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Bologna's streets are lined with characteristic porticoes to such an extent, the landscape seems defined by this architectural flourish.

BOLOGNA: 70 KM OF PORTICOES & A STUDIED RESISTANCE
EUROPE'S 1ST UNIVERSITY & A SPIRIT OF PERSEVERANCE SHAPE A RICHNESS OF EXPERIENCE
Updated 28 April 2006

Less well-known than nearby Tuscany with its myriad of famous hillscapes and medieval towns, the region of Emilia Romagna to the east boasts its great and complicated capital: Bologna.  A town known for hearty cuisine and a leftist politics, Bologna is full of things to see and do apart from eating.  It is an under-toured historical city, ripe for rich days of discovery.

Bologna’s maze of porticoes is so extensive, it could easily be imagined shielding many a Bolognese from getting wet on the way to mass in one of the many churches dotting the landscape. A visitor quickly develops the impression that every corner of the town is laced with porticoes, splashed with the Italian sun that pours over them, giving Bologna a unique visual character.

In fact, there is no town with more covered walkways in the world it seems, for they are indeed everywhere.  The oldest date to the 12th century.  Altogether, the portichi spread across the city with an astonishing 70 km of arched walkways. Still one of Italy’s best-kept secrets, Bologna has much to offer at a relatively low tourist rate, even during the high season.

The city center is ideal for walking and exploring hidden histories as you go.  Surrounding the Piazza Maggiore and the Piazza del Nettuno, and radiating eastward from its center, the city’s historical and cultural delights abound.  Along old cobbledstreets, many closed to all but the ruckus of foot traffic, you will find most of the city’s best preserved medieval treasures.

Inside this antique city you will find architectural gems like Bologna’s two towers, which at least one writer has labeled the ‘Laurel and Hardy’ of medieval architecture.  These towers, like their famous neighbor in Pisa, do indeed lean, and they lean toward one another, so much in fact that in 1360 one of them was chopped in half to save any unlucky passersby from a shower of falling stone!  Built originally as watchtowers, locals and tourists alike can scale the 500 plus steps to the top for a marvelous view. 

If it’s a church you’re after, you are in luck to find a grand example in Bologna.  The city’s Basilica di San Petronio is one of Italy’s largest.  Its original scale called for one much larger, but plans were curtailed by papal fears of it overshadowing that of St. Peter’s in Rome.  The Vatican’s criticism of the great Duomo’s facade in Florence may have spurred the Bolognesi to forfeit finishing the façade of San Petronio.  It has never been finished, leaving a rough, utilitarian character.  The reason for this is debatable, but similar churches mimic this sense of frugality or fatigued aspirations of the Basilica. Whatever the cause, it seems fitting for a city characterized by its practicality and independence. [Full Story]