Medieval Bologna: Piazza Maggiore, the Two Towers and the Seven Churches
Santo Stefano, the Two Towers, Niccolò dell'Arca's Lamentation in the Quadrilatero, the Neptune, San Petronio with its sundial and the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio.
Bologna's centre on foot, beneath the UNESCO World Heritage porticoes: the towers of medieval families, the basilica that was meant to surpass St Peter's, the oldest university in the Western world and the shops of the Quadrilatero, the market behind Piazza Maggiore.
When to goAll year round (Santo Stefano closed to visitors on Mondays)
The plan from Ravenna
Leave Ravenna for Bologna historic centre1 h 05 driving, 77 km
Bologna historic centre3 h 05 of visits: Santo Stefano complex, the Seven Churches, The Two Towers, Asinelli and Garisenda, Santa Maria della Vita and the Quadrilatero, Piazza Maggiore, the Neptune and the Voltone, Basilica of San Petronio, Archiginnasio and Anatomical Theatre
Drive back to Ravenna1 h 15 driving, 86 km
Back in Ravenna
Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.
What you will see
1Bologna historic centre
Santo Stefano complex, the Seven Churches 30 min
The Bolognese call it the Seven Churches, though today there are four buildings, linked by courtyards and cloisters. According to tradition it was Bishop Petronius, in the 5th century, who wanted a copy of the holy places of Jerusalem here: at the centre of the Santo Sepolcro, octagonal in plan, stands the aedicule reproducing Christ's tomb. Behind it, the Courtyard of Pilate with the stone basin donated by the Lombard kings and the Romanesque cloister with two storeys of loggias.
Visits suspended on Mondays; during Mass visits may be restricted. Free entry with donation.
The Two Towers, Asinelli and Garisenda 10 min
In the Middle Ages Bologna had up to a hundred towers, symbols of power for wealthy families; today about twenty remain. The Asinelli is 97 metres high, has 498 steps and is the tallest leaning tower in Italy. The Garisenda, 48 metres, leans much more: it was cut down as early as the 14th century because the ground was giving way, and Dante uses it in the Inferno to describe the giant Antaeus bending down.
View from outside: climbing the Asinelli is closed due to work on the Garisenda. For the view from above there's the Clock Tower in Piazza Maggiore, by booking.
Santa Maria della Vita and the Quadrilatero 30 min
Among the shops of Via Clavature and Via Pescherie Vecchie, the medieval market behind Piazza Maggiore, a Baroque church houses the Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Niccolò dell'Arca: seven life-size terracotta figures weeping and crying out around Christ's body. D'Annunzio called it a scream of stone. On your way out, the fruit, cured meat and tortellini stalls of the Quadrilatero.
Lamentation charged, open daily.
Piazza Maggiore, the Neptune and the Voltone 20 min
The city's drawing room, created in the 13th century, with the Palazzo d'Accursio, seat of the town hall, and the Palazzo del Podestà. Beside it the Neptune fountain, Giambologna's bronze Giant completed in 1566. Under the Voltone del Podestà there's the whispering gallery: someone speaking quietly towards the wall in one corner can be heard perfectly in the opposite corner.
Always open, free.
Basilica of San Petronio 30 min
The town council commissioned it in 1390, not the bishop, and it has remained with its façade unfinished, marble below and brick above. The central portal is by Jacopo della Quercia. Inside, the Cappella Bolognini with Giovanni da Modena's great Inferno, the organ from around 1470, the oldest in the world still in use, and on the floor Cassini's sundial, almost 67 metres long: at true noon a ray of sunlight falls on the brass line.
Free entry daily; the Cappella Bolognini is charged. Shoulders and knees covered.
Archiginnasio and Anatomical Theatre 30 min
From 1563 to 1803 the seat of the University of Bologna: the courtyard and staircases are covered with thousands of coats of arms of masters and students. On the first floor the Anatomical Theatre of 1637, all in fir wood, where students attended lessons at the marble table; the lectern is supported by the Spellati, two statues of flayed men. Destroyed by bombs in 1944, it was rebuilt using the original pieces.
Courtyard free, closed Sundays. Anatomical Theatre by booking only, one entry every ten minutes: book ahead and build your route around the time.
Tips
You can also do the route in reverse starting from Piazza Maggiore; keep the Anatomical Theatre at your booked time.
In winter and when it rains this is the perfect route: you walk almost entirely under the porticoes.
The same trip from other towns
How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.
Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town
This trip with a driver
Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.
Trips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.
