Historical center
Bologna, its porticoes, towers, and bustling city center.
Bologna is a city with a rich cultural life and with an historical center of great prestige that is extremely well preserved and is the heart of all activities, with a super nightlife.
From the Amadeus Hotel, you can easily reach the historical center in a few minutes by bus, taxi, or rental car at special prices, so that you can discover all the charm this city has to offer.
If you want to discover the center’s most picturesque corners and its most important symbols, you should walk through the streets and under its characteristic porticoes, covered archways under the buildings, which join streets, towers, and buildings and that, only in the center of the city, reach a length of about 38 kilometers.
If your passion is art and culture, you can visit the 7 churches and the medieval buildings of Piazza Santo Stefano, characterized by pebbled streets, or venture up to one of the many towers, such as the well-known Asinelli tower, and be mesmerized by a magnificent view over the red rooftops of the city.
At the heart of the city you’ll find the vast Piazza Maggiore, which is home to the Basilica of St. Petronius. Notwithstanding its sober and incomplete façade, inside it will unveil a play of color on its paint and glass windows. Adjacent you will see the famous Fountain of Neptune, with the statue of the god of the sea, one of the symbols of the city.
Then, you can take a seat in one of the fantastic restaurants under the city’s famous porticoes, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A characteristic feature of Bologna is its towers, which offer a wonderful view of the city and the surrounding hills. Among the most important are the Garisenda Tower and the Asinelli Tower, which were part of a group of a hundred medieval towers, but only twenty remain today. Definitely worth visiting are the Accursi Tower (or Clock Tower), overlooking Piazza Maggiore and the Azzoguidi Tower, which is part of the so-called ‘triad of medieval skyscrapers’ of Bologna, along with the Prendiparte Tower and the Galluzzi Tower.
Among the historical buildings, three are situated in Piazza Maggiore: the Palazzo del Podesta, built around 1200, which was the first seat of City Government, the Palazzo Re Enzo and, finally, Palazzo Comunale or d’Accursio, which was the residence of the Elders, the highest judiciary body of the City Government, today, the seat of the Municipality of Bologna.
Lastly, a couple of other places to visit are the Pinacoteca Nazionale, the National Art Gallery, with works by artists such as Giotto, Raphael, and Carracci, and also the Archiginnasio of Bologna, seat of the University.
> Lastly, a couple of other places to visit are the Pinacoteca Nazionale, the National Art Gallery, with works by artists such as Giotto, Raphael, and Carracci, and also the Archiginnasio of Bologna, seat of the University.