PIAZZA MAGGIORE

It is lovely to walk around Bologna under the porticoes and look at the windows
of old shops or market stalls especially behind Piazza Maggiore.

As soon as you get to Piazza Maggiore, the heart of the city, you'll come across the Fontana del Nettuno, one of the symbols of Bologna. This beautiful fountain, dedicated to the sea god, is the work of Giambologna and was built between 1564 and 1566. The brass sirens and putti at the base were made designed by Tommaso Laureti.

To the right you'll see Palazzo del Comune (town hall) built in the 13th and 14th centuries and its bell tower (1444) with a magnificent carillon clock. Three important works of art are on the façade of the palace: the Madonna di Piazza by Nicolò dell'Arca, the statue of Pope Gregory XIII and an eagle attributed to Michelagelo. Inside the building is marvellous and so are its treasures, such as the Museo Morandi.

The square is dominated by the Church of San Petronio. It was built by the Free Comune.

The church was meant to be bigger than St Peter in Rome, but the money ran out and the building remained unfinished.
The first foundation stone was laid in 1390 as planned by Antonio di Vincenzo. The church was built over several centuries.


The semicircular apse was completed only towards the middle of the 17th century. The massive side walls were built with the recycled materials from the nearby demolished buildings. The base of the façade, which contrasts with the unfinished upper part, is characterized by elegant mouldings made of red Veronese marble and Istrian stone.

The middle portal was ordered to Jacopo della Quercia in 1428. When the artist died ten years later it had not yet been completed. The reliefs on it, the Old Testament on the pillars, the New Testament on the architrave and the Madonna della Lunetta, are to be considered as outstanding examples of the sculpture of the uattrocento. The inside is gothic, with a nave and two aisles divided by 10 brickwork pillars supporting ogival arches.
The aisles have 11 chapels each with polychrome window glasses. In the chapels, full of works ofart, are the tombs of some of the most famous citizensof Bologna.

On the main altar is a monumaental tribune designed by Jacopo Barozzi, known as the Vignola. The sundial on the floor is also worth seeing. The campanile (bell tower) dates back to the 15th century. It stands on the external walls of the last chapel on the right-hand side.

To the east of the square, opposite the church, stands Palazzo di Re Enzo (King Enzo's Palace), built between 1244 and 1246. It was here that king Enzo, Frederick II's son, defeated at the battle of Parma in 1248, was kept prisoner from 1249 till his death in 1272

On the other side of the square you'll see the Pavaglione, a mass of building whose porticoes are a meeting point for the Bolognesi. It is made of two buildings planned by Terribilia: the Palazzo dell'Ospedale della Morte (Palace of the Death Hospital) of the 16th century and the Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, built between1562 and 1563.
The former is the seat of the Museo Civico Archeologico, which contains Palaeozoic, Etruscan and Roman finds, and of the Museo Civico Medievale e del Risorgimento.
The Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio instead is the seat of the Biblioteca Comunale with its 700,000 books, rare manuscripts and codexes. It is the most important public library in Italy. It was the first seat of the University of Bologna in the 16th century.




The walls inside are covered with the polychrome coats of arms of the Italian and foreign students that attended the university.
You can't miss the Teatro Anatomico (Anatomy Theater) (1638-49), whose walls are covered with wood panels, statues of famous ancient doctors and figures by Ercole Lelli (1753).