The Mini Rough Guide to Bologna (Travel Guide eBook)

By Rough Guides

This pocket-sized guide is a convenient, quick-reference companion to discovering what to do, what to see and how to get around Bologna. It covers top attractions like Santo Stefano, le Duo Torri and San Luca, to cultural gems, including the show-stopping Neptune's Fountain in the heart of the city, the Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, a former university building with anatomical theatre where human corpses were dissected, and the monumental Basilica di San Petronio, one of Italy's most imposing Gothic churches. This will save you time, and enhance your exploration of this fascinating Bologna. This title has been fully updated post-COVID-19.

This Mini Rough Guide to Bologna covers: Piazza Maggiore and Around; East of Piazza Maggiore; The University Quarter; North and West of Centre; The Bologna Hills; Excursions from Bologna

In this travel guide you will find:

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EVERY TYPE OF TRAVELLER
Experiences selected for every kind of trip to Bologna, from cultural explorations in Medieval Museum or Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio to family activities in child-friendly places, like Museum of History at Palazzo Pepoli and Sala Borsa multimedia centre, or chilled-out breaks in popular tourist areas like Barrio del Carmen.

TOP TEN ATTRACTIONS
Covers the destination's top ten attractions not to miss, including Santo Stefano, le Due Torri, Mambo, San Luca, Basilica di San Petronio, Pinacoteca Nazionale and a Perfect Day itinerary suggestions.

COMPACT FORMAT
Compact, concise, and packed with essential information, with a sharp design and colour-coded sections, this is the perfect on-the-move companion when you're exploring Bologna.

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INSIGHTS
Includes an insightful overview of landscape, history and culture.

WHAT TO DO
Detailed description of entertainment, shopping, nightlife, festivals and events, and children's activities.

PRACTICAL MAPS
Handy colour maps on the inside cover flaps will help you find your way around.

PRACTICAL TRAVEL INFORMATION
Practical information on eating out, including a handy glossary and detailed restaurant listings, as well as a comprehensive A-Z of travel tips on everything from getting around to health and tourist information.

STRIKING PICTURES
Inspirational colour photography throughout.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Dec 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781839059018

Rough Guides

Rough Guides are written by expert authors who are passionate about both writing and travel. They have detailed knowledge of the areas they write about--having either traveled extensively or lived there--and their expertise shines through on every page. It's priceless information, delivered with wit and insight, providing the down-to-earth, honest read that is the hallmark of Rough Guides.

Book preview

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HOW TO USE THIS E-BOOK

Getting Around this e-Book

This Rough Guide Mini e-book is designed to inspire you and help you plan for your visit to Bologna, and is also the perfect on-the-ground companion for your trip.

The guide begins with our selection of Highlights, plus a Perfect Itinerary feature to help you plan an unforgettable trip. The Introduction and History and Culture chapters give the lowdown on Bologna, past and present, while the Out and About chapter is a comprehensive guide to all the best sights. You will find ideas for getting active in Things to Do, while the Food and Drink chapter introduces you to the local cuisine and gives listings of our favourite restaurants by area. Travel Essentials offers just that; practical information to help you plan your trip. Finally, Where to Stay provides a special selection of hotels for every budget.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Bologna are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map], tap once to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Bologna. Simply double-tap an image to see it in full-screen.

About Rough Guides:

Published in 1982, the first Rough Guide – to Greece – was created by Mark Ellingham and a small group of friends who couldn’t find a guidebook to meet their needs. Combining a contemporary, journalistic style with a thoroughly practical approach to travellers’ needs, the immediate success of the book spawned a series that rapidly covered dozens of destinations. These days, Rough Guides include recommendations from budget to luxury and cover more than 120 destinations worldwide, all regularly updated by our team of ever curious, roaming writers. These Rough Guide Minis may be small, but they are packed with information and inspiration and offer amazing value for money.

© 2022 Apa Digital AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd.

Table of Contents

10 Things Not To Miss

A Perfect Day In Bologna

Overview

Bologna La Grassa

Cultural Legacy

A Living City

History and Culture

Early Settlers

Huns, Goths and Lombards

Communes and Dynastic Powers

Centuries of Papal Domination

Foreign Intervention

World War II

Modern Bologna

Out and About

Piazza Maggiore and around

Piazza del Nettuno

Palazzo Re Enzo and Palazzo del Podestà

Palazzo d’Accursio

Salaborsa

Piazza Maggiore

Basilica di San Petronio

Museo Civico Archeologico

Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio

Quadrilatero

Santa Maria della Vita

East of Piazza Maggiore

Due Torri

Piazza della Mercanzia

Strada Maggiore

Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica

Museo Civico d’Arte Industriale e Galleria Davia Bargellini

Santa Maria dei Servi

Santo Stefano

The University Quarter

San Giacomo Maggiore

Oratorio di Santa Cecilia

Piazza Verdi and Teatro Comunale

Palazzo Poggi

Pinacoteca Nazionale

North and West of Centre

The Jewish Ghetto

Cattedrale Metropolitana di San Pietro

Palazzo Fava

Museo Civico Medievale

San Colombano

MAMbo

San Francesco

South of the Centre

Basilica di San Domenico

Via d’Azeglio

The Bologna Hills

Excursions from Bologna

Parma

Modena

Ferrari Museums

Ferrara

Ravenna

Rimini

Things To Do

Entertainment

Classical Music, Opera and Theatre

Cinema

Nightlife

Shopping

Gastronomy

Markets

Sport

Motor Valley

Active Pursuits

Sports in Emilia Romagna

Children’s Bologna

Food and Drink

Where To Eat

Antipasti

Primo

Secondi

Dolci

Gelati

Wines

To Help You Order

Menu Reader

Where To Eat

Piazza Maggiore and around

East Of Piazza Maggiore

University Quarter

North and West of Piazza Maggiore

South of the Centre

Ferrara

Modena

Parma

Ravenna

A–Z Travel Tips

A

Accessible travel

Accommodation

Airport

B

Bicycle Hire

Budgeting for your trip

C

Camping

Car hire

Climate

Clothing

Crime

D

Driving

E

Electricity

Embassies and consulates

Emergencies

G

Getting to Bologna

Guides and tours

H

Health and Medical care

L

LGBTQ+ travellers

M

Maps

Media

Money matters

O

Opening times

P

Police

Post offices

Public holidays

T

Telephones

Time zones

Tipping

Toilets

Tourist Information

Transport

V

Visas and entry requirements

W

Websites and internet access

Y

Youth hostels

Where To Stay

Piazza Maggiore and around

North And West

South

10 THINGS NOT TO MISS

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1. Santo Stefano

Enchanting complex of medieval churches, cloisters and crypts. For more information, click here.

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2. Le Due Torri

The Two Towers are iconic symbols of the city. Climb to the top of tilting Torre degli Asinelli for splendid views of the city. For more information, click here.

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3. MAMbo

A sleek contemporary arts centre filled with experimental works. For more information, click here.

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4. The Portici

Bologna’s elegant porticoes span an incredible 38km (24 miles) through the city’s historic centre. For more information, click here.

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5. Gastronomy

Indulge in Bologna’s culinary delights and find out why they call the city ‘La Grassa’

(The fat). For more information, click here and click here.

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6. Neptune’s Fountain

Giambologna’s show-stopping bronze of Neptune is a favourite meeting place for the Bolognesi. For more information, click here.

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7. San Luca

Climb the world’s longest portico to the hilltop sanctuary church of San Luca. For more information, click here.

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8. Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio

Former seat of the city university, with a seventeenth-century anatomical theatre where human corpses were once dissected. For more information, click here.

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9. Basilica di San Petronio

The monumental basilica ranks among the most imposing of Italy’s Gothic churches. For more information, click here.

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10. Pinacoteca Nazionale

The city’s finest art collection featuring

works by Bolognese and other Italian masters. For more information, click here.

A PERFECT DAY IN BOLOGNA

9am

Breakfast. Kick off the day with coffee and a brioche at Caffè Sette Chiese on Piazza Santo Stefano. Secure a seat beneath the stone arches of the portico for fine views of Santo Stefano. After breakfast, wander through the delightful jumble of medieval churches, cloisters and courtyards.

10am

Strada Maggiore. From Via Santo Stefano, duck down the Corte Isolani, a quaint warren of galleries and cafés, to Strada Maggiore where porticoes and palatial homes line the street. Browse the antique shops before eyeing up the foreboding Gothic Church of Santa Maria della Vita.

11am

Historic core. Head for Piazza del Nettuno, watched over by Giambologna’s immense bronze statue of Neptune, and beyond to Piazza Maggiore, where fading palazzi crouch beside the hulking Basilica di San Petronio; peek inside the monumental interior of the vaulted church.

Noon

Culinary delights. Lose yourself in the maze of narrow alleys off Piazza Maggiore to stumble across tantalizing delis, market stalls and a chic covered food hall. For lunch, grab a piadina crammed with Parma ham, Mortadella and local cheeses, or head to Tamburini at Via Caprarie 1, a gourmet deli-café that’s been winning over foodies since 1932.

2pm

Ancient university. Meander down Via dell’Archiginnasio, where porticoes shelter elegant designer stores. Visit the frescoed Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio, first seat of Europe’s oldest university and where, in the Teatro Anatomico, some of the earliest dissections in Europe were performed.

3pm

Leaning towers. Head northeast to the Due Torri and gawp at the tipsy towers. Climb the calf-shredding 480 steps to the top of Torre degli Asinelli for fine views over the reddish sea of clay rooftops. Stroll around the nearby former Jewish Ghetto, now home to a cluster of artisan workshops.

4pm

University quarter. Amble along Via Zamboni for a flavour of the university. Pass noble palazzo converted to temples of scholarship, bohemian bars, cafés and arty bookshops.

6pm

Aperitivo time. Head to Le Stanze, the private chapel of the Palazzo Bentivoglio reimagined as a cocktail bar (Via del Borgo di San Pietro 1), where you can sip on colourful concoctions surrounded by sixteenth-century frescoes.

8pm

Dinner. Feast on traditional Bolognese pasta, made on the spot before you, at Dal Biassanot, Via Piella. Beside the trattoria, peer through the Finestrella di Via Piella (tiny window) over the canal and you might believe you were in Venice.

10pm

Jazz in the cellar. Round off the evening with the best live jazz in Bologna at Cantina Bentivoglio, Via Mascarella 4/B, in the antique cellars of the Palazzo Bentivoglio.

Overview

La Dotta (The learned). La Grassa (The fat). La Rossa (The red). Stereotypes they may be, but these oft-quoted sobriquets are on the money. Bologna, the capital of Emilia Romagna, is renowned for its university, its cuisine and its traditional left-wing stance. The erudite city is also famous for its beautifully preserved historic centre: a tapestry of medieval streets and squares stitched together by 38 km (24 miles) of porticoes. ‘La Rossa’ is a nod as much to the rich red of its palaces, towers and colonnaded walkways as it is to the city’s left-leaning politics. The main square, Piazza Maggiore, is an open-air museum – a cluster of elegant palazzi crouching beside the imposing Basilica di San Petronio.

Unfurling from the fringes of the Po Plain at the foot of the Apennines, the antique city is a fine example of Roman and medieval town planning, with its ancient town gates, radial plan and long, straight streets. It stands