- Gastronomy Life and Arts -
BOLOGNA, 16 - 19 JANUARY 2013
GALA MEETING
DISCOVERING BOLOGNA, ITALY
Bologna is known in Italy as "La Dotta, La Rossa, La Grassa", which translates as "the educated, the red, the fat". "Educated" is for the city university, the oldest in Europe . "Red" refers both to the red bricks that most of Bologna historic buildings and porticoes are made of and to the city history of leftist politics. And "fat", of course, is for Bologna culinary history, one based on creamy pasta sauces and rich meat dishes.
Thanks to its strategic location, Bologna has always been an important crossroads between the North and the south of Italy, but also between the mediterranean and the sea. Bologna was conquered by the Etruscans, the Romans and many other populations throughout the centuries. In the Middle Ages it became a very important international centre thanks to its famous University, which attracted students from all over Europe .
Boasting one of the country’s great medieval cityscapes – an eye-catching ensemble of red-brick palazzi, Renaissance towers and 35 km of arcaded porticoes – Bologna is a wonderful alternative to the north more famous cities.
PLACES YOU CAN'T MISS
Piazza Maggiore
Piazza Maggiore, the symbol of religious and economic power, is the very heart of the city and of the civic life. It is is one of the best preserved ones in Europe: the square is composed of different buildings: the Accursio Palace (that is the Municipal Palace), King Enzo’s Palace, the Palace of the Mayor, the Notary Palace, the imposing Basilica of S. Petronio, our Patron Saint and the Bankers’ Palace.
Palazzo d'Accursio
The Town Hall consists of a set of buildings, that over the centuries have gradually been joined to the oldest ones acquired by the city at the end of the thirteenth century. Including among other things, Accursio’s home, teacher of law at the University of Bologna. It was originally intended to keep the public reserve, "some grain-growing and municipal offices”. In 1336 it became the residence of the Elders, the highest judiciary of the City Government and is the seat of city government.
Palazzo Re Enzo
Also called 'new palace' to differentiate it from the Podestà palace, King Enzo Palace was built between 1244-46 as an extension of Municipal buildings. Just three years later it became the 'residence' of the King taken prisoner in the battle of Fossalta: King Enzo of Sardinia, son of Frederick II. In the upper of the three original floors the King was assigned a large room, where he spent his remaining twenty three years of life, until his death in 1279.
Palazzo dei notai
The old seat of the Notary's guild or association - as inferred by the three ink pots with quills depicted in the coat-of-arm on the façade - went through several building stages - dates back to 1287.
Neptune fountain
Fontana del Nettuno Fountain of Neptune, was built between 1563 and 1566 by the Flemish sculptor Giambologna. It is a symbol of the power of the Pope: he ruled the world like Neptune ruled the seas. At the feet of the statue there are four mermaids. They represent the rivers of the four discovered continents at that time: Ganges, Nile, Amazon River and Danube.
San Petronio
The construction of this megalomaniac dream and requested to build up the Archiginnasio. Even the facade was left incomplete; the central nave covering and the apses shooting, designed by Girolamo Rainaldi.
The Basilica of St Petronio, honoring the patron saint (eighth bishops of Bologna from 431 to 450), is the most imposing (a length of 132m, a width of 66m, a height of 47m) and the most important church in Bologna.
Building started in 1390 and the church's original design was created to celebrate the reconquest of the town. In 1514, Arduino degli Arriguzzi proposes a new model with a Latin-cross aimed to overtop St Peter's Church in Rome. According to the legend, Pio IV stopped Rainaldi and directed by Francesco Martini, were completed only in 1663; the lower naves were closed by rectilinear walls.
The two towers
Right close to Piazza Maggiore the famous Two Towers stand out The Torre degli Asinelli and the Torre Garisenda, standing at 97.2m and 48m respectively, each with a considerable overhang due to centuries-long subsidence, are named after the families who built them in the early 12th century. In its heyday in the 12th and 13th centuries Bologna boasted around 100 towers, of which fewer than 20 now remain. Climb the 498 rickety wooden stairs to the top of the Asinelli for an uninterrupted view of the city.
Saint Stephen Basilica
The authority of the Church ruled Bologna for a very long time: our city contains a fascinating group of Middle Ages buildings, called the Seven Churches, dedicated to Saint Stephen.
Interesting facades, windows, chapels, graves, courtyards, cloisters, still attract the visitors, captured by the mystery of their beauty.
This compound of religious buildings was originally made up of seven churches, but now only four remain. in. From the beautiful, triangular Piazza di Santo Stefano, visitors enter the 11th-century Chiesa del Crocifisso, which holds the bones of Bologna’s patron saint, St. Petronius. Attached to this church via a series of small courtyards, gardens and passageways are the Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro, the Chiesa della Trinitá and the Chiesa dei Santi Vitale e Agricola. The latter features some Roman flooring and carvings, brought to the church when it was built in the 11th century.
Porticoes
Bologna keeps an unbeatable record: 35 km of porticoes, scenic rows of arcades create a fantastic game of light and shade and perspective illusions, from the wooden ones of Medieval houses to the harmonious ones of the Renaissance and Baroque ages.
The University
In the 13th century the University gained a high reputation for its excellent teachers: the Studium (as it was originally called) was founded in 1088, during the Middle ages marks the period of higher splendour with the arrival of several students from all over Europe. Law, Medicine and Anatomy were the most popular subjects: Here the teachers explained the human body, while a surgeon dissected the corpses stretched on the marble desk.
The Archiginnasio
The building has two floors and, like most buildings in Bologna, is entered through a portico. It also has an internal courtyard that incorporates the former church of Santa Maria dei Bulgari.
Inside there is the splendid Anatomical Theatre. Built in 1637, the fir panelled amphitheatre was built for anatomical studies. The room has fascinating statues in various anatomical positions. The cathedra is also unique: it is covered with a canopy suspended between two statues of men with their skin removed called "The Skinned", a seventeenth century work that merges art and science.
National Art Gallery
This gallery is large enough to fill a couple of rainy-day hours, but small enough not to seem overwhelming. Of its large collection, particular mention should go to works of the artists of the 17th century Bologna school, such as Annibale Carracci, Domenichino Guido Reni and Guercino. Other major Italian painters, including Raphael, are also represented.
The market
Every Friday and Saturday Piazza 8 Agosto springs to life with the Piazzola Market where people can find all kinds of goods at very reasonable prices: clothes, bags, shoes, food, household goods, trinkets, watches and much more.
After discovering Bologna “The Learned”, spend time exploring Bologna “The Fat”, the Bologna of good food and excellent cooking. Go back on yourself, behind Piazza Maggiore, and enjoy wondering through the narrow streets of the old city market, the Quadrilatero. During the day, you will come across many stalls filled with all kinds of food products, from seasonal fruit to fresh fish from the nearby Adriatic Sea, from tortellini and that speciality of Bologna, mortadella, to various sweets. In the evening, just before dinner, these streets are transformed and shops give way to bars and drinking places, where people of Bologna can enjoy an aperitif at the end of the day.
Bologna has a reputation for memorable food and good wine. Handmade egg pasta and stuffed pasta, especially tortellini, are specialties of Bologna and of course, there are the famous tagliatelle alla Bolognese, with a very rich meat based sauce. Bologna is also known for its salami, Parma ham and ham. The cuisine of the Emilia-Romagna region is some of the best in Italy.
Balanzone
Bologna has its own character called “Doctor Balanzone”; he is a black-dressed man with heavy books in his hands. The doctor is a local, angry, disruptive busybody who doesn't listen to anyone else from any of the fields that he claim to know about, which is many (medicine, law, etc.). He pretends to be a learned man but he only knows nonsense.
