Bologna, a walk through the city of knowledge

Bologna

One of the busiest train stations in Italy, through which services that connect the entire country pass and pass, is Bologna. It is located to the north, it is the capital of the rich region of Emilia-Romagna and it has a long and interesting history that has left its mark on its architecture and customs.

If you are organizing a trip to Italy I advise you not to leave it out. I know that Florence, Venice or Rome are clearly more attractive destinations, but if you spend a couple of days in Bologna you will be rewarded. It is a small city that you can explore on foot, offers a very tasty gastronomy and excellent opportunities to go shopping and soak up its culture.

Bologna, the Learned

University of Bologna 2

This is how this century-old city is called. La Docta or La Dotta, but they also tell her The Red y The Grassa, that is, the Red and the Fat. It is the learned one because has the oldest university in Europe, It is the Red because many of its buildings have been built with bricks of that color so the historic center has that tone, and it is the Grease because its gastronomy is legendary and it is starred by dishes with meat and cream-based sauces for Pasta.

I think any of these three features of the city serve as tourist magnets, right? History tells us that after the fall of the Roman Empire the city became a frontier threatened all the time by the barbarians until it fell under Lombard control. University was founded centuries later, in 1088, and knew how to have among his students Dante, Bocaccio and Petrarca.

Bologna

By the 50th century it was inhabited by between 60 and XNUMX thousand people, quite a number for a medieval city. Its complex and advanced canal layout was a genius of the time in which ships traveled with the textiles produced in it. Rich families built their housing towers, hundreds, and the streets were populated in addition to churches, abbeys and many public buildings.

Plagues through Bologna reached the eighteenth century and was conquered by Napoleon. Later he integrated the Papal States and finally became part of the Kingdom of Italy in the late XNUMXth century. It was badly damaged during World War IIDue to the importance of its railway terminal, so the aerial bombs destroyed much of its historic center.

With this brief information in mind we are now in a position to sign you up what you can not miss in Bologna. Notes!

Top Attractions in Bologna

Anatomical museum

El Poggi Palace It is counted among them: it is the seat of the university and contains the museums of the same. The palace dates from the XNUMXth century and contains works of art everywhere. In terms of museums, it contains important collections of wax anatomical and obstetric pieces, marvelous antiquities, but there are also collections of natural history, optics and electricity, geography and science.

El International Museum and Music Library It contains manuscripts of a young Mozart and also instruments. The Historical Museum of the Soldier Contains toy soldiers made of paper, metal, stucco, plastic and wood, wonderful pieces. In the Heritage museum Industrial It also contains a lot of historical machinery in the manufacture of silk textiles, hydraulic machines that operated from the XNUMXth to the XNUMXth centuries.

Museum of Music

El Health Museum it is also an interesting visit. Then you already have more classic museums and galleries like the Pinacoteca Nacional, the Archaeological Civic Museum, the Medieval Civic Museum, Community Art Collection, Morandi Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Civic Museum of the Renaissance and the Ebraico Museum. The history of the city is in the Palazzo Pepoli, the headquarters of Ducati They are in the factory of this car brand. There is also the Historical Museum of Tapestry and there is a recommended museum if you like the Second War: the Grigoverde Museum. It contains five multimedia scenarios where you feel part of the war tragedy.

If you like churches and monasteries there is the Museum of San Petronio, the Museum of the Cathedral and its treasure, the Museo di Santo Stefano, a Benedictine convent with medieval frescoes and paintings, that of San Domenico and that of the old monastery of San Giovani in Monte. Actually there are many more museums so you should make a list of your interests and eliminate some if you want to know several and have little time.

Churches in Bologna

Bologna then offers us museums, art galleries, old churches, industrial archeology, common archeology, historic houses and palaces, fountains, bridges, canals, towers, bell towers and historical routes to explore. Walking through the city you will run into the beautiful Neptune Fountain, from the XNUMXth century, a work by Giambologna and the Vecchia Fountain, by the same author.

We said above that Bologna is a city of canals And so it is: there are several channels and among them you can run into the Canal delle Moline and Navile channel which was for seven centuries the main outlet to the Adriatic Sea. Naturally if there are canals there are bridges so walking you will cross some. I emphasize this walking because Bologna is a city to explore on foot so it offers several trekking routes to explore it.

Canals of Bologna

The fact is that if you go in October Bologna organizes free guided tours under the Urban trekking program. It is usually a weekend with more than 30 guided tours of the city. If you go at another time of year, you can sign up for city tours: the City Tour aboard the roofless bus, walks in the hills around the city organized between March and June and between September and November, the ride on the little train. -car that crosses all the historical porticoes of the city or the night tours.

Bologna Welcome Card

Bologna Welcome Card

The city has its own tourist discount card. It has a validity of 48 hours and costs 20 euros. Serves for an adult and a child under 12 years old. Includes the free entry to 10 museums, a city map in eight languages ​​with a special itinerary to do in three hours, discounts in restaurants and shops and the possibility of choosing between a two-hour guided tour of the historic center, a 24-hour ticket for the bus to move an entire day in an unlimited way or the ticket to go to Marconi airport.

You can buy this card at tourist information centers: in Piazza Maggiore or at the Marconi Airport itself, but also in hotels.

Tips for visiting Bologna

Walking around Bologna

The best time of year to go to this city is in spring or fall because the climate is warm but not terrifying and as there is still university population there is a lot of life in the streets. Yes you can avoid the month of august because the heat frightens the people and they go to the sea, producing a somewhat empty city.

If you like cinema you can make your visit coincide with the festival of The Retro Cinema, in the summer, because screens are placed outdoors and classic films are projected in the main square. If you arrive by plane, I'll tell you that there are buses between the Marconi Airport and the city. There is the Aerobus that makes the trip in just 20 minutes and costs about 5 euros, more or less. It drops you off at the train station and tickets can be purchased at machines or on top of the car.

From the other airport, Forlì, the bus takes an hour and costs a little more and leaves you at the bus station, next to the train station. Both are a 10-minute walk from the historic center. Finally, if you arrive by train from other corners of Italy 48 hours in the city will leave you with wonderful memories: spectacular food, some museums, walks across canals, ice cold beer in summer and some shopping.


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