Bologna
Motorways, Railways and Airport
Bologna's geographical position makes it a natural crossroads for Italy's main motorways (A1, A13, A14) and the most important national railway hub, ensuring swift easy access to all parts of Italy and the rest of Europe.
Bologna's "G. Marconi" Airport has daily connections with major cities in Italy and abroad. Recent extended and refurbished, the airport is only 7 kilometres from the centre of town, just 15 minutes away by car. Daily domestic, international and intercontinental flights link Bologna to major cities in Italy, Europe and the rest of the world.
About Bologna
Bologna is a city of art, tradition, museums, villas, palazzi , squares, churches, abbeys, fortified buildings and towers. It is a city famed for its learning, the home of the world's oldest university, Alma Mater Studiorum. It is a city of porticos with some 40 kilometres of covered walkways. Bologna is a city with an ancient history. Its old town centre, classified by Unesco as the largest in the world, conserves vestiges of the old Roman town, still visible under Bologna busiest thoroughfares, as well as the remains of the earliest circle of the medieval walls. Everywhere there are vaults, arches and corbels dating from the 12 th through to the 19 th centuries. It is a city of towers, at one stage boasting some 300 in number. Although most were dismantled at the beginning of the 20 th century, towers are still a distinctive feature of Bologna's historic centre. Bologna is also a powerhouse of the Italian economy, boasting famous names like Ducati, Minarelli, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Italjet, Malaguti, Morini and VM. This is the area that generated the clusters of small and medium-size enterprises today studied and copied throughout the world. And the entrepreneurial spirit can be seen and felt in the bustling streets, thronging with people, the elegant, almost opulent array of stores, fashions and businesses that have given the world names like Borbonese, Magli, Le Copains and La Perla. Bologna is a city of gastronomic excellence, the queen of cuisine and home of hand-rolled pasta made with eggs, the famous tortellini, tortelloni, lasagne and tagliatelle (these latter invented in 1487 for the wedding feast of Lucrezia Borgia and the Duke of Ferrara). Equally famous are the Bolognese meat sauce, or ragù , mortadella and the typical Bolognese cutlet. Bologna is a business hub too, with one of Europe's major trade fair facilities boasting an extremely rational layout of spaces and services. Strategically located just 2.5 km from the old town centre, 4 km from the airport and 2 km from the railway station, the Bologna trade fair is easily reached by car and has ample parking facilities. Bologna is at a crossroads for the rest of Europe. Located in the heart of the Emilia-Romagna Region, the city is a natural meeting point of north and south, east and west, just two and a half hours by train from Rome and an hour and a half from Milan. It is a major node of northern Italy's motorway network with seamless links to the wider European motorway system. Recently extended, Bologna's international airport provides direct daily links with Europe's main cities and the rest of the world.
The City
Capital of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Bologna has a history that goes back thousands of years. Today its very special urban fabric, priceless architecture and artistic heritage make it a warm, welcoming town steeped in the past. Medieval palazzi flank churches containing priceless art treasures, testifying to the cultural and economic importance of Bologna down through the ages. Walking under the porticos that meander through the old town for almost 40 kilometres, the visitor can revel in the vitality of this bustling town, the delicious smells from market stalls, the international reach of the cultural events on offer and the elegance of its exclusive boutiques.
Bologna is home to the world's oldest university, founded in 1088, and since then a major international focus for students and scholars alike. The urban fabric of the old town centre is clearly medieval. While the city walls are no longer in place, 9 of the 12 city gates have been entirely preserved. The main square, Piazza Maggiore , is enclosed by the impressive palaces of the Podestà, Notai and Re Enzo , the Town Hall , the Basilica of San Petronio and the portico designed by Renaissance architect Vignola. Bologna is known as the "Learned, the Towered and the Fat", a fitting epithet for a town whose porticos and two central towers (Asinelli and Garisenda) lend it the timeless fascination of a city redolent with history and art. Her palazzi can tell stories that go back centuries; her gothic churches, museums and art treasures testify to longstanding prosperity; her fine cuisine, renowned throughout the world, expresses her natural exuberance while her theatres and modern events facilities testify to Bologna's youthful verve and dynamism. Close to the magnificent Piazza Maggiore , in the heart of the old town where numerous craft workshops stand alongside elegant patrician homes, is the historic Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio , the first seat of the University and today the public library. The building still houses the famous hall, Stabat Mater, and the Anatomy Theatre, a masterpiece of refined wood work and carvings.
Bologna in the World
Bologna is world famous. Even its nicknames have become well known symbols. Bologna "the Learned" ( la dotta ) refers to its famous University, "Alma Mater Studiorum", the first in the world. Today the University has another splendid building to its name: the former church of Santa Lucia, now the main auditorium. Bologna is a city that down through the ages has always respected the pragmatic, free spirit that fired the first scholars of the "Studio". The town welcomed students from all over Europe, playing the difficult role of mater nobelium studiorum, the mother of noble studies, and providing a social context where absolute freedom was enjoyed. The original school of law was soon joined by the schools of medicine, then philosophy, arithmetic, logic, rhetoric and grammar. Bologna played host to the greatest names in European culture: the poets Dante and Petrarch, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Copernicus, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Paracelsus and Torquato Tasso. Bologna is "the Learned" also on account of its musical traditions. Padre Martini, Mozart, Wagner and many others helped make the city a major focus on the world music scene. Bologna " la dotta" was also the birthplace of people like Giorgio Mordani, Galvani, Righi and Guglielmo Marconi. It was here that Galvani made his discoveries in electricity and where Marconi carried out his daring communications experiments. Bologna is also known as the "Red" ( la rossa ) on account of the unmistakable colour of its terracotta buildings that gives the city an almost unreal dimension in the warm sunlight as if to highlight the city's splendid history and its artistic and cultural heritage. Bologna is also "the Fat" ( la grassa ) since it was here in the 13 th century that the tortellino, the small circular, meat-filled noodle, was first invented, taking inspiration - the story goes - from the navel of Venus. In no time, Bologna became the standard bearer of typical Emilia fare, famous the world over for its extraordinary culinary excellence.
