Bologna

Bologna is located on the Padan Plain, at the southeastern foot of the Northern Apennines between the valleys of the Reno and Savena rivers. The area of ​​the city is 140 km². Height varies from 54 to 300 m above sea level.

The climate of Bologna is close to subtropical humid , has quite a lot in common with the climate of Sochi . It differs from the dominant south of the typical Mediterranean climate by the uniformity of precipitation throughout the year. Winters in Bologna are mild, sometimes snow falls, but rarely falls. However, severe frosts are possible in some years. Summer is usually hot and stuffy, and autumn is very rainy.

Antiquity

Bologna was founded by the Etruscans around 510 BC. er Initially, the city was called Felsina (the likely Etruscan name is Welsna ) and developed around the sanctuary on the hill and the nearby necropolis. In the IV century BC. e. the city was captured by the Celtic tribe of battles, receiving the name (from the name of the tribe) Bonnonia. In 189 BC er Bologna became a Roman colony and was decorated with many monuments, none of which have been completely preserved to this day. In the heyday of the Roman Empire , about 10,000 people lived in Bologna, it was one of the richest cities in Italy.

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages in Bologna, there was some recovery already in the V century under the Bishop of Petronia , in particular, the church of St. Stephen was built. In the VI century, Bologna became part of the Ravenna Greek exarchate , and then, in 728 , surrendered to the rule of the Lombard king Luitrand. Charlemagne granted Bologna the rights of a free city, whose coat of arms now contains the word "freedom" (libertas).

In the XI century, Bologna, which received the status of a free commune, began to grow. In 1088 , the first university in Europe, Studio, was founded. In 1256 , the "law of paradise" ( Legge del Paradiso ) was passed in Bologna, abolishing serfdom .

In 1164 , Bologna became part of the Lombard League , which opposed Frederick Barbarossa . In disputes between the old Italian cities, Bologna has always been distinguished by its zealous devotion to the papal throne; she fought fiercely with the gibellins. Enzo , beloved son of Frederick II , was held captive here for 22 years, until his death. The nobility in Bologna did not carry out public service; it preferred the democratic order of the cities of Tuscany over the aristocratic regime of the cities of Lombard.

In the 15th century, Catherine of Bologna founded the Clarissinos Monastery of Corpus Domini in Bologna. Throughout the 15th century, a struggle for power took place in Bologna between two powerful surnames, Bentivoglio and Ceneduli. In 1512, Julius II took possession of Bologna and annexed it again to Roman possessions. On the occasion of the concordat of 1516, a meeting took place in it between Leo X and Francis I , and Charles V was solemnly crowned here in 1530 by Pope Clement VII , after he had distributed various provinces of Italy to his allies.

In the 17th century, Bologna was the intellectual center of Europe; young people from all countries came to study mathematics, astronomy, and other sciences ( N. Copernicus studied at the University of Bologna ). The peculiarity of the university was that the teaching staff was appointed by the student corporation, which had the right to dismiss an objectionable speaker.

New time

In 1796 , Bologna was occupied by the French and first became part of the Cisalpine Republic , and then became the capital of the Renault department of the newly formed Italian kingdom . Returned in 1815 to the papal throne , it served as a hotbed of the revolutionary struggle against Gregory XVI . It proclaimed an interim government and constitution. But the Austrians occupied the city, expelled the rebels and closed the university (1831-1832). Another revolutionary movement, which found support in Pius IX , broke out in 1846; the patriots were once again defeated after a three-year struggle (1849). Bologna again became the capital of one of the four papal possessions. In 1860 , she, together with all of Romagna, joined the Kingdom of Italy .

By the beginning of the 20th century, Bologna still retained the color of the medieval city: it is surrounded by a brick wall that has 6 km perimeter, with 12 gates, the city streets are mostly cramped and curved, along with many of them are porticoes and arcades, numerous monuments located inside the city walls Antiquities - churches, palaces and palazzos - almost all belong to the XIII and XIV centuries with their inevitable towers, battlements, etc., all this is painted in gray or reddish color, covered with cracks and crevices.

The growing importance of Bologna as a major railway hub of the Italian kingdom in 1881 prompted the municipality to draw up a plan for the development and expansion of the city, and the same idea of ​​the development of the city as that of the Ottomanization of Paris was taken as the basis. The city walls were partially destroyed in 1903-1906, new wide streets were cut - Independence Street (via Indipendenza, completed in 1890), modern streets of Farini and Garibaldi.

For a long time, the center of the city has been adjacent and angled squares to each other. On one of them - Piazza Nettuno ( Italian: Piazza Nettuno ) - Neptune Square, from the XVI century there has been a Neptune fountain by the sculptor Giamboloni . Another square - Piazza Maggiore - is simply called Big Square.

On the east side of Neptune Square are:

• Palazzo di Re Enzo - built in the Gothic style. The palace is famous for the fact that from 1249 until his death in 1272 the king of Sardinia and the son of Emperor Frederick the Second Enzio ( ital. Enzio )
• Palazzo del Podestà, adjacent to the Enzio Palace, built in 1201 and extensively remodeled in the Renaissance style between 1472 and 1484 by the Bentivoglio family. The building is equipped with a donjon Torre delľArengo.

Further, already on the Big Square are located in the east:

• Palazzo dei Notai , erected for the Notaries Society between 1384 and 1422 by the design of Antonio di Vincenzo ,

On the north side -

• Palazzo dei Banchi, built in 1412 for the needs of city banks and rebuilt in 1568 according to the design of Vignola with a characteristic portico.

The unfinished facade of the Basilica of San Petronio overlooks the square. This basilica dedicated to St. Petronia, begun in 1390, was to become one of the greatest churches ever known, having a length of 208 meters and 142 meters across, but its construction was interrupted in 1759. The external bas-reliefs by Jacopo della Querca , depicting the history of the creation of the world, attract general attention. In 1530, the coronation of Charles V took place in this basilica.

Finally, on the western side, common to both areas, is a grandiose building

• palazzo Comunale (municipality), which includes the palazzo D'Accursio, built in 1290 and reconstructed after the fire (1425) by architect Foravante . The building and now looking like a huge and harsh fortification,

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  Palazzo Re Enzo

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  Palazzo Podesta

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  Palazzo Communal

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  Neptune Fountain

Nearby is the Cathedral of St. Petra ( Italian: Cattedrale di San Pietro (Bologna) ), built in the rococo style. Also from city churches are artistically interesting:

• San Domenico ( Basilica di San Domenico (Bologna) ), which houses the tomb of this saint, who died in Bologna in 1221, famous for its sculptural decorations by Niccolo Pisano , Niccolò dell'Arca and Michelangelo ,

• San Giacomo Maggiore with frescoes by Lorenzo Costa , Francesco Francha and Amiko Aspertini .

• Santo Stefano , a complex of four churches built on the site of the ancient temple of Isis in the 5th century

The complex is located on the square of the same name. Entrance to the complex is through Chiesa del Crozifisso, originally built in the Romanesque style, but rebuilt in 1837. The central building of the complex is the octagonal (XII century) Chiesa del San Sepolcro, in which is located the grave of St. Petronia. Next, after passing through the courtyard and the procession, follows Chiesa dell Trinita (XIII century) and, finally, the Romanesque Chiesa deiSanti Vitale e Agricola, the oldest building on the square (between the VIII and XI centuries, but with a facade of 1885).

Walking north of the complex along the street of the same name, you can get to a small square where the Mercansi Palace is located.

The vertical dominants of the city, located here, are two of the famous “falling” towers of simple brick. The taller tower (97 m), which continues to bend even now, is the Azinelli Tower , from the top of which you can see the Evganey mountains located north of the Po River . The Garisenda Tower reaches half the height of its neighbor and is tilted even more.

The famous Bologna University , which has changed its premises several times during its existence, is now placed in the Palazzo Chellesi. The Bologna Academy of Fine Arts has one of the best collections of art objects and in particular a gallery of paintings by all Italian masters. Special attention of connoisseurs is attracted by the "Holy Cecilia" by Raphael. The Academy is rich mainly in canvases by the old masters who headed the Bologna school of painting : Francha , Carracci , Guido Reni , Domenichino and Gverchino .

Outside the city, on a small hill, is a convent with the Madonna of St. Bows , where pilgrims flock. The church of the XVIII century, consisting of 666 arches and 15 hours, symbolizing a snake, leads to the church, stretching for 3.5 km.

In the vicinity of Bologna there is a monastery and a monumental cemetery , one of the most beautiful.

Bologna has the Guglielmo Marconi Airport , named after Marconi . The airport was reconstructed in 2004: the runway was increased so that the airport could accept large-sized aircraft .

Also in Bologna is the station , which is considered the largest and most important transportation hub in Italy due to its strategic location. There are 33 tracks at the station, and it ranks first in Italy in terms of size and volume of traffic. In the memory of Italians, the station is inextricably linked with the terrorist attack in August 1980 , which claimed 85 lives, more than 200 people were injured. In this regard, in one of the waiting rooms of the old station, the wall clock always shows the same time - the time at which the attack took place.

A new railway station building has now been built, and the railway lines have been expanded over the past few years. In particular, high-speed trains Frecciarossa - Red Arrow depart from tracks 16-19.

In Bologna, there is one of the leading Italian opera houses, Teatro Comunale di Bologna . Rossini (12 premieres), Bellini (7 premieres) and others put on his stage his works. The orchestra of the opera was conducted by Arturo Toscanini in 1894, and the Italian premiere of Wagner's Lohengrin was held here. The city has the National Pinakothek , the Museum of Modern Art, the University of Bologna and the Bologna Academy of Sciences .

The First European Printed Edition of Geography by Claudius Ptolemy

In 1477, in Bologna, with the circulation of 500 copies, the famous treatise of Claudius Ptolemy “ Geography ” was first printed , which was later reprinted several times and had a tremendous impact on the development of geographical representations of Europeans ^[6] .

In addition to standard Italian, in Bologna there is a widespread, Bologna dialect , very different from it and related to the Emiliano-Romagnole dialect .

Bologna is an Italian football club founded in 1909. Sixth in the list of the most titled clubs in Italy. Performs in Serie A at the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium with a capacity of 39,444 spectators.

Bologna is called the culinary capital of Italy ^[7] . Bologna is the birthplace of not only the Bolognese sauce, but also tortellini , and sugo bolognese, salsichcha and mortadella sausages. According to legend, egg dough tagliatelle was invented in Bologna, especially for the wedding of Lucretia Borgia and Alfons d'Este .

In honor of Bologna, the asteroid (361) Bononia , discovered in 1893, is named.

• Ettore Bastico (1876-1972) - Italian military and statesman. Marshal of Italy.
• Donato Créti ( 1671 - 1749 ), an outstanding Italian painter. ^[ten]
• Giovanni Battista Piantanida (October 1705–28, 1773, Bologna) is an Italian virtuoso violinist and composer who composed virtuoso compositions for violin.

• University of Bologna
• The Bologna Process
• Fabric "Bologna"
• Conad

• Bologna, city // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• comune.bologna.it (ital.) - the official site of Bologna