I\nhad no idea that the city is called three names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LA DOTTA <\/strong>\u2013\n“the gifted one, the smart one”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Student\nlife is intense in Bologna. The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the\noldest university in Europe. Some say that, at the honorable age of almost\n1,000 years, it could be the oldest in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nthe cool part: about 1 in 3 inhabitants of Bologna is a student!<\/p>\n\n\n\n LA GRASSA <\/strong>\u2013\n“the fat one”J<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many\ntypical Italian products and dishes come from here, in the Emilia-Romagna area.\nLasagna, tortellini (and the larger version, tortelloni), the rag\u00f9 sauce (the Bolognese\nsauce), mortadella (that baloney with fat spots, as I call it), the parmesan, the\nbalsamic vinegar… God, I’m sooo hungry. It’s good that I only come here for a\nday or two, or it would be a disaster!<\/p>\n\n\n\n LA ROSSA <\/strong>\u2013\n“the red one”<\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nyou look at Bologna, especially from above, you can’t help but notice the red\nterracotta roofs, the red buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nthis is not the only reason it is called “la rossa”, but also because\nBologna is considered the most communist city in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, now that I have described it briefly, let me take you for a walk around the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nI first came here, I was told that I would notice a feature of the city from\nthe beginning. And so it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All\nover the city you find porticoes<\/strong>,\nthose corridors, the walkways open on one side with arches and columns, located\non the ground floor of the buildings, through which you can have a carefree\nwalk when it rains or the sun is too strong. Besides, I could have sworn that\nwas the purpose of their construction. Well, no!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nneed to build them has nothing to do with the weather, as I pretended to know,\nbut with something else: with the development of the universities in Bologna,\nabout 400 years ago, more and more students began to come to the city and,\ntherefore, the need for rooms grew a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nhouses could not be made bigger, wider, because it would have narrowed the\nstreets, which were small anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However\na solution to expand the housing was found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthe beginning it was a wooden extension, which allowed the construction of some\nrooms above the street, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nwood did not provide any security: in case of fire, the house would burn down\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n After\na while, the extensions were made of stone\/brick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over\ntime, it became a pride thing to extend your house, so the rich competed with\neach other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I said, the city is full of such arcades. There are almost 40 km only in the center!!! And all over Bologna there are more than 60 km!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, Bologna is proud to have the longest portico in the world! The Portico of San Luca<\/strong>. It starts from Porta Saragozza, goes through the city without any interruption whatsoever, first on a flat road, then climbing 300 meters to the top of the Colle della Guardia hill, on which is the Basilica San Luca. Almost 4 kilometers of walking under the arches! Wow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nwas built in the 17th-18th centuries with the aim of creating a safe, protected\npath for the Byzantine icon of the Madonna which, annually, on the Feast of the\nAscension, was and still is brought down from the Basilica of San Luca to the\nCathedral of San Pietro in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nvery old icon (it is supposed to date from the 10th century) has been venerated\nsince the 12th century, when pilgrims climbed up to it on a narrow path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once\nthe portico of San Luca was built, pilgrims could go up and down the hill\nprotected from the weather. So, in the end, it’s like I said with these\nporches: they protect you from the rain or the sun J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh,\nand one more thing: the San Luca Portico (the longest in the world, you haven’t\nforgotten, right?) has… 666 arches! Hm… Resembling a snake in length and\nshape, I read that it is possible that the number of arches was chosen on\npurpose, to symbolize the Madonna defeating the Devil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I decided\nto do it on foot next time, but I hope to have some dialogue partners, because\nI would be bored alone under so many arches…<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nwill take you about an hour and a half to go through it all, but be careful,\nits last part is uphill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your joints or breath don’t hold, you can take the San Luca Express<\/strong>, a train that leaves every 20 minutes from the central square of Bologna (Piazza Maggiore) and makes the route up to the Monastery in about 40 minutes. If you don’t get off the train and want to go back to the city this way, the fun lasts for one hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nit reaches the top, you can go down to enjoy the view over Bologna. I didn’t go\ndown, because I was afraid of losing the last one and it was getting dark. I\nhad no trace of enthusiasm to go down the longest portico in the world at\nnight, alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nit’s already on the “to do” list for next time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you get on the train and make the return journey or you take it one-way only, the ticket price is the same \u2013 12 euros for an adult (Nov 2022).<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s\nexactly how I searched on the net when I decided to find out more things and\nsee what I hadn’t seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Free\nwalking tour” is something I discovered recently, which I chose in\nFlorence, but also in Amsterdam. A lot of tours that local guides, but not\nonly, do for tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ntours, yes, are free, but they inform you from the beginning that they pay some\ntaxes to the authorities for each tourist attached to the group and that you\nshould at least give them a small amount of money to cover their taxes and have\na minimum of profit. So you’re still supposed to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I,\ninfluenced by others, gave 10-15-20 euros maximum, depending on the duration of\nthe tour and on how much I liked the guide. I saw people who gave 5 euros, but\nI also saw couples who gave 50 euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway,\nit seems to me this is a very cool solution and I will use it again, because I\nnotice that it is becoming very common in tourist cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeing\nBologna 7 years ago on foot and from the red bus (because they also have a red\nbus), I decided to choose now a… mystery tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nguide? Spanish, what do you know, not local. Anyway, he was a man who had known\nhis lesson well for some years, ever since he fell in love with Bologna and\nmoved here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For about two hours we will walk around in Bologna. The weather is perfect for this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. DEVIL’S HEAD. SECRET NO. 1.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nfirst stop is not far from the central square. (I would later see for myself\nthat nothing I saw was too far away…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\npalace with busts in front of which we are standing was built for an extremely\nrich family, but not very loved by people, we are told. Because, rich as they\nwere, they didn’t bother to help people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The person who took care of the renovation of the building came up with the idea of making different busts for the facade, as a sign that the family could afford anything. But, you see, he didn’t really like the owners either, so he thought of making a little… joke:<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\nplaced in the center… the bust of the Devil, to show that some nasty people\nlive there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (People\nwho must surely have liked the bust, since it remained untouched for so long.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\npalace is still owned by the descendants of the family from the 16th century.\nBut the current generation is definitely a cool one…<\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nthe Devil’s head is the first secret of Bologna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. THE 7 CHURCHES. SECRET NO. 2.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Right next to the house with the faces, is the Santo Stefano\nsquare, a place known as “the 7 churches”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 7 churches are, in fact, 3. It sounds like the nursery rhyme: “one tumbled, and there were two” J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nItalians call this place “the 7 churches” because, in addition to the\n3 churches, there are also 4 chapels, all of which can function simultaneously \u2013\nlet’s say for 7 baptisms at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\n7 are interconnected and, once you enter to visit one, you visit all of them,\nbasically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nis the second secret of Bologna \u2013 that the 7 churches are not 7…<\/p>\n\n\n\n And,\nsince we are still near them, let me show you something else: on a nearby wall\nthere is a plaque with a symbol and a text on it. Those who know about cars\nwill guess immediately. I am not good in this field, so it’s good that I had a\nguide to tell me…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maserati<\/strong>.\nIt’s about the Maserati family. This family comes from here, from Bologna, and\nthey founded the famous car construction company in 1914.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four\nbrothers struggled to find an emblem for their company and couldn’t find one.\nOne of the four, being more of an artist, told the others that he was going out,\nto the city, to look for inspiration. (He wouldn’t have gone to buy some\nbread…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arriving\nin front of the statue of Neptune \u2013 about which I can’t wait to tell you\nsomething very funny \u2013 he saw the light (no, not from the car).<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\ndo you think the brother did? He simply copied Neptune’s trident<\/strong>! And this is how the problem of their logo was\nsolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding\nthe colors chosen for the Maserati logo \u2013 red and blue \u2013 they had no doubts:\nthe two colors were very important to the locals. The Bologna football club,\nfounded in 1909, the pride of all, had the red and blue colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. THE 3 ARROWS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We leave Piazza Santo Stefano. We pass through Corte Isolani<\/strong>, with restaurants, bars, shops and exit on the other side, on Via Maggiore, under the oldest portico in the city (I think it’s also the tallest, as I see it), at Casa Isolani<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isolani\nwas a family from Cyprus, who came to Bologna during the Renaissance period.\nThe husband and wife were far from being a couple that would live happily ever\nafter… The lady liked men a lot, so she cheated on the gentleman (I don’t\nknow the details…).<\/p>\n\n\n\n At\none point, the gentleman got tired of being cheated on, so he hired 3 archers\nto kill his wife when she appeared at the window of the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right,\nso far the plan seemed perfect!<\/p>\n\n\n\n One\nfine day, the archers got into position, the woman appeared in the window, they\neyed the target, she saw them and suddenly realized that her fate was sealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nseems that she was not only a men-loving woman, but also a quick-witted one,\nconsidering that in an instant she found a solution to save herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\ndo you think she did? She quickly took off her dress, leaving her bare skin.\nAnd the 3 archers, taken by surprise, missed the target, their arrows sticking\nin the wooden beams of the portico. And there they have remained, for hundreds\nof years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now\u2026\nIt’s a difficult mission for any tourist to find the 3 arrows, considering that\nthe ceiling is very high!<\/p>\n\n\n\n With\na little bit of attention and with a little help from the guide, you can find\ntwo. But where is she third? Where is it??<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nwere all looking for the arrow of the third archer, until our eyes popped out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, the mystery was solved: there are\nnot 3, but only 2 arrows stuck in the wood. And this is how the story of the\nthird secret of Bologna goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. WHISPERING GALLERY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the central square of the city (Piazza Maggiore), you will see Torre Lambertini, Palazzo del Podest\u00e0 and Palazzo Re Enzo. Don’t ask me where one begins and the other ends, I saw them as a whole…<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nis an arch here that has a special acoustic effect: it allows people in\nopposite corners to whisper to the wall and hear each other. (I also\nexperienced this in New York, in Grand Central Station and it’s really cool!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the case of those from Bologna, I understand that in the Middle Ages\nthis method of communication was extremely useful. When a doctor met with\nsomeone who was sick, they could talk like that without risk. Or when the\nlepers confessed to priests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we,\nthe tourists, just whispered to each other that this is the number 4 secret and\nwe have 3 more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. THE MERIDIAN LINE OF SAN PETRONIO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nBasilica of San Petronio is basically the center of the city. It stands out in\nthe central square of the city, unfinished as it is…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since\nthe year 1300 or so they kept building here. In the 16th century there was a\nbig plan to expand the Basilica. They say the people wanted to build the\nbiggest church in the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n However…\nwhen the Vatican found out that these citizens wanted to beat St. Peter’s\nBasilica in Rome, to make it bigger than that one, they cut off their funds.\nAnd so it remained unfinished and they worked on it in time, when some more money\nwas collected. But admit it, it has a special charm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before\nwe get to secret number 5, you should know that the entrance to the Basilica is\nfree. As in all the churches in Bologna, as they boast, pointing to Florence,\nwhere you have to pay…<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nis always a military guard at the entrance. You don’t see that in other cities.\nWhy this guard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside there is a fresco by Giovanni da Modena, inspired by\nDante’s Inferno, in which Muhammad is eaten by demons in Hell. The painting, extremely offensive to Muslims,\nmade them highly upset, and they even threatened to blow it up and such nasty\nthings. So the church is guarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (What\nseems funny to me is that I found out about this story after I visited San\nPetronio and I never found it open again to see the painting I told you about…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n What,\nhowever, I saw very well, is something that the people of Bologna boast about:\nthe longest indoor meridian line in the world! It is 67 meters long and was\ncreated in 1656.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Protected\nso that not all the people step on it, this meridian represents the “5th\nsecret” of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked\nat the hole in the roof through which the sun enters. Every day, at 12 pm, the\nposition of the sun’s rays was noted on the floor, and this is how this\ncalendar was built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ndidn’t catch the 12 o’clock inside, as I would really have liked to check if\nthe ray falls exactly on the sign we are in J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\nI also liked about the San Petronio Basilica:<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\nhave a Foucault pendulum. I watched it as fascinated as I watched the one in\nthe Pantheon in Paris!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nthe organ \u2013 it is the oldest functional organ in the world! Built in 1470. It\nis not alone, there is another one in the Basilica, which is some 400 years\nold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh,\nand I found out later: you can go up to the church terrace, for a fee, for a\npanoramic view of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nlet’s move on to secret number 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. NEPTUNE’S PENIS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n …here’s why it’s good to come to a city a second time. You learn a lot of things, really hihi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statue of God Neptune is a symbol of the city! You can’t help but\ncome across it on your tourist trips, because it’s right in the center!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sculpture belongs to Giambologna (Jean de Boulogne, born in France,\nalthough I would have bet that he was from Bologna), considered the last\nimportant sculptor of the Italian Renaissance. The Pope of Rome gave him this\nfirst important for him order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They say Mr. Giambologna was obsessed with sex… A proof being the mermaids at Neptune’s feet, who squeeze their boobs to get the water flowing and who, unbelievably, have two tails, precisely because Giambologna wanted to sculpt their private parts too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neptune is represented as a strong, potent man, but… not in all\nplaces, if we look closely at him. Naturally, this was not the intention of the\nsculptor, but, as the statue was in the very heart of the public square, the public\nopinion put pressure on the priests and so the artist was not allowed to sculpt\na very powerful man\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upset that he was not allowed to express his artistic visions,\nGiambologna nevertheless found a smart solution to show what he had in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is an angle from which you see something completely different,\nbasically what the author wanted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The effect is given by the positioning of Neptune’s thumb J))<\/p>\n\n\n\n From here, everything is at a… high level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. THE WINDOW TO LITTLE VENICE FROM BOLOGNA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although\nit has no port to any sea or anything, in the Middle Ages, Bologna was a very\nimportant commercial hub!<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nwas easier to trade by boat than by land, and for this reason, 2 artificial\ncanals were built from nearby rivers, plus many canals and flood gates in the\ncity. The canals facilitated the transport of goods and supplies. And things\nwere going well! That’s why Neptune is so important for the city, which has\nbecome an “aquatic city”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well,\nover time things changed, the canals were no longer of any interest, so some\nwere destroyed, others were simply covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nyou wonder why Bologna is a humid city, well, it is because there are still\nmany abandoned canals under it, through which the Reno river flows. For this\nreason, no means of transportation or anything else can be built underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nwhat do you know, Bologna still has a canal. The only one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not\nfar from the center, somewhere on the way to the train station, you discover\nthe small canal flanked by inhabited houses \u2013 which makes you think of\nVenice… It is called Canale delle\nMoline <\/strong>and has become a magnet for tourists due to a unique element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nbridge that crosses the only canal in Bologna has one of its sides closed. And,\nin the middle of the wall, there is a small window, secured with a bolt. (Now,\nin 2022, I discovered the bolt has padlocks on it. I don’t think it will hold\nmuch under their weight…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was like a child when I first discovered “finestrella”, as the Italians call it. I looked for it with the map in hand, and now I came directly to it, with the guide \u2013 it’s on via Piella, no. 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You go the bridge, open the window in the wall and there it is, the canal appears before your eyes. Well, you can’t sit there dreaming with your eyes open, because, being already a tourist attraction, others are waiting behind you to take their picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/parmigiano.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWALKING IN BOLOGNA<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBOLOGNA\nFREE WALKING TOUR<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
THE 7 SECRETS OF BOLOGNA<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>