The strategic location of the city deeply moulded its history, making Bologna one of the most evocative places on earth. Inhabited since the X Century B.C. -during the Iron age-, it was fortified by the Celts and became a municipality under the Romans. The presence through the centuries of the Huns, Goths, Lombards, Carolings, Austrians and French, have each left traces which are still visible on the city today.
Bologna has always been fighting for freedom hanging in the balance between the dominance of Empires, Reigns, the Church and autonomy. Bologna was ruled by the Lordship of two families, Pepoli and Bentivoglio as well as being a Papal fiefdom. It was therefore a city of the Guelphs, but its soul belonged to the Ghibellines. Bologna also had the first Italian City Council and it was one of the first cities in the world which approved a law in order to abolish slavery: the Liber Paradisus, in 1256. This owes its opening to the movements of the lively environment surrounding the Alma Mater, the oldest University of the world. It was founded in 1088 and its fame draws students from all over the world.
Bologna is also the home of personalities such as Father Martini, a notable and complex protagonist of European music of the XIII Century. A wise and well-educated collector, composer and master of counterpoint, Martini had among his students Johann Christian Bach (son of J.S Bach) and the young W.A Mozart. During the IXX century important personalities such as Rossini, Verdi, Brahms, Wagner, Puccini and Liszt dealt with the Philharmonic Academy.
Since 2006, Bologna is a Creative City of Music for UNESCO. Music pulses in every angle of the city: not only in the Teatro Comunale(the Opera Theatre) or by the Orchestra Mozart youth orchestra, founded and directed by Claudio Abbado, but also in clubs and inns where jazz is regularly played live as well as in the several open air concerts, the Conservatory, the Opera School and hundreds of music associations operating within the territory.
Moreover, the city includes an endless number of pathways to discover. The path of the water channels evokes the time when Bologna resembled a smaller Venice. Churches are rich in masterpieces and symbolism created by different artistic currents which fulfilled its mysterious life.
Because of its history and vitality, Bologna still preserves traces left by great historical figures, not only in the field of music, but also as far as science, arts and architecture are concerned. Scientists such as Galvani and Marconi, painters and artists like Morandi, Guido Reni, Guercino, the Carraccis, Leonardo (one of the legends about the Mona Lisa tells that this was where he painted his famous masterpiece), Giotto (there was a chapel in Piazza XX Settembre entirely painted a fresco by Giotto which was destroyed when Bologna was fighting against the Pope), Cassini (who made the world’s longest sundial, now located inside Basilica S. Petronio) , Michelangelo (on the arc in Basilica S. Domenico can be found his sculpture of an angel holding a candelabra), Napoleon (who re-arranged the urban plan of the city), Carlo V (who was crowned emperor in Basilica S. Petronio).
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Bologna
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Bologna - updated May 2024
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Bologna Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
