5/20/2024 Bologna Walking Tour
Bologna, a UNESCO-protected city noted for its medieval towers and long, columned porticos, is the lively, historic capital of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy.
Our hotel was just a 12-minute walk to its Piazza Maggiore, a sprawling plaza lined with arched colonnades, cafes, and medieval and Renaissance structures such as City Hall, the Fountain of Neptune, and the Basilica di San Petronio.
It is also home to Bologna’s most iconic landmark, the Two Towers, the leaning Asinelli and Garisenda. Asinelli is taller, at 319 feet high, with 498 steps to the top, and more dangerous than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Currently, and rightly so, it is closed due to obvious safety issues.
Bologna is also known as the red city, with its terracotta-tiled roofs and an infinite number of oranges and ochres, traditionally known as Bologna red and Modena yellow.
The Piazza Maggiore, in the heart of the city, has been the undisputed symbol of Bologna for centuries. It is one of the oldest in Italy, dating back to the 13th century when the municipality decided to buy land there to dedicate to a market.
What I found most intriguing was that the Pope and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome constantly blocked construction because the Pope wanted to prevent the construction of San Petronio from exceeding the size of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. (What happened to all that Christian love???)
San Petronio was born into a noble Roman family. He later converted to Christianity, became a priest, and, in the fifth century, was the bishop of Bologna and a patron saint of the city until he died in 450 AD.
Construction of the Basilica di San Petronio
(above and below) began in 1390, and its main facade
has remained unfinished since. The building was transferred from the city to the diocese in 1929, and the basilica was finally consecrated in 1954. It has been the seat of the relics of Bologna’s patron saint only since 2000.
Our local guide, Izzy, was amazing with her “hidden stories of the basilica,” especially regarding the private chapels.
This fresco, painted by Giovanni da Modena, represents a scene from Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. It depicts Muhammad in Hell being devoured by Lucifer and other demons. (It is amazing and hard to unsee.)
However, the Fountain of Neptune provided Rome with multiple challenges. Neptune’s outstretched left arm blocks the winds to calm the sea in a symbolic gesture meant to glorify Pope Pius IV and the power of the Catholic Church over the city of Bologna.
But when the Pope and Catholic Church protested Neptune’s distracting significant penis and the females spouting unending streams of water from their breasts, the church ordered the sculpture to shorten the penis or return the fountain.
The outcome?
The sculpture was slightly rotated, and if you stood in the correct spot (which I did immediately), you could understand why it stopped there with its left hand at the waistline. LOL - hard to miss (no pun intended).
The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, was the first higher learning institute in the Western world. To expand, Bologna had to fight the church and Rome. (There is no clear winner to this conundrum yet.)
Inside the University of Bologna’s anatomical classroom
(above and below)
In my day, as a high school student in advanced Biology, I dissected frogs and worms. I’m not so sure how I would feel with fully exposed, naked cadavers front and center on this table during their dissections.
Lavish displays of graduates’ coat of arms throughout...
After pizza and beers at a small pizzeria, we walked as quickly as possible to catch the 1:30 train to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca to challenge the 100+ steps to the top of the cupola. Betty and I made it!
The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca.
(from the bottom to the top).
The rooftop view after ascending a spiral staircase of 100+ steps.
When we headed to the return line to board the train for the ride back, we worried there wouldn’t be enough seats for us to get back in time for our next meeting. It was clear where the line ended, but, some entitled people thought they could squeeze in the line wherever they wanted.
One guy, in particular, used a baby stroller (holding his own baby hostage) inside the parking area specifically for the train, inching and inching to cut in front of me (his first mistake). I told him to go to the end of the line just like his wife did. His response? “I speak no English.” My response? “Well, I do, and I fully understand you.” Thankfully, the train’s supervisor directed him to the back of the line, where he belonged.
Dinner at Osteria IL 15 was so impressive that even Mona Lisa was drooling...
New antipasti included pesto modenese (aka lardo pesto), rosemary, garlic, and cured pork fat; squacquerone (cheese); and riccota al balsamico carmellato (Panna cotta). The best?
All three! (But I and others, preferred the pork lard pesto).
I tried zucchini pasta for the first time and loved it.
And the super creamy Panna cotta was amazing (as always).
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