Bologna (, , ; egl, label=
Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
region in
Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its
metropolitan area is home to more than 1,000,000 people. It is known as the Fat City for its rich cuisine, and the Red City for its Spanish-style red tiled rooftops and, more recently, its leftist politics. It is also called the Learned City because it is home to the oldest
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
in the world.
Originally
Etrusca
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roughl ...
n, the city has been an important urban center for centuries, first under the Etruscans (who called it ''Felsina''), then under the Celts as ''Bona'', later under the Romans (''Bonōnia''), then again in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, as a free municipality and later ''
signoria
A signoria () was the governing authority in many of the Italian city states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
The word signoria comes from ''signore'' , or "lord"; an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government; governing authority; ...
'', when it was among the
largest European cities by population. Famous for its towers, churches and lengthy
porticoes, Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre, thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s. Home to the
oldest university in the Western world,
[Hunt Janin: "The university in medieval life, 1179–1499", McFarland, 2008, , p. 55f.][de Ridder-Symoens, Hilde]
''A History of the University in Europe: Volume 1, Universities in the Middle Ages''
Cambridge University Press, 1992, , pp. 47–55 the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...
, established in AD 1088, the city has a large student population that gives it a cosmopolitan character. In 2000 it was declared
European capital of culture and in 2006, a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
"City of Music" and became part of the
Creative Cities Network
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development.[UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...]
recognized the lengthy
porticoes
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...
of the city as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
Bologna is an important agricultural, industrial, financial and transport hub, where many large mechanical, electronic and food companies have their headquarters as well as one of the largest permanent trade fairs in Europe. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index (E-REGI) of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city and the 47th European city in terms of its economic growth rate.
History
Antiquity and Middle Ages
![Communal fight in Bologna (Sercambi)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Communal_fight_in_Bologna_%28Sercambi%29.jpg)
Traces of human habitation in the area of Bologna go back to the 3rd millennium BCE, with significant settlements from about the 9th century BCE (
Villanovan culture
The Villanovan culture (c. 900–700 BC), regarded as the earliest phase of the Etruscan civilization, was the earliest Iron Age culture of Italy. It directly followed the Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture which branched off from the Urnfiel ...
). The influence of
Etruscan civilization
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...
reached the area in the 7th to 6th centuries, and the Etruscan city of ''Felsina'' was established at the site of Bologna by the end of the 6th century. By the 4th century BCE, the site was occupied by the
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...
Boii
The Boii (Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; grc, Βόιοι) were a Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul ( Northern Italy), Pannonia (Hungary), parts of Bavaria, in and around Bohemia (after whom ...
, and it became a Roman colony and municipium with the name of ''Bonōnia'' in 196 BCE.
During the waning years of the Western Roman Empire Bologna was repeatedly sacked by the
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
. It is in this period that legendary Bishop
Petronius, according to ancient chronicles, rebuilt the ruined town and founded the
basilica of Saint Stephen. Petronius is still revered as the patron saint of Bologna.
In 727–28, the city was sacked and captured by the
Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
under
King Liutprand
Liutprand was the king of the Lombards from 712 to 744 and is chiefly remembered for his multiple phases of law-giving, in fifteen separate sessions from 713 to 735 inclusive, and his long reign, which brought him into a series of conflicts, mos ...
, becoming part of that kingdom. These Germanic conquerors built an important new quarter, called "addizione longobarda" (Italian meaning "Longobard addition") near the complex of St. Stephen. In the last quarter of the 8th century,
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
, at the request of Pope
Adrian I
Pope Adrian I ( la, Hadrianus I; died 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 to his death. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman.
Adrian and his predecessors had to contend with periodic ...
, invaded the Lombard Kingdom, causing its eventual demise. Occupied by Frankish troops in 774 on behalf of the papacy, Bologna remained under imperial authority and prospered as a frontier
mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* F ...
of the
Carolingian empire
The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...
.
Bologna was the center of a revived study of law, including the scholar
Irnerius
Irnerius (– after 1125), sometimes referred to as ''lucerna juris'' ("lantern of the law"), was an Italian jurist, and founder of the School of Glossators and thus of the tradition of Medieval Roman Law.
He taught the newly recovered Roman l ...
(''c'' 1050 – after 1125) and his famous students, the
Four Doctors of Bologna
The Four Doctors of Bologna (Latin: ''Quatuor Doctores'') were Italian jurists and glossators of the 12th century, based in the University of Bologna: Bulgarus, Martinus Gosia, Jacobus de Boragine and Hugo de Porta Ravennate.
Their teachings in ...
.
After the death of
Matilda of Tuscany in 1115, Bologna obtained substantial concessions from Emperor
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...
. However, when
Frederick Barbarossa subsequently attempted to strike down the deal, Bologna joined the
Lombard League, which then defeated the imperial armies at the
Battle of Legnano and established an effective autonomy at the
Peace of Constance in 1183. Subsequently, the town began to expand rapidly and became one of the main commercial trade centres of northern Italy thanks to a system of canals that allowed barges and ships to come and go. Believed to have been established in 1088, the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...
is widely considered the
world's oldest university in continuous operation.
The university originated as a centre for the study of
medieval Roman law under major
glossator
The scholars of the 11th- and 12th-century legal schools in Italy, France and Germany are identified as glossators in a specific sense. They studied Roman law based on the '' Digesta'', the ''Codex'' of Justinian, the ''Authenticum'' (an abridged ...
s, including Irnerius. It numbered
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...
,
Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was some ...
and
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...
among its students.
[Nove secoli di storia]
– Università di Bologna The medical school was especially renowned. By 1200, Bologna was a thriving commercial and artisanal centre of about 10,000 people.
During a campaign to support the imperial cities of
Modena and
Cremona against Bologna,
Frederick II's son, King
Enzo of Sardinia
Enzo (or Enzio; 14 March 1272) was an illegitimate son of the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II, who appointed him 'King of Sardinia' in 1238. He played a major role in the wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines in the Imperial kingdom of Italy, an ...
, was defeated and captured on 26 May 1249 at the
Battle of Fossalta
The Battle of Fossalta was a battle of the War of the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Northern Italy. It took place in Fossalta, a small location on the Panaro River, and is especially remembered for the capture of Enzio of Sardinia, son of Empero ...
. Though the emperor demanded his release, Enzo was thenceforth kept a knightly prisoner in Bologna, in a palace that came to be named
Palazzo Re Enzo
Palazzo Re Enzo is a palace located on Piazza del Nettuno, 1 in the historic center of Bologna, northern Italy. The palace takes its name from Enzio of Sardinia, Frederick II's son, who was prisoner here from 1249 until his death in 1272. The pal ...
after him. Every attempt to escape or to rescue him failed, and he died after more than 22 years in captivity. After the death of his half-brothers
Conrad IV
Conrad (25 April 1228 – 21 May 1254), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King of Jerusalem (as Conrad II) up ...
in 1254,
Frederick of Antioch in 1256 and
Manfred
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction.
Byr ...
in 1266, as well as the execution of his nephew
Conradin
Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (german: link=no, Konradin, it, Corradino), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duk ...
in 1268, he was the last of the
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
heirs.
During the late 1200s, Bologna was affected by political instability when the most prominent families incessantly fought for the control of the town. The free commune was severely weakened by decades of infighting, allowing the Pope to impose the rule of his envoy Cardinal
Bertrand du Pouget
Bertrand du Pouget (Italian ''Bertrando del Poggetto'') (1280 – 3 February 1352) was a French papal diplomat and Cardinal.
Bertrand was born in Castelnau-Montratier. He may have been a nephew of Pope John XXII. As cardinal he was closely ...
in 1327. Du Pouget was eventually ousted by a popular rebellion and Bologna became a
signoria
A signoria () was the governing authority in many of the Italian city states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
The word signoria comes from ''signore'' , or "lord"; an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government; governing authority; ...
under Taddeo Pepoli in 1334.
By the arrival of the
Black Death in 1348, Bologna had 40,000 to 50,000 inhabitants, reduced to just 20,000 to 25,000 after the plague.
In 1350, Bologna was conquered by archbishop
Giovanni Visconti, the new lord of Milan. But following a rebellion by the town's governor, a renegade member of the Visconti family, Bologna was recuperated to the papacy in 1363 by Cardinal
Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz
Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz more commonly Gil de Albornoz ( es, Egidio Álvarez de Albornoz y Luna; – 23 August 1367), was a Spanish curial cardinal, archbishop of Toledo from 13 May 1338 to 17 December 1350. Grand Penitentiary from ...
after a long negotiation involving a huge indemnity paid to
Bernabò Visconti
Bernabò or Barnabò Visconti (1323 – 19 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan. Along with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo II, he inherited the lordship of Milan from his uncle Giovanni. Later in 1355, he a ...
, Giovanni's heir, who died in 1354.
In 1376, Bologna again revolted against Papal rule and joined Florence in the unsuccessful
War of the Eight Saints
The War of the Eight Saints (1375–1378) was a war between Pope Gregory XI and a coalition of Italian city-states led by Florence that contributed to the end of the Avignon Papacy.
Causes
The causes of the war were rooted in interrelated issues ...
. However, extreme infighting inside the Holy See after the
Western Schism
The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon b ...
prevented the papacy from restoring its domination over Bologna, so it remained relatively independent for some decades as an oligarchic republic. In 1401,
Giovanni I Bentivoglio took power in a coup with the support of Milan, but the Milanese, having turned his back on them and allied with Florence, marched on Bologna and had Giovanni killed the following year. In 1442,
Hannibal I Bentivoglio, Giovanni's nephew, recovered Bologna from the Milanese, only to be assassinated in a conspiracy plotted by Pope
Eugene IV
Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...
three years later. But the
signoria
A signoria () was the governing authority in many of the Italian city states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
The word signoria comes from ''signore'' , or "lord"; an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government; governing authority; ...
of the
Bentivoglio family
The Bentivoglio family ( Latin: ''Bentivoius'') was an Italian noble family that became the ''de facto'' rulers of Bologna and responsible for giving the city its political autonomy during the Renaissance, although their rule did not survive a c ...
was then firmly established, and the power passed to his cousin
Sante Bentivoglio, who ruled until 1462, followed by
Giovanni II. Giovanni II managed to resist the expansionist designs of
Cesare Borgia for some time, but on 7 October 1506, Pope
Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...
issued a bull deposing and
excommunicating
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
Bentivoglio and placing the city under
interdict
In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...
. When the papal troops, along with a contingent sent by
Louis XII of France, marched against Bologna, Bentivoglio and his family fled. Julius II entered the city triumphantly on 10 November.
Early modern
![Mappa di Bologna del Blaeu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Mappa_di_Bologna_del_Blaeu.jpg)
The period of Papal rule over Bologna (1506–1796) has been generally evaluated by historians as one of severe decline.
However, this was not evident in the 1500s, which were marked by some major developments in Bologna. In 1530,
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
was
crowned in Bologna, the last of the
Holy Roman Emperors to be crowned by the pope.
In 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the
Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the
Archiginnasio
The Archiginnasio of Bologna is one of the most important buildings in the city of Bologna; once the main building of the University of Bologna, it currently houses the Archiginnasio Municipal Library and the Anatomical Theatre.
In the heart of ...
, the main building of the university. The period of Papal rule saw also the construction of many churches and other religious establishments, and the restoration of older ones. At this time, Bologna had ninety-six convents, more than any other Italian city. Painters working in Bologna during this period established the
Bolognese School which includes
Annibale Carracci,
Domenichino
Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters.
Life
Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a sho ...
,
Guercino
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vi ...
and others of European fame.
[Raimond Van Marle. ''The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, Volume 4'' (1924) pp 394–481.]
![Alberti History of Bologna 1590](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Alberti_History_of_Bologna_1590.jpg)
It was only towards the end of the 16th century that severe signs of decline began to manifest. A series of plagues in the late 16th to early 17th century reduced the population of the city from some 72,000 in the mid-16th century to about 47,000 by 1630. During the
Italian Plague of 1629–31
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
alone, Bologna lost up to a third of its population. In the mid-17th century, the population stabilized at roughly 60,000, slowly increasing to some 70,000 by the mid-18th century. The economy of Bologna started to show signs of severe decline as the global centres of trade shifted towards the Atlantic. The traditional silk industry was in a critical state. The university was losing students, who once came from all over Europe, because of the illiberal attitudes of the Church towards culture (especially after the
trial of Galileo
The Galileo affair ( it, il processo a Galileo Galilei) began around 1610 and culminated with the trial and condemnation of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633. Galileo was prosecuted for his support of heliocentrism, the ...
). Bologna continued to suffer a progressive deindustrialisation also in the 18th century.
In the mid-1700s pope
Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope ...
, a Bolognese, tried to reverse the decline of the city with a series of reforms intended to stimulate the economy and promote the arts. However, these reforms achieved only mixed results. The pope's efforts to stimulate the decaying textile industry had little success, while he was more successful in reforming the tax system, liberalising trade and relaxing the oppressive system of censorship.
The economic and demographic decline of Bologna became even more noticeable starting in the second half of the 18th century. In 1790 the city had 72,000 inhabitants, ranking as the second largest in the Papal States; however, this figure had remained unchanged for decades.
During this period, Papal economic policies included heavy customs duties and concessions of monopolies to single manufacturers.
Modern history
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
entered Bologna on 19 June 1796. Napoleon briefly reinstated the ancient mode of government, giving power to the Senate, which however had to swear fealty to the short-lived
Cispadane Republic
The Cispadane Republic () was a short-lived client republic located in northern Italy, founded in 1796 with the protection of the French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte. In the following year, it was merged with the Transpadane Republic (former ...
, created as a
client state
A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...
of the
French First Republic at the congress of Reggio (27 December 1796 – 9 January 1797) but succeeded by the
Cisalpine Republic
The Cisalpine Republic ( it, Repubblica Cisalpina) was a sister republic of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802.
Creation
After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte organiz ...
on 9 July 1797, later by the
Italian Republic
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and finally the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
.
After the fall of Napoleon, the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
of 1815 restored Bologna to the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
.
Papal rule was contested in the
uprisings of 1831. The insurrected provinces planned to unite as the ''
Province Italiane Unite'' with Bologna as the capital.
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He ...
asked for
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
help against the rebels.
Metternich
Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...
warned French king
Louis Philippe I
Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France.
As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...
against intervention in Italian affairs, and in the spring of 1831, Austrian forces marched across the Italian peninsula, defeating the rebellion by 26 April.
By the mid-1840s, unemployment levels were very high and traditional industries continued to languish or disappear; Bologna became a city of economic disparity with the top 10 percent of the population living off rent, another 20 percent exercising professions or commerce and 70 percent working in low-paid, often insecure manual jobs. The Papal census of 1841 reported 10,000 permanent beggars and another 30,000 (out of a total population of 70,000) who lived in poverty.
In the
revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
the Austrian garrisons which controlled the city on behalf of the Pope were temporarily expelled, but eventually came back and crushed the revolutionaries.
Papal rule finally ended in the aftermath of
Second War of Italian Independence
The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...
, when the French and Piedmontese troops expelled the Austrians from Italian lands, on 11 and 12 March 1860, Bologna voted to join the new
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
.
In the last decades of the 19th century, Bologna once again thrived economically and socially. In 1863 Naples was linked to Rome by railway, and the following year Bologna to Florence. Bolognese moderate agrarian elites, that supported liberal insurgencies against the papacy and were admirers of the British political system and of free trade, envisioned a unified national state that would open a bigger market for the massive agricultural production of the Emilian plains. Indeed, Bologna gave Italy one of its first prime ministers,
Marco Minghetti
Marco Minghetti (18 November 1818 – 10 December 1886) was an Italian economist and statesman.
Biography
Minghetti was born at Bologna, then part of the Papal States.
He signed the petition to the Papal conclave, 1846, urging the electio ...
.
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Bologna was heavily involved in the
Biennio Rosso
The Biennio Rosso (English: "Red Biennium" or "Two Red Years") was a two-year period, between 1919 and 1920, of intense social conflict in Italy, following the First World War.Brunella Dalla Casa, ''Composizione di classe, rivendicazioni e prof ...
socialist uprisings. As a consequence, the traditionally moderate elites of the city turned their back on the progressive faction and gave their support to the rising
Fascist movement of
Benito Mussolini.
Dino Grandi
Dino Grandi (4 June 1895 – 21 May 1988), 1st Conte di Mordano, was an Italian Fascist politician, minister of justice, minister of foreign affairs and president of parliament.
Early life
Born at Mordano, province of Bologna, Grandi was ...
, a high-ranking Fascist party official and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remembered for being an Anglophile, was from Bologna. During the
interwar years
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...
, Bologna developed into an important manufacturing centre for food processing, agricultural machinery and metalworking. The Fascist regime poured in massive investments, for example with the setting up of a giant tobacco manufacturing plant in 1937.
World War II
Bologna suffered extensive damage during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The strategic importance of the city as an industrial and railway hub connecting northern and central Italy made it
a target for the Allied forces. On 24 July 1943, a massive aerial bombardment destroyed a significant part of the historic city centre and killed about 200 people. The main railway station and adjoining areas were severely hit, and 44% of the buildings in the centre were listed as having been destroyed or severely damaged. The city was heavily bombed again on 25 September. The raids, which this time were not confined to the city centre, left 2,481 people dead and 2,000 injured. By the end of the war, 43% of all buildings in Bologna had been destroyed or damaged.
After the
armistice of 1943, the city became a key centre of the
Italian resistance movement. On 7 November 1944, a pitched battle around
Porta Lame, waged by partisans of the 7th Brigade of the ''Gruppi d'Azione Patriottica'' against
Fascist and Nazi occupation forces, did not succeed in triggering a general uprising, despite being one of the largest resistance-led urban conflicts in the European theatre. Resistance forces entered Bologna on the morning of 21 April 1945. By this time, the Germans had already largely left the city in the face of the Allied advance, spearheaded by Polish forces advancing from the east during the
Battle of Bologna
The Battle of Bologna was fought in Bologna, Italy from 9–21 April 1945 during the Second World War, as part of the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy. The Allied forces were victorious, with the Polish II Corps and supporting Allied units capturi ...
which had been fought since 9 April. First to arrive in the centre was the 87th Infantry Regiment of the Friuli Combat Group under general
Arturo Scattini
Arturo Scattini ( Bergamo, 11 July 1890 – Rome, 16 October 1970) was an Italian general during World War II.
Biography
During the First World War he fought with the rank of captain in the 59th Infantry Division, earning two Bronze Medals ...
, who entered the centre from ''Porta Maggiore'' to the south. Since the soldiers were dressed in British outfits, they were initially thought to be part of the allied forces; when the local inhabitants heard the soldiers were speaking Italian, they poured out onto the streets to celebrate.
Cold War period
![Stragedibologna-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Stragedibologna-2.jpg)
In the post-war years, Bologna became a thriving industrial centre as well as a political stronghold of the
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy.
The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
. Between 1945 and 1999, the city was helmed by an uninterrupted succession of
mayors from the PCI and its successors, the
Democratic Party of the Left
The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, t ...
and
Democrats of the Left
The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy.
The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...
, the first of whom was
Giuseppe Dozza. At the end of the 1960s the city authorities, worried by massive
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
and suburbanisation, asked Japanese
starchitect
Starchitect is a portmanteau used to describe architects whose celebrity and critical acclaim have transformed them into idols of the architecture world and may even have given them some degree of fame among the general public. Celebrity status is ...
Kenzo Tange
is a common masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*賢三, "wise, three"
*健三, "healthy, three"
*謙三, "humble, three"
*健想, "healthy, concept"
*建造, "bu ...
to sketch a master plan for a
new town north of Bologna; however, the project that came out in 1970 was evaluated as too ambitious and expensive. Eventually the city council, in spite of vetoing Tange's master plan, decided to keep his project for a
new exhibition centre and business district. At the end of 1978 the construction of a tower block and several diverse buildings and structures started. In 1985 the headquarters of the regional government of
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
moved in the new district.
In 1977, Bologna was the scene of
rioting
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...
linked to the
Movement of 1977
The movement of 1977 was a spontaneous political movement that arose in Italy in 1977. It grew primarily out of the extra-parliamentary left; in form and substance, it was completely unlike previous student movements such as the protests of 1968. ...
, a spontaneous political movement of the time. The police shooting of a far-left activist,
Francesco Lorusso, sparked two days of street clashes. On 2 August 1980, at the height of the "
years of lead", a terrorist bomb was set off in the central railway station of Bologna killing 85 people and wounding 200, an event which is known in Italy as the
Bologna massacre
The Bologna massacre ( it, strage di Bologna) was a terrorist bombing of the Bologna Centrale railway station in Bologna, Italy, on the morning of 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded over 200. Several members of the neo-fascist t ...
. In 1995, members of the
neo-fascist
Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration s ...
group
Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
The Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari ( en, Armed Revolutionary Nuclei), abbreviated NAR, was an Italian terrorist neo-fascist militant organization active during the Years of Lead from 1977 to November 1981. It committed 33 murders in four years, a ...
were convicted for carrying out the attack, while
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli (; April 21, 1919 – December 15, 2015) was an Italian financier. A Fascist volunteer in his youth, he is chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the ...
—Grand Master of the underground Freemason lodge
Propaganda Due (P2)—was convicted for hampering the investigation, together with three agents of the secret military intelligence service
SISMI
Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (abbreviated SISMI, ''Military Intelligence and Security Service'') was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977–2007.
With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services app ...
(including
Francesco Pazienza
Francesco Pazienza (born in 1946, Monteparano) is an Italian businessman, and former officer of the Italian military intelligence agency, SISMI. As of April 2007, he has been paroled to the community of Lerici, after serving many years in prison, ...
and
Pietro Musumeci Pietro Musumeci (born 18 May 1920) was a general and deputy director of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI.
Musumeci was born in Catania on 18 May 1920. A member of ''Propaganda Due'', Musumeci was convicted in 1985, along with other SISMI ...
). Commemorations take place in Bologna on 2 August each year, culminating in a concert in the main square.
21st century
In 1999, the long tradition of left-wing mayors was interrupted by the victory of independent centre-right candidate
Giorgio Guazzaloca. However, Bologna reverted to form in 2004 when
Sergio Cofferati, a former trade union leader, unseated Guazzaloca. The next centre-left mayor,
Flavio Delbono
Flavio Delbono (born 17 September 1959) is an Italian politician and economist. He served as the mayor of Bologna from 25 June 2009 until 28 January 2010, when he was forced to resign as he was being investigated for crimes such as embezzlement, ...
, elected in June 2009, resigned in January 2010 after being involved in a corruption scandal. After a 15-month period in which the city was administered under
Anna Maria Cancellieri (as a state-appointed
prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
),
Virginio Merola was elected as mayor, leading a left-wing coalition comprising the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
,
Left Ecology Freedom
Left Ecology Freedom ( it, Sinistra Ecologia Libertà, SEL) was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party.
The party's leader was Nichi Vendola, a former Preside ...
and
Italy of Values
Italy of Values ( it, Italia dei Valori, IdV) is a populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party was founded in 1998 by former '' Mani pulite'' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996 and finally left the p ...
. In
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, Merola was confirmed mayor, defeating the conservative candidate,
Lucia Borgonzoni
Lucia Borgonzoni (born September 18, 1976) is an Italian politician and member of the Senate of Italy. She served as Undersecretary for Cultural Heritage and Activities in the Conte I Cabinet.
Biography
Daughter of Italian architect Giambattista ...
. In 2021, after ten years of Merola's mayorship, one of his closest allies,
Matteo Lepore
Matteo Lepore (born 10 October 1980) is an Italian politician, member of the Democratic Party (PD) and he is serving as mayor of Bologna since 11 October 2021.
Early life
Lepore was born in Bologna in 1980 and grew up in the Savena district. He a ...
,
was elected mayor with 61.9% of votes, becoming the most voted mayor of Bologna since the introduction of the direct elections in 1995.
[Elezioni 2021: Lepore vince a Bologna con una percentuale travolgente](_blank)
''ANSA''
Geography
Territory
![Luftbild Bologna 01 (RaBoe)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Luftbild_Bologna_01_%28RaBoe%29.jpg)
Bologna is situated on the edge of the
Po Plain
The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...
at the foot of the
Apennine Mountains, at the meeting of the
Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
and
Savena
The Savena ( egl, label= Bolognese, Sèvna) is a river in the Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy. The source of the river is in the province of Florence west of Firenzuola in the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano mountains. The river flows north ...
river valleys. As Bologna's two main watercourses flow directly to the sea, the town lies outside of the drainage basin of the
River Po
The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. Th ...
. The
Province of Bologna
The province of Bologna ( it, provincia di Bologna) was a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its provincial capital was the city of Bologna. The province of Bologna covered an area of and had a total population of 1,004,323 inhabitan ...
stretches from the western edge of the Po Plain on the border with
Ferrara to the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The centre of the town is
above sea level (while elevation within the municipality ranges from in the suburb of Corticella to in Sabbiuno and the Colle della Guardia). The Province of Bologna stretches from the Po Plain into the Apennines; the highest point in the province is the peak of Corno alle Scale (in
Lizzano in Belvedere
Lizzano in Belvedere ( High Mountain Bolognese: ; City Bolognese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southwest of Bologna.
Among the parishes is the church of ...
) at above sea level.
Climate
Bologna has a
mid-latitude
The middle latitudes (also called the mid-latitudes, sometimes midlatitudes, or moderate latitudes) are a spatial region on Earth located between the Tropic of Cancer (latitudes 23°26'22") to the Arctic Circle (66°33'39"), and Tropic of Capric ...
, four-season
humid subtropical climate (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
: ''Cfa'').
Annual precipitation oscillates between around and ,
with the majority generally falling in spring and autumn. Snow is not uncommon between late November and early March; one of the snowiest months of the past decade was February 2012.
Government
Municipal government
![Matteo Lepore (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Matteo_Lepore_%28cropped%29.jpg)
The legislative body of the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
is the City Council (''Consiglio Comunale''), which is composed by 48 councillors elected every five years with a corrected proportional system (granting the majority to the list or alliance of lists which receives more votes), contextually to the mayoral elections. The executive body is the City Committee (''Giunta Comunale''), composed by 12
assessors, that is nominated and presided over by a directly elected
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
. The current mayor of Bologna is
Matteo Lepore
Matteo Lepore (born 10 October 1980) is an Italian politician, member of the Democratic Party (PD) and he is serving as mayor of Bologna since 11 October 2021.
Early life
Lepore was born in Bologna in 1980 and grew up in the Savena district. He a ...
(
PD), elected on 4 October 2021 with 61.9% of the votes.
The municipality of Bologna is subdivided into six administrative Boroughs (''Quartieri''), down from the former nine before the 2015 administrative reform. Each Borough is governed by a Council (''Consiglio'') and a President, elected contextually to the city Mayor. The urban organization is governed by the Italian Constitution (art. 114). The Boroughs have the power to advise the Mayor with nonbinding opinions on a large spectrum of topics (environment, construction, public health, local markets) and exercise the functions delegated to them by the City Council; in addition, they are supplied with an autonomous founding to finance local activities.
Provincial and regional government
![Grattacieli Bologna](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Grattacieli_Bologna.jpg)
Bologna is the capital of the eponymous metropolitan city and of
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
, one of the twenty
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
of Italy. While the Province of Bologna has a population of 1,007,644, making it the twelfth most populated province of Italy, Emilia-Romagna ranks as the sixth most populated region of Italy, with about 4.5 million inhabitants, more than 7% of the national total. The seat of the regional government is
Fiera District, a tower complex designed by Japanese architect
Kenzo Tange
is a common masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*賢三, "wise, three"
*健三, "healthy, three"
*謙三, "humble, three"
*健想, "healthy, concept"
*建造, "bu ...
in 1985.
According to the last governmental dispositions concerning administrative reorganisation, the urban area of Bologna is one of the 15
Metropolitan municipalities (''città metropolitane''), new administrative bodies fully operative since 1 January 2015. The new Metro municipalities, giving large urban areas the administrative powers of a province, are conceived for improving the performance of local administrations and to slash local spending by better co-ordinating the municipalities in providing basic services (including transport, school and social programs) and environment protection.
[ ] In this policy framework, the Mayor of Bologna is designated to exercise the functions of Metropolitan mayor (''Sindaco metropolitano''), presiding over a Metropolitan Council formed by 18 mayors of municipalities within the Metro municipality.
The Metropolitan City of Bologna is headed by the Metropolitan Mayor (''Sindaco metropolitano'') and by the Metropolitan Council (''Consiglio metropolitano''). Since 21 June 2016
Virginio Merola, as mayor of the capital city, has been the mayor of the Metropolitan City.
Cityscape
![Walkway,_Bologna](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Walkway%2C_Bologna.jpg)
Until the late 19th century, when a large-scale urban renewal project was undertaken, Bologna was one of the few remaining large walled cities in Europe; to this day and despite having suffered considerable bombing damage in 1944, Bologna's historic centre is Europe's second largest, containing an immense wealth of important medieval, renaissance, and baroque artistic monuments.
Bologna developed along the
Via Emilia
The ( it, Via Emilia; en, Aemilian Way) was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from ''Ariminum'' (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to ''Placentia'' (Piacenza) on the river ''Padus'' ( Po). It was completed in 187 BC. The ' ...
as an Etruscan and later Roman colony; the Via Emilia still runs straight through the city under the changing names of Strada Maggiore, Rizzoli, Ugo Bassi, and San Felice. Due to its Roman heritage, the central streets of Bologna, today largely pedestrianized, follow the grid pattern of the Roman settlement. The original Roman ramparts were supplanted by a high medieval system of fortifications, remains of which are still visible, and finally by a third and final set of ramparts built in the 13th century, of which numerous sections survive. No more than twenty medieval defensive towers remain out of up to 180 that were built in the 12th and 13th centuries before the arrival of unified civic government. The most famous of the
towers of Bologna
The Towers of Bologna are a group of medieval structures in Bologna, Italy. The two most prominent ones remaining, known as the Two Towers, are a landmark of the city.
History
Between the 12th and the 13th century, Bologna was a city full of ...
are the central "Due Torri" (''Asinelli'' and ''Garisenda''), whose iconic leaning forms provide a popular symbol of the town.
The cityscape is further enriched by its elegant and extensive
porticoes
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...
, for which the city is famous. In total, there are some of
porticoes in the city's historical centre
(over in the city proper), which make it possible to walk for long distances sheltered from the elements.
The Portico di San Luca is possibly the world's longest. It connects
Porta Saragozza (one of the twelve gates of the ancient walls built in the Middle Ages, which circled a part of the city) with the
Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, a church begun in 1723 on the site of an 11th-century edifice which had already been enlarged in the 14th century, prominently located on a hill () overlooking the town, which is one of Bologna's main landmarks. The windy 666 vault arcades, almost four kilometres () long, effectively links ''San Luca'', as the church is commonly called, to the city centre. Its porticos provide shelter for the traditional procession which every year since 1433 has carried a Byzantine icon of the Madonna with Child attributed to
Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...
down to the
Bologna Cathedral
Bologna Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale Metropolitana di San Pietro, ''Cattedrale di Bologna''), dedicated to Saint Peter, is the cathedral of Bologna in Italy, and the seat and the metropolitan cathedral of the Archbishop of Bologna. Most of the pres ...
during the
Feast of the Ascension
The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared by ...
.
In 2021, the porticoes were named as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
.
San Petronio Basilica
The Basilica of San Petronio is a minor basilica and church of the Archdiocese of Bologna located in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius ...
, built between 1388 and 1479 (but still unfinished), is the tenth-largest church in the world by volume, 132 metres long and 66 metres wide, while the vault reaches 45 metres inside and 51 metres in the facade. With its volume of 258,000 m
3, it is the largest (Gothic or otherwise) church built of bricks of the world. The Basilica of
Saint Stephen
Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...
and its sanctuary are among the oldest structures in Bologna, having been built starting from the 8th century, according to the tradition on the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Egyptian goddess
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
. The
Basilica of Saint Dominic is an example of Romanic architecture from the 13th century, enriched by the monumental tombs of great Bolognese
glossator
The scholars of the 11th- and 12th-century legal schools in Italy, France and Germany are identified as glossators in a specific sense. They studied Roman law based on the '' Digesta'', the ''Codex'' of Justinian, the ''Authenticum'' (an abridged ...
s Rolandino de'Passeggeri and Egidio Foscherari. Basilicas of
St Francis,
Santa Maria dei Servi and
San Giacomo Maggiore
The Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore is an historic Roman Catholic church in Bologna, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy, serving a monastery of Augustinian friars. It was built starting in 1267 and houses, among the rest, the Bentivoglio Chapel, f ...
are other magnificent examples of 14th-century architecture, the latter also featuring Renaissance artworks such as the
Bentivoglio Altarpiece
The ''Bentivoglio Altarpiece'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Costa the Elder, dating to August 1488. It is displayed in the Bentivoglio Chapel of the church of San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna, Italy.
It was commissioned ...
by
Lorenzo Costa
Lorenzo Costa (1460 – 5 March 1535) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.
Biography
He was born at Ferrara, but moved to Bologna by his early twenties, and was probably influenced by the Bolognese School. However, many artists worked in ...
. Finally, the Church of
San Michele in Bosco
San Michele in Bosco is a religious complex in Bologna, central Italy, including the church with the same name and the annexed Olivetan monastery. The buildings of the monastery were acquired in 1955 by the municipality of Bologna, to house an o ...
is a 15th-century religious complex located on a hill not far from the city's historical center.
Economy
In terms of total GDP, the
Metropolitan City of Bologna
The Metropolitan City of Bologna ( it, Città Metropolitana di Bologna) is a metropolitan city in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. Its capital is ''de facto'' the city of Bologna, though the body does not explicitly outline it. It was created by ...
generated a value of about €35 billion ($40.6 billion) in 2017, equivalent to €34,251 ($40,165) per capita, the third highest figure among Italian provinces (after
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and
Bolzano/Bozen).
The economy of Bologna is characterized by a flourishing industrial sector, traditionally centered on the transformation of agricultural and zootechnical products (
Eridania,
Granarolo,
Segafredo Zanetti, ), machinery (,
IMA,
Sacmi), construction equipment (
Maccaferri
Officine Maccaferri SpA (Maccaferri) is an Italian multinational company, headquartered in Zola Predosa, Bologna. The company specialises in products for the construction industry. Maccaferri's products are used for: retaining structures, soil r ...
); energy (
Hera Group
Hera S.p.A (Holding Energia Risorse Ambiente, ''Energy Resource Environment Holdings'') is a multiutility company based in Bologna, Italy. Hera operates in the distribution of gas, water, energy, and waste disposal in the provinces of Bologna, Fe ...
), automotive (
Ducati,
Lamborghini), footwear, textile, engineering, chemical, printing and publishing (
Cappelli,
il Mulino, ,
Zanichelli
Zanichelli editore S.p.A. is an Italian publishing company founded in Modena, Italy, in 1859.
It publishes mainly textbooks for school, university and professional books (legal texts and medicine), dictionaries, and reference books.
History
The ...
).
In particular, Bologna is considered the centre of the so-called "packaging valley", an area well known for its high concentration of firms specialised in the manufacturing of automatic
packaging machines (,
IMA). Furthermore, Bologna is well known for its dense network of
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
s, a feature that dates back to the social struggles of farmers and workers in the 1800s and that today produces up to a third of its GDP and occupies 265 thousand people in the Emilia-Romagna region.
Transport
![Irisbus Crealis trolley TPER 107 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Irisbus_Crealis_trolley_TPER_107_1.jpg)
Bologna is home to the
Guglielmo Marconi International Airport
Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport ( it, Aeroporto di Bologna-Guglielmo Marconi) is an international airport serving the city of Bologna in Italy. It is approximately northwest of the city centre in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The airpo ...
, the
seventh
Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven.
Seventh may refer to:
* Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
* A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts
Film and television
*"The Seventh", a second-season e ...
busiest Italian airport for passenger traffic (8 million passengers handled in 2017).
Bologna Centrale railway station
Bologna Centrale is a railway station in Bologna, Italy. The station is situated at the northern edge of the city centre. It is located at the southern end of the Milan-Bologna high-speed line, which opened on 13 December 2008, and the northern ...
is one of Italy's most important train hubs thanks to the city's strategic location as a crossroad between north–south and east–west routes. It serves 58 million passengers annually.
The city hosts several minor railway stations (see
List of railway stations in Bologna
Below is a list of current railway stations in Bologna, Italy.
Active stations
Planned stations (as of 2018)
* Bologna Borgo Panigale Scala railway station
* Bologna Prati di Caprara railway station
* Bologna Zanardi railway station
...
).
Bologna San Donato
classification yard
A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard ( British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...
, with 33 railway tracks, used to be the largest freight hub in Italy by size and traffic. Since 2018, it has been repurposed as the
Bologna San Donato railway test circuit
{{one source, date=May 2021
The Bologna San Donato railway test circuit ( it, Circuito ferroviario di prova di Bologna San Donato) is a railway rolling stock testing facility located in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
The facility started operatin ...
.
[Gian Guido Turchi, ''Bologna San Donato: metamorfosi di un impianto'', in I Treni 434 (2020), pages 12–17, Editrice Trasporti su Rotaie, ISSN 0392-4602.]
The city is also served by a large network of public bus lines, including
trolleybus lines, operated since 2012 by
Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna
Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna (TPER, Italian for ''Emilia-Romagna passenger transportation'') is a public company overseeing public transportation in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, in the province of Ferrara and in parts of the province ...
(TPER).
A large
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
service is currently under development (see
Bologna metropolitan railway service
The Bologna metropolitan railway service (Italian: ''servizio ferroviario metropolitano di Bologna'', acronym: ''SFMBO'') is a commuter railway service around the Italian city of Bologna. It is currently under construction.
History
Launched in 1 ...
), and a four line tram network is also planned (see
Trams in Bologna).
Bologna public transportation statistics
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Bologna, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 53 min. 9% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 12 min, while 16% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 5.4 km, while 7% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.
Demographics
At the end of 2016, the city proper had a population of 388,254 (while 1 million live in the greater Bologna area), located in the province of Bologna,
Emilia Romagna
Emilia-Romagna (, , both also ; ; egl, Emégglia-Rumâgna or ''Emîlia-Rumâgna''; rgn, Emélia-Rumâgna) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy, situated in the north of the country, comprising the historical regions ...
, of whom 46.7% were male and 53.3% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 12.86 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 27.02 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Bologna resident is 51 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Bologna grew by 0.0 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent. The current birth rate of Bologna is 8.07 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.
Education
![Archiginnasio-bologna02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Archiginnasio-bologna02.png)
The
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...
, conventionally said to have been founded in 1088 by
glossator
The scholars of the 11th- and 12th-century legal schools in Italy, France and Germany are identified as glossators in a specific sense. They studied Roman law based on the '' Digesta'', the ''Codex'' of Justinian, the ''Authenticum'' (an abridged ...
s
Irnerius
Irnerius (– after 1125), sometimes referred to as ''lucerna juris'' ("lantern of the law"), was an Italian jurist, and founder of the School of Glossators and thus of the tradition of Medieval Roman Law.
He taught the newly recovered Roman l ...
and
Pepo, is the oldest university in Europe. It was an important centre of European intellectual life during the Middle Ages, attracting scholars from Italy and throughout Europe. The Studium, as it was originally known, began as a loosely organized teaching system with each master collecting fees from students on an individual basis. The location of the early University was thus spread throughout the city, with various colleges being founded to support students of a specific nationality.
![Bologna,_Archiginnasio,_Teatro_anatomico_(6)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Bologna%2C_Archiginnasio%2C_Teatro_anatomico_%286%29.jpg)
In the Napoleonic era, the headquarters of the university were moved to their present location on
Via Zamboni, in the northeastern sector of the city centre. Today, the university's 11 schools, 33 departments, and 93 libraries are spread across the city and include four subsidiary campuses in nearby
Cesena
Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. ...
,
Forlì
Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna.
The city is situated along the Via ...
,
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
, and
Rimini
Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...
. Noteworthy students present at the university in centuries past included
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...
,
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...
,
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...
,
Pope Nicholas V
Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene made ...
,
Erasmus of Rotterdam
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
,
Peter Martyr Vermigli
Peter Martyr Vermigli (8 September 149912 November 1562) was an Italian-born Reformed theologian. His early work as a reformer in Catholic Italy and his decision to flee for Protestant northern Europe influenced many other Italians to convert a ...
, and
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...
.
Laura Bassi
Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti (29 October 1711 – 20 February 1778) was an Italian physicist and academic. Recognized and depicted as "Minerva" (goddess of wisdom), she was the first woman to have a doctorate in science, and the second wo ...
, appointed in 1732, became the first woman to officially teach at a university in Europe. In more recent history,
Luigi Galvani, the discoverer of
bioelectromagnetics
Bioelectromagnetics, also known as bioelectromagnetism, is the study of the interaction between electromagnetic fields and biological entities. Areas of study include electromagnetic fields produced by living cells, tissues or organisms, th ...
, and
Guglielmo Marconi, the pioneer of radio technology, also worked at the university. The University of Bologna remains one of the most respected and dynamic post-secondary educational institutions in Italy. To this day, Bologna is still very much a university town, with over 80,000 enrolled students in 2015. This community includes a great number of Erasmus, Socrates, and overseas students. The university's
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
, the
Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna, was established in 1568; it is the fourth oldest in Europe.
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
maintains its
Bologna Center
The Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe in Bologna, Italy, is the European campus of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a division of Johns Hopkins University located in Washington, D.C. SAIS Europe offers an int ...
in the city, which hosts one of the overseas campuses of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). SAIS Bologna was founded in 1955 as the first campus of a US post-graduate school to open in Europe. It was inspired by Marshall Plan efforts to build a cultural bridge between America and Europe. Today, the Bologna Center also hosts the ''Associazione italo-americana "Luciano Finelli"'', which supports cross-cultural awareness and exchange between Italy and the United States.
Dickinson College,
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
,
Brown University, and the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
also have campuses or antennas in the city.
In addition, Bologna hosts a music school,
Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini
The Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini (previously known as the Liceo Musicale di Bologna, and sometimes referred to in English as the Bologna Conservatory) is a college of music in Bologna, Italy. The conservatory opened on 3 December 180 ...
, established in 1804, and an art school,
Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, founded in 1802. Both institutions were born as part of the reforms introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Culture
![Museomusicabosala7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Museomusicabosala7.jpg)
Over the centuries, Bologna has acquired many nicknames: "the fat" (''la grassa'') refers to its cuisine, in which the most famous specialities are prepared using rich meats (especially pork), egg pasta and dairy products, such as butter and Parmesan. Another nickname that has been given to the city is "the red" (''la rossa''), which was originally used as a reference to the colour of the buildings in the city centre, has later become connected with the communist ideology supported by the majority of the population, in particular after World War II: until the election of a centre-right mayor in 1999, the city was renowned as a bastion of the
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy.
The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
. The centre-left regained power again in the 2004 mayoral elections, with the election of
Sergio Cofferati. It was one of the first European cities to experiment with the concept of
free public transport
Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, refers to public transport funded in full by means other than by collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local gover ...
.
Bologna has also two other nicknames: the first one, "the towered" (''la turrita'') refers to the high number of medieval towers that can be found in the city, even if today only 24 towers are still standing. The second one, "the learned" (''la dotta'') is a reference to its university.
University
Bologna's
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
was founded in 1088 and it is considered the oldest university in the Western world. According to the QS University Rankings, Bologna university is the 4th-ranked Italian university and the 180th-ranked in the world.
The high number of students coming from all over Italy and the world (in Bologna there are several campuses of foreign universities such as Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College, Indiana University, Brown University, University of California and more) has a considerable effect on everyday life. While it contributes to livening up the city centre (an area in which the average age of the residents is very high) and it also helps to promote cultural initiatives, on the other hand, it creates public order and waste management problems that stem from the lively nightlife of the university district.
Entertainment and performing arts
![Arena_del_Sole_(cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Arena_del_Sole_%28cropped%29.jpg)
The city of Bologna became a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
City of Music on 26 May 2006. According to UNESCO, "As the first Italian city to be appointed to the Network, Bologna has demonstrated a rich musical tradition that is continuing to evolve as a vibrant factor of contemporary life and creation. It has also shown a strong commitment to promoting music as an important vehicle for inclusion in the fight against racism and in an effort to encourage economic and social development. Fostering a wide range of genres from classical to electronic, jazz, folk and opera, Bologna offers its citizens a musical vitality that deeply infiltrates the city's professional, academic, social and cultural facets."
The theatre was a popular form of entertainment in Bologna until the 16th century. The first public theater was the Teatro alla Scala, active since 1547 in
Palazzo del Podestà. An important figure of Italian Bolognese theatre was
Alfredo Testoni
Alfredo Testoni (1856–1931) was an Italian playwright and poet known for his work in the Bolognese dialect. In 1888 he established his own company at the Teatro Contavalli in Bologna. Amongst his best known plays is ''Cardinal Lambertini'', a 1 ...
, the playwright, and author of ''
Cardinal Lambertini
Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the Lis ...
'', which has had great theatrical success since 1905, repeated on screen by the Bolognese actor
Gino Cervi
Luigi Cervi (3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974), better known as Gino Cervi (), was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character ''Don Camillo'' (1952-1965), and police detective Jules ...
. In 1998, the City of Bologna initiated the project "Bologna dei Teatri" (Bologna of the Theatres), an association of the major theatrical facilities in the city. This is a circuit of theatres which offer diverse theatrical opportunities, ranging from Bolognese dialect to contemporary dance, but with a communications strategy and promoting unity. Specifically, the shows on the bill in various theatres participating in the project are advertised weekly through a single poster. Bologna's opera house is the
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season.
While there had been various theatres presenting opera in Bologna since the early 1 ...
. The
Orchestra Mozart
The Orchestra Mozart or Orchestra Mozart Bologna is an Italian orchestra based in Bologna.
Creation
The orchestra was created in 2004 by Carlo Maria Badini, as a special project within the Regia Accademia Filarmonica (Philharmonic Academy) of B ...
, whose music director was
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...
until his death in 2014, was created in 2004.
Bologna hosts a number of international music, art, dance and film festivals, including Angelica, ''Bologna'' and ''Contemporanea'' (festivals on contemporary music), Bolognafestival (international classical music festival),
Bologna Jazz Festival, Biografilm Festival (devoted to biographical movies), BilBolBul (a comics festival), Danza Urbana (a street contemporary dance festival),
F.I.S.Co (festival on contemporary art, now merged into
Live Arts Week
Live Arts Week is a project by Xing, born in 2012 out the fusion of the experiences of the two Bologna festivals (2000>2011): Netmage - International Live Media Festival and F.I.S.Co. - Festival Internazionale sullo Spettacolo Contemporaneo.
Live ...
), Future Film Festival (animation and special effects), ''Il Cinema Ritrovato'' (film festival about rare and forgotten movies),
Live Arts Week
Live Arts Week is a project by Xing, born in 2012 out the fusion of the experiences of the two Bologna festivals (2000>2011): Netmage - International Live Media Festival and F.I.S.Co. - Festival Internazionale sullo Spettacolo Contemporaneo.
Live ...
, Gender Bender (festival on gender identity, sexual orientation, and body representation), Homework festival (electronic music festival), Human Rights Film Festival, Some Prefer Cake (lesbian film festival),
Zecchino d'Oro
Zecchino d'Oro (; meaning "Golden Sequin") is an annual international children's song competition established in 1959 by Niny Comolli. It is broadcast by Rai 1.
The first two contests were held in Milan. In 1961, the contest was taken up by th ...
(a children's song contest).
Cuisine
![Tagliatelle_al_ragù_(image_modified)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Tagliatelle_al_rag%C3%B9_%28image_modified%29.jpg)
Bologna is renowned for its culinary tradition. It is the home of the famous
Bolognese sauce, a meat-based pasta sauce. In Italy, it is called ''
ragù
In Italian cuisine, ragù () is a meat-based sauce that is commonly served with pasta. An Italian gastronomic society, Accademia Italiana della Cucina, documented several ragù recipes. The recipes' common characteristics are the presence of mea ...
'' and is substantially different from the variety found worldwide. In Bologna, the sauce is used only as a dressing for
tagliatelle
Tagliatelle (; from the Italian ''tagliare'', meaning "to cut") are a traditional type of pasta from the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions of Italy. Individual pieces of ''tagliatelle'' are long, flat ribbons that are similar in shape to fettucci ...
, and serving it with
spaghetti
Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.[spaghetti](_blank)
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...
is considered odd.
Situated in the fertile Po River Valley, the rich local cuisine depends heavily on meats and cheeses. As in all of Emilia-Romagna, the production of cured pork meats such as
prosciutto
''Prosciutto crudo'', in English often shortened to prosciutto ( , ), is Italian uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. ''Prosciutto crudo'' is usually served thinly sliced.
Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crud ...
,
mortadella and
salumi
Salumi (singular salume) are Italian meat products typical of an antipasto, predominantly made from pork and cured. Salumi also include bresaola, which is made from beef, and some cooked products, such as mortadella and prosciutto cotto.
The w ...
is an important part of the local food industry. Well-regarded nearby vineyards include
Pignoletto dei Colli Bolognesi,
Lambrusco
Lambrusco (; ) is the name of both an Italian red wine grape and a wine made principally from said grape. The grapes and the wine originate from four zones in Emilia-Romagna and one in Lombardy―principally around the central provinces of Mod ...
di Modena and
Sangiovese
Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grape ...
di Romagna.
Tagliatelle
Tagliatelle (; from the Italian ''tagliare'', meaning "to cut") are a traditional type of pasta from the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions of Italy. Individual pieces of ''tagliatelle'' are long, flat ribbons that are similar in shape to fettucci ...
with
ragù
In Italian cuisine, ragù () is a meat-based sauce that is commonly served with pasta. An Italian gastronomic society, Accademia Italiana della Cucina, documented several ragù recipes. The recipes' common characteristics are the presence of mea ...
,
lasagne
Lasagna (, also , also known as lasagne, ) is a type of pasta, possibly one of the oldest types, made of very wide, flat sheets. Either term can also refer to an Italian dish made of stacked layers of lasagna alternating with fillings such as ...
,
tortellini
''Tortellini'' are pasta originally from the Italian region of Emilia (in particular Bologna and Modena). Traditionally they are stuffed with a mix of meat (pork loin, raw prosciutto, mortadella), Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, egg and nutmeg and se ...
served in broth, and
mortadella, the original
Bologna sausage
Bologna sausage, informally baloney ( ), is a sausage derived from the Italian mortadella, a similar-looking, finely ground pork sausage, originally from the city of Bologna (). Typical seasonings for bologna include black pepper, nutmeg, a ...
, are among the local specialties.
Traditional Bolognese desserts are often linked to holidays, such as ''fave dei morti'' ("cookies of the dead"), multi-coloured
almond paste
Almond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar in equal quantities, with small amounts of cooking oil, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added as a binder. It is similar to ''marzipan'', but has a coarser texture. Almond pas ...
cookies made for
All Saints' Day
All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are kn ...
, jam-filled raviole cookies that are served on
Saint Joseph's Day
Saint Joseph's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Joseph or the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus Christ, celebrated on 19 March. ...
, and carnival sweets known as ''sfrappole'', a light and delicate fried pastry topped with powder sugar, ''certosino'' or ''panspeziale'' ("carthusian" or "apothecary-cake"), a spicy cake served on Christmas. ''Torta di riso'', a custard-like cake made of almonds, rice and amaretto, is made throughout the year, as well as the
zuppa inglese.
Sport
![PalaDozza 2022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/PalaDozza_2022.jpg)
Differently from the vaste majority of Italian cities, in Bologna,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
is the most followed sport. In fact, the sporting nickname for Bologna is ''Basket City'' in reference to the successes of the town's two rival historic basketball clubs,
Virtus
''Virtus'' () was a specific virtue in Ancient Rome. It carries connotations of valor, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth, perceived as masculine strengths (from Latin ''vir'', "man"). It was thus a frequently stated virtue o ...
and
Fortitudo
Fortitudo means courage or fortitude. It may also refer to:
* Fortitudo (planet), also known Xi Aquilae b
* Fortitudo-Pro Roma S.G.S., a sports society in Rome, formerly named "Fortitudo"
* Cosenza Calcio 1914, soccer team in Cosenza formerly named ...
.
Of the two, the former won, among others, 16
Italian basketball championships, two
Euroleagues, one
EuroCup and one
FIBA Saporta Cup
The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...
, making them one of the most influential European basketball clubs; the latter won two league titles between 1999 and 2005. The Italian Basketball League, which operates both Lega A and LegADue, has its headquarters in Bologna. There are two indoor arenas in the city:
PalaDozza
PalaDozza is an indoor sporting arena located at Piazza Azzarita Manfredi 8, in Bologna, Italy. It was named after Giuseppe Dozza, the long-time communist mayor of Bologna, who served from 1945 to 1966. In Italy, the arena is frequently nicknamed ...
, the oldest one with a capacity of 5,570 seats, and
Segafredo Arena, a temporary venue with a capacity of 9,980 seats.
Football also has a strong tradition in Bologna.
The city's main club,
Bologna F.C. 1909
Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian professional football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. The club have won seven top-flight titles, two Co ...
, have won seven Italian league championships (the latest in
1963–64), which makes them the sixth most successful team in the history of the league; in their heyday in the 1930s Bologna FC was called ''"Lo squadrone che tremare il mondo fa"'' (Italian for "The Team that Shakes the World").
The club play at the 38,000-capacity
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, which has hosted the Italian national team in both football and
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
, as well as the
San Marino national football team
The San Marino national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio di San Marino) represents San Marino in men's international association football competitions. The team is controlled by the San Marino Football Federation and represents the sma ...
.
It was also a venue at the
1990 FIFA World Cup.
Rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
is also present in the city: Rugby Bologna 1928 is not only one of the oldest Italian rugby union clubs but also the first club affiliated to the
Italian rugby union federation. and, to date (2014) is Italy's oldest rugby union club still in operation.
The club took part in the top tier of the Italian championship for the first 25 years of their history never winning the title but getting to the runner-up place several times; they returned to the top division (Serie A1 then Super 10), in the late 1990s and faced serious financial problems which led them to the relegation and almost to disappearance.
Gianni Falchi Stadium
Gianni Falchi Stadium is a baseball stadium located in Bologna, Italy. It is the home ballpark of Fortitudo Baseball Bologna in the Italian Baseball League.
History
The baseball stadium was opened in 1969, becoming the new home of Fortitudo Bolog ...
is a
baseball stadium
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
located in Bologna.
It is home to the home games of
Fortitudo Baseball Bologna
Fortitudo Baseball 1953, commonly referred to as Fortitudo Bologna, also known as UnipolSai Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a baseball club based in Bologna that competes in Serie A1, Italy's professional baseball league.
The team plays at ...
, in the
Italian Baseball League
The Italian Baseball League (IBL; Italian: ') is a professional baseball league that is governed by FIBS (Italian Baseball & Softball Federation), which has its headquarters in Rome. The IBL is a wood bat league in which both composite and alumi ...
.
People
![Benoit XIV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Benoit_XIV.jpg)
*
Luca Carboni
Luca Carboni (born 12 October 1962) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He debuted in 1981 as guitarist in the band Teobaldi Rock, publishing his first solo album in 1983. He is also a painter and carpenter.
Biography
Carboni was born in Bologna. ...
(singer-songwriter, born 1962)
*
Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carl Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history st ...
(naturalist, 1522–1605)
*
Antonio Alessandrini
Antonio Alessandrini (30 July 1786, Bologna – 6 April 1861 in the same city).
Antonio Alessandrini taught comparative anatomy and veterinary science at the University of Bologna. He was president of the Accademia delle Scienze of the city and ...
(anatomist and parasitologist, 1786–1861)
*
Maria Gaetana Agnesi
Maria Gaetana Agnesi ( , , ; 16 May 1718 – 9 January 1799) was an Italian mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. She was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed as a mathematics profe ...
(mathematician and humanitarian, 1718–1799)
*
Amico Aspertini
Amico Aspertini, also called Amerigo Aspertini, was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor whose complex, eccentric, and eclectic style anticipates Mannerism. He is considered one of the leading exponents of the Bolognese School of paintin ...
(painter, c. 1474–1552)
*
Pupi Avati
Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (born 3 November 1938), is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his two giallo masterpieces, ''The House with Laughing Windows'' (1976) and '' Zeder ...
(director, born 1938)
*
Riccardo Bacchelli
Riccardo Bacchelli (; 19 April 1891 – 8 October 1985) was an Italian writer. In 1927 he was one of the founders of the review ''La Ronda'' and Bagutta Prize for literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature eight times.
Care ...
(writer, 1891–1985)
*
Adriano Banchieri
Adriano Banchieri (Bologna, 3 September 1568 – Bologna, 1634) was an Italian composer, music theorist, organist and poet of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He founded the Accademia dei Floridi in Bologna.
Biography
He was bo ...
(composer, 1568–1634)
*
Agostino Barelli
Agostino Barelli (Baptized 26 October 1627, Bologna – c. 29 January 1697, Bologna) was an Italian architect of the Baroque.
Biography
Barelli is noted for introducing Italian Baroque architecture to Bavaria. He was invited to Munich by Hen ...
(architect, 1627–1687)
*
Massimiliano Bartoli, (chef, restaurateur)
*
Antonio Basoli
Antonio Basoli (1774–1848) was an Italian painter, interior designer, scenic designer, and engraver, active mostly in Bologna.
Biography
He was born in Castel Guelfo. His first teacher was his father, Lelio Andrea Basoli. His education was mo ...
(painter and scene designer, 1774–1848)
*
Laura Bassi
Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti (29 October 1711 – 20 February 1778) was an Italian physicist and academic. Recognized and depicted as "Minerva" (goddess of wisdom), she was the first woman to have a doctorate in science, and the second wo ...
(scientist, first female appointed to university chair in Europe, 1711–1788)
*
Ugo Bassi
Ugo Bassi (12 August 1800 – 8 August 1849) was a Roman Catholic priest and Italian nationalist. Bassi was born at Cento, Emilia-Romagna, and received his early education at University of Bologna.
An unhappy love affair induced him to becom ...
(Italian nationalist hero, executed for role in 1848 uprisings, 1800–1849)
*
Pier Francesco Battistelli (painter of
quadratura
Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...
, 17th-century)
*
Stefano Benni
Stefano Benni (born 12 August 1947) is an Italian satirical writer, poet and journalist. His books have been translated into around 20 foreign languages and scored notable commercial success. 2.5 million copies of his books have been sold in Ita ...
(writer, born 1947)
*
Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope ...
(Prospero Lambertini, Pope 1740–58)
*
Giovanni II Bentivoglio
Giovanni II Bentivoglio (12 February 144315 February 1508) was an Italian nobleman who ruled as tyrant of Bologna from 1463 until 1506. He had no formal position, but held power as the city's "first citizen." The Bentivoglio family ruled over Bo ...
(1443–1508)
*
Giordano Berti
Giordano Berti (born 27 February 1959) is an Italian writer and teacher of History of Arts.
Biography
Born in Bologna, Giordano Berti grew up in Monghidoro, a town of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. After obtaining his college diploma he went on ...
(writer, born 1959)
*
Amedeo Biavati
Amedeo Biavati (; 4 April 1915 – 22 April 1979) was an Italian footballer, who was born in Bologna. He was usually deployed as forward or as a midfielder on the wing. A very fast and creative player, with an eye for goal, precise crossing, an ...
(footballer, 1915–1979, credited with the invention of the
stepover, World Champion 1938, played only for
Bologna FC)
*
Cristina D'Avena
Cristina D'Avena (born 6 July 1964) is an Italian actress, singer and television personality. She has sold nearly 7 million copies of her albums.
D'Avena was selected to join the prestigious Institute of Antoniano choir, following her debut, ...
(actress and singer, born 1964)
*
Francesco Ricci Bitti, Italian sports administrator
*
Simone Bolelli
Simone Bolelli (; born 8 October 1985) is an Italian professional tennis player. Bolelli is a Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Australian Open doubles event with Fabio Fognini, together becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a ...
(professional tennis player, born 1985)
*
Giacomo Bolognini (painter, 1664–1734)
*
Rafael Bombelli
Rafael Bombelli (baptised
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initia ...
(mathematician, 1526–1572)
*
Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor.
Biography
Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Ve ...
(actor, 1916–1994)
*
Floriano Buroni
Floriano Buroni or Bonis (active c. 1670) was an Italian engraver. He was born in Bologna. Among other prints, he produced a plate representing a ''Dead Christ with his mother and St. John'', after Guercino
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February ...
(engraver, 17th-century)
*
Arcangelo Canetoli (Roman Catholic priest, canon regular, 1460–1513)
*
Alessandro Carloni
Alessandro Carloni is an Italian film director, animator, and art director, best known for his work with DreamWorks Animation in general, particularly the ''Kung Fu Panda'' films. He co-directed '' Kung Fu Panda 3'', alongside Jennifer Yuh Nelso ...
(director, animator, artist who worked on films like ''
Kung Fu Panda
''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American media franchise that originally started in 2008 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily voic ...
'' and ''
The Croods
''The Croods'' is a 2013 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, and stars the voices of Nicol ...
,'' born 1978)
*
Raffaella Carrà
Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni (18 June 1943 – 5 July 2021), better known as Raffaella Carrà (), was an Italian singer, dancer, television presenter, actress and model.
She was well known in Europe and Latin America as a result of her man ...
(singer, 1943–2021)
*
Annibale Carracci (painter, 1560–1609)
*
Lodovico Carracci
Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci (21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian, early- Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering light ...
(painter, 1555–1619)
*
Agostino Carracci (painter, 1557–1602)
*
Corrado Casalini
Ivo Corrado Casalini (born November 2, 1914 in Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most ...
(footballer, born 1914)
*
Chiara Caselli
Chiara Caselli (born 22 December 1967) is an Italian actress. In 1994, Caselli won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress award as well as the David di Donatello for Best Actress award. Caselli has appeared in American films including ''My Own Pr ...
(actress, born 1967)
*
Saint Catherine of Bologna
Catherine of Bologna aterina de' Vigri(8 September 1413 – 9 March 1463)Stephen Donovan (1908). " St. Catherine of Bologna". In ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company. was an Italian Poor Clare, writer, teacher, mystic ...
(Caterina de' Vigri) (1413–1463) Poor Claire nun, writer, mystic, artist
*
Pier Ferdinando Casini
Pier Ferdinando Casini (; born 3 December 1955) is an Italian politician. He served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2006.
Casini is the honorary president of the Centrist Democrat International and the Inter-Parliamentary ...
(politician, born 1955)
*
Pietro Cataldi (mathematician, 1548–1626)
*
Pierluigi Collina
Pierluigi Collina (; born 13 February 1960) is an Italian former football referee. He was named "The World's Best Referee" by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics six consecutive times from 1998-2003.
Collina is still ...
(football referee, born 1960)
*
Carlo Colombara (operatic bass, born 1964)
*
Giovanni Paolo Colonna
Giovanni Paolo Colonna (16 June 1637 – 28 November 1695) was an Italian composer, teacher, organist and organ builder. In addition to being chapel-master and organist of San Petronio Basilica in Bologna, he served prominent members of the co ...
(composer, 1637–1695)
*
Alessandro Cortini
Alessandro Cortini (born 24 May 1976) is an Italian musician best known for being the keyboard, guitar, and bass player in the industrial band Nine Inch Nails. Cortini is also the frontman for the Los Angeles-based electronic-alternative band ...
(musician, born 1976)
*
Cesare Cremonini (songwriter, 1980)
*
Giuseppe Maria Crespi
Giuseppe Maria Crespi (March 14, 1665 – July 16, 1747), nicknamed Lo Spagnuolo ("The Spaniard"), was an Italian late Baroque painter of the Bolognese School. His eclectic output includes religious paintings and portraits, but he is now most ...
(painter, 1665–1747)
*
Donato Creti
Donato Creti (24 February 1671 – 31 January 1749) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period, active mostly in Bologna.
Born in Cremona, he moved to Bologna, where he was a pupil of Lorenzo Pasinelli. He is described by Wittkower as the "Bol ...
(painter, 1671–1749)
*
Giulio Cesare Croce
Giulio Cesare Croce (1550–1609) was an Italian writer, actor/producer of cantastoria and enigma writer.
The son of a blacksmith and a blacksmith himself, after the death of his father, his uncle continued his cultural education. He never had a ...
(
cantastorie and writer, 1550–1609)
*
Scipione del Ferro
Scipione del Ferro (6 February 1465 – 5 November 1526) was an Italian mathematician who first discovered a method to solve the depressed cubic equation.
Life
Scipione del Ferro was born in Bologna, in northern Italy, to Floriano and Filip ...
(mathematician, solved the
cubic equation
In algebra, a cubic equation in one variable is an equation of the form
:ax^3+bx^2+cx+d=0
in which is nonzero.
The solutions of this equation are called roots of the cubic function defined by the left-hand side of the equation. If all of th ...
, 1465–1526)
*
Francesco Francia
__NOTOC__
Francesco Francia, whose real name was Francesco Raibolini (1447 – 5 January 1517) was an Italian painter, goldsmith, and medallist from Bologna, who was also director of the city mint.Levinson:492
He may have trained with Marco Zop ...
(Francesco Raibolini, painter, c. 1450–1517)
*
Lucio Dalla (singer-songwriter, 1943–2012)
*
Domenichino
Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters.
Life
Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a sho ...
(Domenico Zampieri, painter, 1581–1641)
*
Elena Duglioli
Elena Duglioli (1472 – 23 September 1520) was an Italian Roman Catholic aristocrat from Bologna noted for her devotion to Christian life and social teachings. Duglioli wanted to become a nun for the Poor Clares but instead married in order to pl ...
(
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
aristocrat, 1472–1520)
*
Sara Errani
Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...
(tennis player, born 1987)
*
Gianfranco Fini (politician, born 1952)
*
Aristotile Fioravanti (architect, –)
*
Carlo Fornasini (1854–1931),
micropalaeontologist who studied
Foraminifera
Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly ...
*
Luigi Galvani (scientist, discoverer of
bioelectricity
In developmental biology, bioelectricity refers to the regulation of cell, tissue, and organ-level patterning and behavior as the result of endogenous electrically mediated signaling. Cells and tissues of all types use ion fluxes to communicate e ...
, 1737–1798)
*
Alessandro Gamberini
Alessandro Gamberini (; born 27 August 1981) is an Italian former former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He is working as assistant coach for Virtus Verona.
He spent most of his professional career with Fiorentina, ap ...
, (footballer, born 1981)
*
Serena Grandi
Serena Grandi (born 23 March 1958, in Bologna) is an Italian actress, famous as an icon and sex symbol in Italian cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. Known for her junoesque body and voluptuous measurements, she was considered one of the main pin-u ...
(actress, born 1958)
*
Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
(Ugo Boncompagni, Pope 1572–85, instituted the
Gregorian Calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
)
*
Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623.
Biography
Early life
Al ...
(Alessandro Ludovisi, Pope 1621–3)
*
Il Guercino
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The v ...
(Giovanni Barbieri, painter, 1591–1666)
*
Irnerius
Irnerius (– after 1125), sometimes referred to as ''lucerna juris'' ("lantern of the law"), was an Italian jurist, and founder of the School of Glossators and thus of the tradition of Medieval Roman Law.
He taught the newly recovered Roman l ...
(jurist, c. 1050–at least 1125)
*
Blessed Imelda Lambertini
Imelda Lambertini (1322 – May 12, 1333) is the patroness of First Communicants.
Biography
Imelda Lambertini was born in 1322 in Bologna, the only child of Count Egano Lambertini and Castora Galuzzi. Her parents were devout Catholics an ...
(Dominican novice, Eucharistic mystic, and child saint, c. 1322–1333)
*
Claudio Lolli
Claudio Lolli (March 28, 1950 – August 17, 2018) was an Italian singer-songwriter, poet, writer and secondary school teacher.
Career
Claudio Lolli first came to public attention by Francesco Guccini to EMI Italiana, who produced his first L ...
(singer-songwriter, 1950–2018)
*
Lucius II
Pope Lucius II (died 15 February 1145), born Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1144 to his death in 1145. His pontificate was notable for the unrest in Rome associated wi ...
(Gherardo Caccianemici dell'Orso, Pope 1144–5)
*
Marcello Malpighi
Marcello Malpighi (10 March 1628 – 30 November 1694) was an Italian biologist and physician, who is referred to as the "Founder of microscopical anatomy, histology & Father of physiology and embryology". Malpighi's name is borne by several ph ...
(physiologist, anatomist and histologist, 1628–1694)
*
Guglielmo Marconi (engineer, pioneer of
wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...
, Nobel prize for Physics, 1874–1937)
*
Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Martini, O.F.M. Conv. (24 April 1706 – 3 August 1784), also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician, composer, and music historian of the per ...
(musical theorist, 1706–1784)
*
Giuseppe Mezzofanti
Giuseppe Gasparo Mezzofanti (17 September 1774 – 15 March 1849) was an Italian cardinal and famed hyperpolyglot.
Life
Born to humble parents in Bologna, he showed exceptional mnemonic skills as well as a flair for music and foreign languag ...
(cardinal, linguist and hyperpolyglot, 1774–1839)
*
Marco Minghetti
Marco Minghetti (18 November 1818 – 10 December 1886) was an Italian economist and statesman.
Biography
Minghetti was born at Bologna, then part of the Papal States.
He signed the petition to the Papal conclave, 1846, urging the electio ...
(economist and statesman, 1818–1886)
*
Giorgio Morandi
Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, bo ...
(painter, 1890–1964)
*
Gianni Morandi
Gianni Morandi (; born 11 December 1944) is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer.
Early life
Gian Luigi Morandi was born in a little village called Monghidoro on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. His father Renato was active within the ...
(singer, born 1944)
*
Ludovico Morbioli
Ludovico Morbioli (1433 - 9 November 1485) was an Italian Roman Catholic from Bologna who led a dissolute life before adopting a life of repentance. Morbioli was married but separated from his wife after experiencing a sudden religious conversion ...
(Catholic layman, declared Blessed, 1433–1485)
*
Edgardo Mortara
The Mortara case ( it, caso Mortara, links=no) was an Italian ''cause célèbre'' that captured the attention of much of Europe and North America in the 1850s and 1860s. It concerned the Papal States' seizure of a six-year-old boy named Edgardo ...
(Catholic priest that was the subject of the ''Mortara Case'' during the
Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
, 1851–1940)
*
Nella Nobili (poet and writer, 1926–1985)
*
Gianluca Pagliuca
Gianluca Pagliuca (; born 18 December 1966) is an Italian football coach and former professional goalkeeper.
He is regarded by pundits as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and one of Italy's best keepers ever. Throughout his c ...
(footballer, born 1966)
*
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...
(writer, poet, director, 1922–1975)
*
Agostino delle Prospettive
Agostino Delle Prospettive painted at Bologna about 1525. He was very skilful in aerial and lineal perspective, and imitated steps, doors, and windows, so perfectly as to deceive men and brute animals. He painted a piece at the Carmine, which for i ...
, painter (1525)
*
Umberto Puppini (1884–1946), mathematician
*
Roberto Regazzi (luthier, born 1956)
*
Guido Reni (painter, 1575–1642)
*
Ottorino Respighi (composer, 1879–1936)
*
Augusto Righi
Augusto Righi (27 August 1850 – 8 June 1920) was an Italian physicist and a pioneer in the study of electromagnetism. He was born and died in Bologna.
Biography
Born in Bologna, Righi was educated in his home town, taught physics at Bologn ...
(physicist, authority on
electromagnetism
In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of ...
, 1850–1920)
*
Carlo Ruini
Carlo Ruini (1530–1598) was one of the most noted anatomists of the horse of the 16th century.
He was born into a wealthy family in Bologna, Italy and was privately educated in the style of most upper class children. He did not receive spe ...
(equine anatomist, 1530–1598)
*
Angelo Schiavio
Angelo Schiavio (; 15 October 1905 – 17 September 1990) was an Italian footballer who played as a forward. Schiavio spent his entire career with Bologna, the club of the city where he was born and died; he won four league titles with the clu ...
(footballer, 1905–1990, scored the winning goal in extra time in 1934 for
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
)
*
Senhit
The Provinces of Eritrea existed between Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions.
Overview
In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into e ...
(singer, born 1979)
*
Elisabetta Sirani
Elisabetta Sirani (8 January 1638 – 28 August 1665) was an Italian Baroque painter and printmaker who died in unexplained circumstances at the age of 27. She was a pioneering female artist in early modern Bologna, who established an academy fo ...
(painter, 1638–1665)
*
Alberto Tomba
Alberto Tomba (born 19 December 1966 in San Lazzaro di Savena) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Italy. He was the dominant technical skier (slalom and giant slalom) in the late 1980s and 1990s. At 182 cm and 90 kg, his powerful ...
(skier, born 1966)
*
Ondina Valla (first Italian woman Olympic gold medalist, 1916–2006)
*
Mariele Ventre
Maria Rachele “Mariele” Ventre (16 July 1939 – 16 December 1995) was an Italian musician and singer, the founder and director of Italian children's choir Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano.
Biography
Mariele Ventre was born in Bologna, Emil ...
(teacher and educator, founder of
Piccolo Coro dell' Antoniano choir, 1939–1995)
*
Christian Vieri
Christian "Bobo" Vieri (; born 12 July 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre forward.
Having been born in Italy, Vieri moved with his family to Australia as a child, before returning to Italy to pursue his p ...
(footballer, born 1973)
*
Vitale da Bologna
250px, ''St. George and the Dragon''
Vitale da Bologna (–1360), also known as Vitale di Aymo de' Cavalli or Vitale degli Equi, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance.
He is a representative of the 14th century school of painting ...
(painter, fl. 1330, d. 1361)
*
Anteo Zamboni
Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini survived several assassination attempts while head of government of Italy in the 1920s and 1930s.
Tito Zaniboni
The former Socialist deputy Tito Zaniboni was arrested for attempting to assassinate Mus ...
(anarchist who at the age of 15 attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini, 1911–1926)
*
Alex Zanardi
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and aga ...
(racing driver, born 1966)
*
Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti (writer, musician, and composer, 1801–1878)
In addition to the natives of the city listed above, the following have made Bologna their home:
*
Giosuè Carducci
Giosuè Alessandro Giuseppe Carducci (; 27 July 1835 – 16 February 1907) was an Italian poet, writer, literary critic and teacher. He was very noticeably influential, and was regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy. In 1906, h ...
(poet and academic, Nobel Prize for Literature, born near Lucca, Tuscany, 1835–1907)
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Carlo Felice Cillario Carlo Felice Cillario (7 February 191513 December 2007) was an Argentinian-born Italian conductor of international renown.See Obituary, Elizabeth Forbes.
Biography
Born Carlos Felix Cillario in San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina, he went to Italy in 1 ...
(Italian conductor of international renown, founder of the Bologna Chamber Orchestra in 1946, 7 February 1915 – 13 December 2007)
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Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...
(writer and academic, born in Alessandria, Piedmont, 1932–2016)
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Enzio of Sardinia
Enzo (or Enzio; 14 March 1272) was an illegitimate son of the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II, who appointed him 'King of Sardinia' in 1238. He played a major role in the wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines in the Imperial kingdom of Italy, an ...
(born , King of
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
and illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II, was imprisoned in
Palazzo Re Enzo
Palazzo Re Enzo is a palace located on Piazza del Nettuno, 1 in the historic center of Bologna, northern Italy. The palace takes its name from Enzio of Sardinia, Frederick II's son, who was prisoner here from 1249 until his death in 1272. The pal ...
from 1249 until his death in 1272)
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Vasco Errani
Vasco Errani (born 17 May 1955) is an Italian politician. He was a founding member of the Democratic Party (PD), which he has left on 22 February 2017, to join the Democratic and Progressive Movement, a party founded by the former PD left-wing ...
(politician, born 1955)
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William Girometti (painter, born in Milan, 1924–1998)
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Alfonso Lombardi (sculptor, born in Ferrara, –1537)
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Niccolò dell'Arca (sculptor, born in Bari, –2 March 1494)
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Juan Ignacio Molina
Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina (; (June 24, 1740 – September 12, 1829) was a Chilean Jesuit priest, naturalist, historian, translator, geographer, botanist, ornithologist, and linguist. He is usually referred to as Abate Molina (a form of Abbot Moli ...
(naturalist, born in Chile, 1740–1829)
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Giovanni Pascoli
Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the great ...
(poet and academic, born in San Mauro di Romagna, 1855–1912)
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St. Petronius (San Petronio, bishop of
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
and patron saint of the city, birthplace unknown, died )
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Romano Prodi
Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...
(economist, politician, born in Scandiano, Reggio Emilia, 1939)
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Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...
(opera composer, born in Pesaro, 1792–1868)
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Giuseppe Torelli
Giuseppe Torelli (22 April 1658 – 8 February 1709) was an Italian violist, violinist, teacher, and composer of the middle Baroque era.
Torelli is most remembered for contributing to the development of the instrumental concerto., especially co ...
(composer, born in Verona, 1658–1709)
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Wu Ming
Wu Ming, Chinese for "anonymous", is a pseudonym for a group of Italian authors formed in 2000 from a subset of the Luther Blissett community in Bologna.
Four of the group earlier wrote the novel '' Q'' (first edition 1999). Unlike the open n ...
(collective of writers, active since 2000)
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Farinelli (Carlo Broschi, castrato opera singer, 1705–1782)
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Giorgio Rosa (engineer, president of short-lived
micronation
A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified ...
Republic of Rose Island, 1925–2017)
International relations
Bologna is
twinned with:
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Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
, England, UK, since 1984
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Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...]
, Germany, since 1962
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La Plata, Argentina, since 1988
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Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
, United States, since 2003
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Saint-Louis, Senegal, since 1991
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St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, United States, since 1987
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San Carlos, Nicaragua, since 1988
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Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
, Greece, since 1981
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Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
, France, since 1981
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Tuzla
Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants.
Tuzla is the economic, cultural, e ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 1994
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Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
, Spain, since 1980
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Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
, Croatia, since 1961
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Prijepolje
Prijepolje ( sr-cyr, Пријепоље, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. As of 2011 census, the town has 13,330 inhabitants, while the municipality has 37,059 inhabitants.
Etymology
One possibl ...
, Serbia, since 1966
See also
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Bologna declaration
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Bologna metropolitan area
Bologna metropolitan area (Italian: ''Area metropolitana di Bologna'') is a term for the urbanized area around the city of Bologna, Italy. The metropolitan area is composed of the cities of Anzola dell'Emilia, Calderara di Reno, Casalecchio di Ren ...
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Bologna Process
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Bolognese bell ringing art
Bolognese bell ringing is a tradition of ringing bells that developed in Bologna, present day Italy. A form of full circle ringing, it entails swinging bells to develop rhythmic patterns.
History
During the 16th century there was a competitive ...
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List of tallest buildings in Bologna
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Opera Pia Dei Poveri Mendicanti
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San Girolamo dell'Arcoveggio
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Santa Maria Annunziata di Fossolo
References
Further reading
* Mancini, Giorgia, and Nicholas Penny, eds. ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings: Volume III: Ferrara and Bologna'' (National Gallery Catalogues) (2016).
* Rashdall, Hastings. ''The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages: Volume 1, Salerno, Bologna, Paris'' (2010).
* Robertson, Anne Walters. ''Tyranny under the Mantle of St Peter: Pope Paul II and Bologna'' (2002)
Guide books
* Grieco, Romy. ''Bologna: a city to discover''(1976)
* Insight Guides. ''Pocket Bologna'' (2016).
* Noyes, Mary Tolaro. ''Bologna Reflections'' (2009).
* Uras, Martina. "Bologna Photo Guide"
Older guides
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External links
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Weather BolognaMuseum of the History of BolognaInternational museum and library of music of BolognaBologna online cameras
{{Authority control
530s BC
Boii
Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna
Roman sites of Emilia-Romagna
6th-century BC establishments in Italy
Papal States