44°30N 11°20E, pop (2000e) 411 000. Capital city of Bologna province, Emilia-Romagna, N Italy; 83 km/52 mi N of Florence, at the foot of the Apennines; ancient Etruscan city, enclosed by remains of 13th14th-c walls; archbishopric; airport; rail junction; university (11th-c); pasta, chocolate, sausages, shoes, chemicals, engineering, precision instruments, publishing, furniture; birthplace of Marconi, Pasolini; Church of San Petronio (14th-c), Church of San Domenico (13th-c), Pinacoteca Nazionale; two leaning towers (12th-c), the Asinelli and the Garisenda; music festival (summer).
For the food product, see Bologna sausage.| Comune di Bologna | |
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Municipal coat of arms |
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| Country | Italy |
| Region | Emilia-Romagna |
| Province | Bologna (BO) |
| Mayor | Sergio Cofferati |
| Elevation | 54 m |
| Area | 140 km² |
| Population | |
| - Total (as of December 31, 2004) | 374,425 |
| - Density | 2,643/km² |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | 44°30′N 11°21′E |
| Gentilic | Bolognesi |
| Dialing code | 051 |
| Postal code | 40100 |
| Patron | St. Petronius |
| - Day | October 4 |
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Location of Bologna in Italy |
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| Website: www.comune.bologna.it | |
Bologna (IPA [boˈloɲa], from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Pianura Padana, between the Po River and the Apennines, exactly, between Reno River and Sàvena River.
History
Bologna was founded by the Etruscans with the name Felsina (ca.
In the 4th century BC the city was conquered by the Boii, a Gallic tribe, whence the ancient name Bononia of the Roman colony founded in c.189 BC.
In 88 BC the city became a municipium: it had a rectilinear street plan with six cardi and eight decumani (intersecting streets) which are still discernible today.
After a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under bishop Petronius, who traditionally built the church of S. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a frontier stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain, and was defended by a line of walls which however did not enclose most of the ancient ruined Roman city.
In the 11th century Bologna began to grow again as a free Commune, joining the Lombard League against Frederick Barbarossa in 1164.
In 1256 Bologna promulgated the Legge del Paradiso ("Paradise Law"), which abolished feudal serfdom and freed the slaves using public money. In 1294 Bologna was perhaps the 5th or the 6th city in Europe, after Cordoba, Paris, Venice, Florence, and, probably, Milan, with 60,000 - 70,000 inhabitants.
Like most Italian communes of that age, Bologna was torn by internal struggles, which lead to the expulsion of the Ghibelline family of Lambertazzi in 1274. After being crushed in the Battle of Zappolino by the Modenese in 1325, Bologna began to decay and asked the protection of the Pope at the beginning of the 14th century.
After the happy years of the rule of Taddeo Pepoli (1337-1347), Bologna fell to the Visconti of Milan, but returned to the Papal orbit with Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1360. In the middle of the 15th century the Bentivoglio family gained the rule of Bologna, reigning with Sante (1445-1462) and Giovanni II (1462-1506). This period was a flourishing one for the city, with the presence of notable architects and painters who made Bologna a true city.
During the Renaissance, Bologna was the only Italian city that allowed women to excel in any profession.
Giovanni's reign ended in 1506 when the Papal troops of Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace.
With the rise of Napoleon Bologna became the capital of the Repubblica Cispadana and, later, the second most important centre after Milan of the Repubblica Cisalpina and the Italian Kingdom. After the fall of Napoleon, Bologna suffered the Papal restoration, rebelling in 1831 and again 1849, when it temporarily expelled the Austrian garrisons which commanded the city until 1860.
In the new political situation Bologna gained importance for its cultural role and became an important commercial, industrial and communications hub;
Though damaged during the closing battles of World War II, Bologna soon recovered and is now one of the richest, most civil and well-planned cities of Italy.
On August 2, 1980 a massive bomb killed 86 people in the central train station in the city (see Bologna massacre). (Guardian)
Transport
Bologna is the first railway and motorway hub in Italy; Bologna and its metropolitan area has important industries (mechanics, foods, electronics), has very important retail and wholesale trade (the "Centergross" in the northern metropolitan area, built in 1973, was the biggest in Europe until few years ago), and has the first Italian vegetable and fruit market.
Importance
The importance of Bologna in Italy and in Europe, considered from the points of view of culture, industry, trade, social, political, economy, etc., is much greater than suggested by its demographic data: about 400,000 inhabitants in the city, about 1 million in the metropolitan area, including over 100,000 students of the ancient and renowned University of Bologna, founded in the 11th century.
Main sights
Until the late 19th century, when a large-scale urban reconstruction project was undertaken, Bologna remained one of the best-preserved Medieval cities in Europe, though to this day it remains unique in its historic value. Despite having suffered considerable bombing damage in 1944, Bologna's historic centre, Europe's 2nd largest (after Venice), contains a wealth of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque artistic monuments of primary importance.
Bologna developed as an Etruscan, then Roman colony along the Via Emilia, the street that still runs straight through the city under the changing names of Strada Maggiore, Rizzoli, Ugo Bassi, and San Felice.
Bologna is home to numerous important churches. An incomplete list include:
the basilica of San Petronio, one of the biggest in the World San Pietro Cathedral Santo Stefano basilica and sanctuary San Domenico basilica and sanctuary San Francesco basilica Santa Maria dei Servi basilica San Giacomo Maggiore basilica Beata Vergine di San Luca basilica and sanctuary, on Colle della Guardia San Michele in Bosco San Paolo the Great, basilicaThe cityscape is further enriched by elegant and extensive arcades (or porticos), for which the city is famous. The Portico of San Luca, the longest in the World (3,5 Km, 666 arcades) connects Porta Saragozza (one of the twelve Gates of the ancient Walls built in the Middle-Age which rounded the city on 7,5 Km) with San Luca Sanctuary, on Colle della Guardia, over the city (289 m/o.l.s.).
The Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca is a very notable site, located just outside the main city on the Colle della Guardia (Guard Hill).
Culture
Over the centuries, Bologna has acquired many nicknames: "Bologna the learned one" (Bologna la dotta) is a reference to its famous university;
"Bologna the red one" has also been said to refer to the city's left-leaning politics.
Another nickname for Bologna is Basket City, referring to Bologna's obsession with basketball, unusual in football-dominated Italy.
Football is still a popular sport in Bologna;
The city of Bologna was appointed a UNESCO City of Music on 29 May 2006. According to UNESCO "As the first Italian city to be appointed to the Network, Bologna has demonstrated a rich musical tradition that is continuing to evolve as a vibrant factor of contemporary life and creation.
Transport
Bologna is home to Guglielmo Marconi International Airport, expanded in 2004 by extending the runway to accommodate larger aircraft: it's the 5th-busiest Italian airport for passenger traffic (about 3,6 million/year);
Bologna Central Station is considered the most important train hub in Italy thanks to the city's strategic location.
Demographics
As of 2004, the greater Bologna area had a resident population of 943,983, of which 94.09% were ethnic Italians.
Age profile 00 - 14 (108,422) = 11.48% 15 - 64 (615,488) = 61.59 65+ (220,113) = 23.31%Cuisine
Bologna is renowned for its culinary tradition and it is regarded by some as the food capital of Italy.
Tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini served in broth and mortadella (the original Bologna sausage) are among the local specialties.
University
The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the oldest existing university in Europe, and was an important centre of European intellectual life during the Middle Ages, attracting scholars from throughout Christendom.
In the Napoleonic era, the headquarters of the university were moved to their present location on Via Zamboni (formerly Via San Donato), in the north-eastern sector of the city centre. The University of Bologna remains one of the most respected and dynamic post-secondary educational institutions in Italy. To this day, Bologna is still very much a university town, and the city's population swells from 400,000 to over 500,000 whenever classes are in session.
Nowadays, the University of Bologna controls 23 faculties: Agricultural sciences;
Famous natives of Bologna and environs
Pupi Avati (director, born 1938) Adriano Banchieri (composer, 1568 – 1634) Laura Bassi (scientist, first female appointed to university chair in Europe, 1711 – 1788) Ugo Bassi (Italian nationalist hero, executed for role in 1848 uprisings, 1800 - 1849) Stefano Benni (writer, born 1947) Benedict XIV (Prospero Lambertini, Pope 1740-58) Giovanni II Bentivoglio (1443-1508) Annibale Carracci (painter, 1560 – 1609) Lodovico Carracci (painter, 1555 – 1619) Agostino Carracci (painter, 1557 – 1602) Pierluigi Collina (football referee, born 1960) Scipione del Ferro (mathematician, solved the cubic equation, 1465 – 1526) Lucio Dalla (singer-songwriter, born 1943) Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, painter, 1581 - 1641) Gianfranco Fini (politician, born 1952) Luigi Galvani (scientist, discoverer of bioelectricity, 1737 – 1798) Serena Grandi (actress, born 1958) Gregory XIII (Ugo Boncompagni, Pope 1572-85, instituted Gregorian Calendar) Gregory XV (Alessandro Ludovisi, Pope 1621-3) Il Guercino (Giovanni Barbieri, painter, 1591 - 1666) Irnerius (jurist, c.1050 - at least 1125) Lucius II (Gherardo Caccianemici dell'Orso, Pope 1144-5) Guglielmo Marconi (engineer, pioneer of wireless telegraphy, Nobel prize for Physics, 1874 - 1937) Giuseppe Mezzofanti (cardinal and linguist, 1774 - 1839) Marco Minghetti (economist and statesman, 1818 - 1886) Giorgio Morandi (painter, 1890 - 1964) Gianni Morandi (singer, born 1944) Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer, poet, director, 1922 - 1975) Romano Prodi (Italian prime minister and academic, born 1939) Roberto Regazzi (luthier, born 1956) Guido Reni (painter, 1575 - 1642) Ottorino Respighi (composer, 1879 - 1936) Augusto Righi (physicist, authority on electromagnetism, 1850 - 1920) Alberto Tomba (skier, born 1966) Ondina Valla (first Italian woman Olympic gold medalist, 1916 - 2006) Mariele Ventre (teacher and educator, founder of Piccolo Coro dell' Antoniano choir, 1939 - 1995) Christian Vieri (footballer, born 1973) Alex Zanardi (race car driver, born 1966)In addition to the above natives, the following became associated with Bologna by long-term residence:
Giosuè Carducci (poet and academic, Nobel Prize for Literature, born near Lucca, Tuscany, 1835 - 1907) Umberto Eco (writer and academic, born at Alessandria, Piedmont, 1932) Giovanni Pascoli (poet and academic, born at San Mauro di Romagna, 1855 - 1912) St. Petronius (San Petronio, bishop of Bologna and patron saint of the city, birthplace unknown, died c.
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