Sights

Le Due Torri
Head first to the monument that's a symbol of the city, the Due Torri (Two Towers, referred to in Dante's Inferno) and climb the Torre degli Asinelli's almost 500 steps for a great view of the town's signature rose-red rooftops. Much like the Tower of Pisa, these towers both lean -- 7.5 ft/2.3 m for the Torre degli Asinelli, nearly 10 ft/3 m for the Torre Garisenda (not open to the public).

Basilica di San Petronio
Named after the city's patron saint, this vast basilica is Bologna's largest church, but was intended to be even larger. Building started in 1392 to a plan which would have made the basilica bigger than St Peter's in Rome, but the Vatican forbade this overweening attempt to build something bigger than the Pope's home church.

Basilica di Santo Stefano
Southeast along the elegant Via Santo Stefano is the triangular piazza before the Basilica di Santo Stefano. This basilica consists of catacombs, crypts and four beautiful churches: the main basilica, with an altar with an angel carved by Michelangelo, the fifth century Santi Vitale e Agricola, the octagonal Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro (Church of the Holy Sepulchre) and the Romanesque Chiesa del Crocefisso (Church of the Crucifixion).

Fontana del Nettuno
The wide street connecting Piazza Maggiore with Piazza del Nettuno is graced by an enormous fountain, the Fontana del Nettuno. A massive figure of Neptune stands on top of the fountain, trident in hand. Neptune is attended by four angels, symbolising the four winds, and four sirens - gleefully watching water spouting from their own breasts - representing the four continents known to the Renaissance world.

Piazza Maggiore
At the centre of the oldest part of Bologna, the broad open spaces of the Piazza Maggiore is surrounded by some of the city's most impressive medieval and Renaissance buildings and monuments. But this huge pedestrian square, like the adjoining Piazza del Nettuno, is not a rarefied, contemplative place; in the midst of all the splendour you'll see hundreds of busy Bolognesi carrying on with their everyday business, meeting in cafes, and crowding around the many musicians and street performers.

University Quarter
After all the high art it might be time for a couple of drinks in the bars and cafes of the University Quarter. This thriving little district is northeast of the two towers, down the Via Zamboni. A proviso though: this being Italy you're never very far from a church or a gallery, and before you can't stand up properly you should go and look at the extraordinary Oratorio di Santa Cecilia, dubbed the 'Sistine Chapel of Bologna' for its ceiling frescoes depicting the life of St Cecilia. Also head for the nearby Pinacoteca Nazionale (National Picture Gallery) which focuses on Bolognese artists.

Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Luca
Erected in the Baroque style by Carlo Francesco Dotti in 1741, the long portico leading to the majestic Santuario is made up of 666 arches which run for 3,500 metres from Porta Saragozza to the sanctuary on Colle della Guardia. Built in honour of an image of the Madonna, the edifice is beautiful, both for its architecture and its exclusive view. Each May the citizens of Bologna carry the figure of the Madonna around the city in procession. People travel from all over the world to take part—it is said that doing so is of great spiritual benefit.

Opera House
Bologna TEATRO COMUNALE
Largo Respighi 1 - 40126 Bologna
Tel. 39 051 529011 or 529999
Fax 39 051 529934
email: boxoffice@comunalebologna.it