Industry was concentrated in the northeastern part of the city. After World War II, the technical industry (tools and machinery) became internationally significant, and the population peaked in 1973 at 500,000 residents. By the late 1970s, there was significant discontent in the city, leading to riots in the university district. On August 2, 1980, the city was shocked by the Bologna massacre, a terrorist attack at the central station. Eighty five people were killed, and 200 were injured. Neo-fascists were found guilty of this bombing. In late 1999, the city was surprised when the political right-wing won the elections for the first time. However, this lasted only one term, after which the left-wing parties regained power and have remained in power since. This contributes to one of the three well-known nicknames for this city, 'la rossa' (the red), although there are also suggestions that this is due to the most common colour of the buildings in the city. The other nicknames are 'la dotta' (the learned) and 'la grassa' (the fat, because of the food).
As soon as you walk through the streets of Bologna, it's hard to miss that it's a student city. There are many young people visible in the city, on the streets, in the cafes, and especially in the . On Via Zamboni, they are by far the majority. A leading university emerged from schools dating back to the 11th century. The motto of the university is 'Alma Mater' (nourishing mother with knowledge). One of the places where you can experience the old university is in the Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasi building. Here, various schools came together for the first time in one building, in a palace commissioned by Pope Pius IV in 1561. In 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte moved the university centre to Palazzo Poggi, where the city library was established. Although the building was heavily damaged in 1944, it has been restored to its former glory. The entrance to the square leads you to a courtyard with stairs on either side leading to the gallery on the first floor.
In this building, you can visit the reconstructed Anatomical Theatre: a theatre with a centrally placed dissection table in a setting typical of 1637. The entire theatre - walls, seating, and ceiling - is made of pine wood and is adorned with two rows of a total of 32 statues of famous anatomists and doctors. It was designed by a Bolognese architect, Antonio Levanti. It forms a cohesive unit around the marble dissecting table. Another space, the 'Salo dello Stabat Mater', is also accessible. Originally built as a study hall, it was used for music performances, including the piece by Rossini after which it is named. Here, you can peek through a gate into the hundreds of metres of bookshelves in the library. In the hall and in the arcades, you can see paintings of coats of arms. Each academic year saw a new painting featuring the coats of arms of the students. Walking along Via Zamboni towards Via Irnerio, you will reach what is now the bustling heart of the University: various university buildings and groups of students engaged in discussions.
If you want to get a sense of where the third nickname, 'la grassa' (the Fat) comes from, you're best off looking in , a side street of Piazza Maggiore (where the cathedral of San Petronio stands). The street name hints that it was the old street of the fishermen. Now it's a narrow street lined with delicatessen shops and/or restaurants, pasta shops, vegetable stalls, and fishmongers. The shop windows are very attractively arranged. You'll see giant mortadellas (a specialty of Bologna), hams, sausages, homemade pastas, and various kinds of cheeses. Tables and chairs line this narrow street, and it's quite common to order a platter (tagliere) of these delicacies with small bread rolls. Here, you'll truly experience the essence of 'the Fat'. By the way, never order 'spaghetti bolognese'; it's not a traditional dish of this city. The sauce 'ragu' should be served with tagliatelle.
However, for us, there is much more that makes the city attractive beyond the three nicknames. What immediately comes to mind is that it's a labyrinthine city. Within the hexagonal old town, relatively few major thoroughfares have been created. Additionally, you'll find 40km of arcades within the hexagon (and 20km outside). The first arcades were made of wood and served as trading spaces for shops. Legend has it that the arcades we see today originated in the 13th century due to the shopkeepers' desire to expand, but this would encroach upon the space of the streets. To compensate for this, it was decreed that the ground floor must remain accessible to pedestrians, allowing construction above. To this day, only temporary businesses are allowed in the arcades, and they must be cleared out every evening. Restaurants have terraces, but there is always enough space to walk through. This structure is found in both the older and later constructed buildings. You may still encounter one wooden arcade, namely that of the 13th-century Casa Isolani at Strada Maggiore no. 19. As a pedestrian, you can continuously wander in a safe environment alongside the street where traffic roars, hardly realising that the buildings you pass under date from very different periods. It's also good that the arcades provide shelter from both rain and sun.
A particular highlight of the arcade route is formed by the path to the sanctuary of Santuario della Madonna di San Luca, the Portico San Luca. The route begins at Piazza di Porte Saragozza. At the end of Via Saragozza, you reach the Arco del Meloncello (arch building), which takes you over the road to the start of the over 600 arcades that ascend the mountain to the . The construction of this gallery began in 1674. Winding up the Colle della Guardia mountain, you walk under these arcades for three-quarters of an hour to a height of 291m, and the church never comes into view. Along the way, you pass the 15 Stations of the Cross: the traditional 14 supplemented with the final station depicting the crowning of Mary. The last part of the climb is the steepest, and then you reach the square with a viewing platform. Here, at the head of Via Don Sturzo, you see a building that served as the departure station for the cable car from 1931 to 1976. Long ago, this was transformed into a residential building. Then, a few more steps upward toward the church. Since the 12th century, this has been a religious site where the Black Madonna with Child is kept. This statue dates from between the 9th and 11th centuries, is in Byzantine style, and is adorned with 17th-century silverwork. There used to be a chapel here. Now, there stands an 18th century church building constructed by Carlo Francesco Dotti and his son Giovanni Giacomo. Every spring, the Madonna leaves her place for a week and is then exhibited until Ascension Day in the Basilica San Petronio in the centre.
We choose to walk downhill and turn left at the Arco de Meloncello onto Via della Certosa. You can continue your way under the arcades, passing the Stadio Renato Dall’ara from 1927 (the stadium for FC Bologna) towards the . The municipal cemetery named Certosa was established in 1801. The entrance building was designed in harmony with the arcades by Ercole Gasperini. There has been a cemetery here since the 14th century. The cemetery is essentially an open-air museum, with different courtyards filled with sculptures and colonnades surrounding them. Within the walls of the cemetery, you can still find old parts of the monastery that stood here in the 15th century. You'll find magnificent monuments, including those of the painter Giorgio Morandi and the singer Ludio Dalla.
We came across a very special monument. At first, it seemed a bit confusing. It appeared as if someone was about to jump from a building (resembling a miniature power station), no joke. Then we see stairs leading under that building. Below, along the walls, there are grave plates, and in the middle of that so-called power station, you'll find a group of bronze statues: figures of people, from the ground up to the edge of the building. Inside the building, we found a plaque with the following text (translated): "A partisan city, faithful to ancient traditions, refused to bend to the arrogance of the German invader. With the purest blood of thousands of its best children, with its houses destroyed and fought in epic, protracted battles with weapons taken from the enemy, it led the way in the unfair fight and in the uprising that, in the radiant air of April 1945, restored the homeland to the reconquest of its freedom." It turns out that the remains of those who died in the Gusen concentration camp were interred here (on September 27, 1960). Knowing this, you can understand the design much better.
We can't ignore another urban-architectural aspect of this city: the towers. They also contribute to the city's fourth nickname, slightly less known than the other three: 'la turrita' (the towered). Between the 11th and 13th centuries, the city was filled with towers. It is said that at its peak, there were 180 towers. It's still not clear why the towers were built, but it's believed that wealthy families did so to impress. They could also be lived in and served as storage spaces. During feuds between families, the towers provided the opportunity to shoot at each other. Similar towers can also be found in the city of San Gimignano. Most towers were demolished in the 13th century. Now, there's knowledge of 90 towers, where they stood, and their associated names, often named after the families that built them. Twenty four towers can still be found. are highly visible because buildings in the immediate vicinity were demolished, and they are also almost in line with Via Rizzoli. They form the city's emblem and are over 900 years old. The tallest tower is Torre degli Asinelli, standing at 97.20m tall. It leans (2.23m to the west). The shorter tower is Torre Garisenda, 48.16m tall, and leans much more: 3.22m to the northeast. At the end of October 2023 (just a month after our last visit), it was reported that this latter tower is moving, and there are fears of its collapse. Torre degli Asinelli, which is usually open to visitors (500 steps), is therefore closed, and efforts are being made to reduce traffic. Don't expect to easily come across the other towers while walking. They are part of the dense urban fabric, and only a closed base gives away their tower status. Torre Azzoguidi or Altabella is 61m tall and stands in Via Altabella. Torre Prendiparte, 59.50m tall, located at the square of the same name, is a B&B. The former ghetto, the Jewish quarter, is found northwest of Torre Garisenda.
It's remarkable that Bologna experienced significant industrial development, yet you can hardly find any traces of it in the city. Ironically, the city was once called 'little Venice'. Today, it's hard to imagine why. The industrial history dates to Roman times with the construction of a 20km long underground aqueduct. Between the 12th and 16th centuries, an artificial network of canals and streams was created from the rivers Aposa, Savena, and Reno into the city. Two canals entered the city from the west and the east. The water was used for household purposes, sewage systems, canals outside the walls, grain, and silk mills, serving as an energy source for these industries; there were over 100 waterwheel mills in the city by the late 17th century, remaining in use until the late 19th century. Until the early 20th century, these canals were still visible in the city. Old photos show washing areas along the canals and a network of pedestrian bridges, such as those at the Canale delle Moline (mill canal). However, due to hygiene concerns, almost all waterways were brought underground. A small section of the Canale di Reno is still visible from Via dell'Indipenza in the northwest of the city.
To gain a better understanding of the city's industrial past, we visit the Museum of Industrial Heritage. is housed in a former brick kiln, Fornace Galotti 'Battifero' from 1887. The factory was abandoned in 1966, after which the city renovated part of the complex. Since 1997, it has housed a museum showcasing the city's industrial history. It is located along the Canale Navile, which heads north out of the city. Originally, the surrounding area of Bologna was primarily agricultural. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, the city became the centre of the silk and voile industry, situated along the water network. Italian silk quality was high and used by many textile-producing countries, propelling the city into an international trade centre. Notably, the museum features a moving wooden model of a silk mill (completed in 1986). It's built to a scale of 1:2 based on a 1599 drawing by the German architect Heinrich Schickhardt. It stands at 3.5m tall, 2.3m in diameter, and contains 384 spindles. A model of part of the city depicts how such mills were placed within buildings. The buildings didn't need to be particularly large, making it difficult to recognize disused industrial buildings in the city. At the end of the 18th century, the silk industry collapsed. The new fashion in Lyon (France), with connections to Versailles, and the so-called cotton revolution in England, brought an end to this flourishing industry in Bologna. It plunged the city into poverty and unemployment. The wills of two Bolognese intellectuals brought about change. Luigi Valerani (1828) and Giovanni Aldini (1834) stated that technical education was the most effective route to modernisation. Following their deaths and financial bequests, the municipality established the Valerani-Aldini Institute in 1878 and remained in existence until 1913. Its aim was to train young mechanics to become high-quality versatile technicians. In 1844, a university was also opened, the new institute 'Aldini Valerani per le Arti e i Mestieri,' modeled after the Ecole d’ingenieurs Denis Diderot in Paris.The interwar period was the era of new industrial Bologna. There was large production of machinery for agriculture, tools, the packaging industry, cigarettes, and for making pasta and ice cream. Many products were linked to the motor industry: the first Maserati, various motorcycles, car carburetors, buses and small trucks, electrical components and radios (Ducati), and orthopaedic instruments. This past is still visible today. In the west of the city, just below the airport, lies the Ducati factory, and slightly south of that, you'll find Lamborghini Bologna. Beyond that, it's a matter of searching for the remnants of the industrial past. The Museum of Modern Art, MAMbo (Museo d’Arte Moderna Bologna), has been housed in a transformed tobacco factory since 2023 and is still located by a canal.
It's always exciting to see how new urban interventions relate to the historic city. A particularly interesting example from the 1960s-70s is the district. During those years, Bologna was at a demographic and economic peak. The Japanese architect and urban planner Kenzō Tange was asked to propose a plan for the city's growth. It became a plan for 1970-1984 and looked very futuristic. He proposed development outside the ring road, not too far from the train station, in the form of a large ‘U’. Ultimately, only the business centre with conference facilities was realised. The congress building, a strongly structuralist concrete building, was completed in 1965 by architects Leonardo Benevolo, Tommaso Giura Longe, and Carlo Melograni. The business centre, tall towers with rounded corners containing the stairwells, was designed by Kenzo Tange. The regional office of Emilia Romagna is located here. You feel like you're in a time capsule. Large, sleek, narrow concrete buildings, very sculptural, around large empty and sometimes elevated squares. In the northeast lies the Kenzo Tange garden, a beautiful name for a large park. It's difficult to imagine what it's like to work in such a building. Unfortunately, the buildings are not accessible. Such slender buildings were rarely built thereafter due to their unbalanced ratio between gross square metres and net usable space. For architecture enthusiasts, there is a pavilion by Le Corbusier to be seen on the west side of the congress building. It is a faithful replica of the demolished pavilion for the 'Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs' in 1925 in Paris. On October 6, 1977, the reconstruction, named 'Padiglione l’Esprit nouveau de Le Corbusier,' was opened at this location.
We are curious about what Bologna will do with new construction plans. In 2008, a design competition was held for a new (at the site of the current station). The design by Andrea Maffei Architects and Arata Isozaki & Associates was the winner. Frankly, we're not really upset that this wasn't realised. The charm of this city lies in the fact that the historic city remains a livable city and that the layers of history remain visible.
The most beautiful place in the city to experience this is the . A triangular square paved with cobblestones sloping gently towards the San Stefano complex of churches. From left to right, you see the Benedictine monastery (originally not part of this complex from the 6th, 12th, and 13th centuries), the Crocifisso church from the 8th century, the octagonal San Sepolcro from the 12th century, the church of San Vitale e Sant’Agricola from the 11th century, and two courtyards. The complex was restored between 1870 and 1930 and is well worth a visit. The square is bordered by two arcades. Under the arcades and just in front of them, there are terraces, without screens or anything similar. Here, it is filled with people during the day and evening, their soft murmurs filling the space. They know the beauty of this city and that life elsewhere cannot be better.
May 2024
