Bologna, a heavily underrated city in Italy, has played an important role in the history of human development, especially in the history of medicine.
Bologna, located in north-central Italy, is the capital of emilia-Romagna, and between Venice and Florence, although they can't compete in terms of tourism, they are blessed with less bustling tour groups and more life. It was my favorite city on my last trip to Italy and fell in love at first sight.
The city is not big, the old city is about half an hour on foot from end to end, but it is like an open-air museum, full of history: the twin towers that have not fallen for thousands of years, the imposing churches, the crisscrossing river channels like "Little Venice", the back of the poseidon fountain, the colonnades all over the city, sweeping a shared bicycle ride under the warm sun of the Apennines in winter... My assessment of it is: the city is particularly suitable for life.
【City of Gastronomy】: The Po River Plain is the land of fish and rice in the Apennine Peninsula, Bologna food is recognized as the most delicious and authentic in all of Italy, "Bolognese meat sauce noodles" originated here. There are also "Lasagna alla Bolognese", tortellini, Parmesan cheese, raw ham, plus salami from the surrounding area, traditional Balsamic vinegar from Modena and more. So Bologna has another name called "Fat City", which means that you don't want to lose weight here!
[University City]: In 1088 AD, the world's first university, the Universityà degli studi di Bologna, was established here, known for its two majors, law and medicine, and is the alma mater of all universities in Europe.
The Palazzo dell' Archiginnasio on the east side of piazza del Maggiore in the old town was once the site of the University of Bologna and is now the library of the town hall.
The library is open to the public free of charge, and from the entrance to the corridor, the colorful coats of arms are designed by the students who have studied here for thousands of years, and each coat of arms has a wonderful story behind it.
But it's not just this library that I would recommend, there is an "Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio" on the second floor, built in 1636-1638, the world's first human anatomy laboratory. Remember the "Black Death" in medieval Europe? Dissecting corpses is strictly forbidden, but the exception is made in schools, where anatomical experiments laid the foundation for modern medicine.
[School superstition]: Medieval Europe was full of wars and diseases, and families fought back and forth, and towers were built for defense. Later, it became a symbol of wealth, and the higher the tower was built, the richer the family was. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, Bologna had more than 180 defensive towers at its peak, and the two richest families were evenly matched, and it was agreed that whoever completed the tower first would become the mayor. In the end, the Asinelli family won, and the tower of the rival Garisenda's family collapsed halfway. The two towers have been famous since the 12th century, named after the family Asinelli (Torri degli Asinelli) and The Torri Garisenfa, the former 97.2 meters high and inclined by 2.23 meters; the latter 48 meters high and inclined by 3.22 meters, and has been banned from climbing.
With 498 stone steps leading to the top of the tower, the Asinelli Tower is the fourth tallest surviving tower in Italy, but students have always had a legend that they can only climb the tower after graduation, otherwise they will not get a degree.
【City of Colonnades】: Climb to the top of the tower and look out, a colonnade leads directly to the mountain. Built in 1674-1793, this "Portico di San Luca" is the longest arcade in the world, with a total length of about 3.5 km, extending southwest from the city center in a total of 666 arches, interconnected with twelve ancient city gates built in the Middle Ages, reaching the temple on the hill. Built in 1723 to enshrine the Virgin, the archway was originally used to parade up the hill to protect the icons during the worship of the Virgin, and under the extension of the arches, a all-weather pedestrian corridor was formed.
In fact, not only outside the city, the whole city is full of elegant arcades, as early as 1288 the city legislated that the building must build an arcade, the height must not be less than 7 "Bologna feet" (about 2.66 meters), so that pedestrians wearing hats and horses can pass.
In 2021, Bologna was declared a World Heritage Site with its colonnade.
City of Speed: The maserati logo of the luxury car is a trident inspired by the Poseidon Fountain on Piazza Bologna. Holding a trident, poses the god of the sea, which stands at the top of the four great rivers representing the world. Bologna is the home of founder Maserati, who believes that the trident of the sea god will give the sports car timeless, refined and full of emotion.
Ferrari, Lamborghini and Ducati were also born in Bologna or its nearby cities, so industry is still the backbone of the industry here.
Finally, let's talk about the basilica di San Petronio, the huge and ugly cathedral in the city center. The church was built in 1390 AD and is named after the archbishop in the 5th century. The church is 132 meters long, 60 meters wide, with a ceiling height of 45 meters and a façade height of 51 meters, which can accommodate 28,000 people, ranking 10th in the world if calculated by volume, ranking first in the world if calculated by brick church, and the fifth largest rectangular church in the world. In Europe, churches were built for a little money, and it was normal to build them for hundreds of years, and in the 16th century, it was ambitiously planned to build the world's first cathedral, surpassing St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Pope Pius IV is gone: You're the number one, where do I go? It was ordered to stop work, so today the façade clearly has traces of "rotten tail buildings".
The church does not charge a ticket, just enter, and it has the largest sundial in the world today, that is, the copper line on the ground on the left that leads to the door, marked by the corresponding month with twelve constellations, and the date is engraved next to it. The sun is at different heights throughout the year, with light coming in through holes in the roof and casting onto copper wires in different sizes, showing the date of the day, more precisely than measuring it with a telescope
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【Author:Desert Rose】
Global travel expert, freelance writer, guest host. He has traveled to nearly 50 countries and more than 200 cities on five continents.