Audio guides to discover Bologna: food, culture, art and history

The house of Guglielmo Marconi, the place where the Nobel Prize winner for physics carried out his first experiments with radio waves.

The Valverde Conservancy is a water collection and decanting system, desired within the great renewal project of Bologna promoted by Pope Pius IV.

A very significant church for Christianity and above all for one of the most important religious orders of the Catholic church, the order of friars preachers, known by all as the Dominican order.

The Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, or more simply the Archiginnasio, is one of the most characteristic buildings of ancient Bologna.

A refined example of Gothic architecture in Bologna, the basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi was built in the 14th century and subsequently modified and decorated several times over the centuries.

The sections of the art gallery range from the thirteenth century to the eighteenth century and host works of great importance, such as paintings by Giusto de' Menabuoi, Giotto, Raphael, Vasari and Annibale Carracci.

The basilica was built in the 13th century, but has no specific builder. It is likely that it was the work of the entire Franciscan community, which was also establishing itself in Bologna in those years.

Probably built between the 10th and 11th centuries, initially in Romanesque style and with the typical tripartite façade, it had a 40 meter bell tower.

In addition to the two most famous towers, there are others in Bologna, as many as 24, scattered throughout the city and with variable heights. This is all that remains of a phenomenon, still rather studied, which characterized Bologna between the 12th and 13th centuries, when there were around 300 towers.

The new church was built between 1454 and 1502, with the characteristic three naves, while a new oratory was built above.

The Basilica of San Petronio is immediately striking for its size. It is in fact the fifth largest church in Italy and one of the largest in Europe. It is dedicated to the patron saint of the city and has very ancient origins, having been built starting from 1390.

Piazza Maggiore, 115 meters long and 60 meters wide, was commissioned by the Municipality as early as 1200, with a very specific function: to bring together the various city activities, especially commerce, and to establish a main point that testified to the importance of the municipal institution .

The large marble basin has a large plinth in the center, on which rests the pedestal with the majestic figure of Neptune on it, over three meters high alone and the work of the Flemish sculptor Giambologna.

The building, only three years after its construction, became the forced home for life of King Enzo of Sardinia, son of Emperor Frederick II of Swabia, who had been taken prisoner following Bologna's victory in the Battle of Fossalta.

The palace today appears as a large complex, with the façade on Piazza Maggiore particularly rich in decorations. On the western side stands the clock tower, or Torre Accursi, built in the mid-13th century, which is part of the original nucleus of the palace.

A modern and equipped space within one of the most characteristic places of nineteenth-century Bologna. The Salaborsa library obviously takes its name from the Sala Borsa, which houses it, and was inaugurated in 2001.

The actual sanctuary stands at the top of the Guardia hill, 280 meters above sea level, and boasts an almost mythical origin. The famous portico was built between 1674 and 1721, to protect the numerous pilgrims who went to the sanctuary from rain and bad weather, and in 2021 it was included, together with all the porticoes of Bologna, in the list of heritage UNESCO World Heritage Site.