Piazza Maggiore, Bologna

4 more images

The Palazzo del Podestà was built around 1200 as the headquarters/offices for Bologna’s podestà, the chief administrator of an Italian city-state. It was at Bologna that the first documented usage of the word podestà can be found in 1151. Guido di Ranieri di Sasso of Canossa was brought from Faenza to Bologna to be rettore e podestà.

This palazzo faces the Basilica di San Petronio on Piazza Maggiore; and it is across from Palazzo Communale. The functions of government quickly outgrew the space in Palazzo del Podestà. In 1245 Palatium Novum (New Palace) was added; today this building is known as Palazzo Re Enzo. Torre dell’Arengo, whose bell once called the citizens during emergencies, looms over both buildings.

The double open arcade, called Voltone del Podestà, of Palazzo del Podestà is made up of two lanes of shops on the ground floor. The large Hall of Podestà was used as a public theatre between the 16th and the 18th centuries, and then for handball games.

2 more images

“Carving is easy, you just go down to the skin and stop.”
— Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Two marble eagles sit beneath a window of Palazzo Comunale; the left-hand bird was carved by Michelangelo.

2 more images

“Once or twice wandering about Bologna while my friends were at the Congress of Philosophers, I caught a glimpse . . . (or was it rather one of those sounds whose hearing is partly one of expectation?)—I caught, shall we say, the ghost of a mood; almost an emotion of forty years ago.”
— “Dark, Many-Towered Bologna” 1922 by Vernon Lee (1856–1935)

On the right-hand wall of Sala Ercole is a fresco known as the Madonna del Terremoto, Madonna of the Earthquake. Madonna con bambino appear in glory, blessing Bologna, its walls and many towers beneath them. Fascinating: to be in Bologna of the early 16th century. Francesco Francia’s fresco was painted for the nearby Elders’ Chapel in fulfillment of a vow made when the city was struck by an earthquake in 1505, the same year the fresco was painted; it was moved to Sala Ercole in the 19th century.

The city’s art collection above is also on view at Palazzo Comunale.

4 more images

“Bologna, where I stayed ten days, is next to Rome in regard to fine paintings.”
— from a letter, dated 23.March.1771, written by Mr. John Gray to Dr. Tobias Smollett

FINE PAINTING, FINE SCULPTURE In Sala Ercole, on the first floor of Palazzo Comunale, was once the dining hall; it retains its Renaissance look. Alfonso Lombardi’s 1519 terracotta sculpture at the far end gives the hall its name. Painted in mock bronze, it shows a victorious Hercules after killing the Hydra of Lerna.

1 more image

Sheltered under a wooden canopy, to the left of the main entrance to the Palazzo Comunale, sits Niccolò dell’Arca’s 1478 “Madonna con bambino.” This high-relief work is known as Madonna di Piazza. Created in terracotta and formerly gilded and polychromed it was placed where a portrait of Pope Julius II once hung.

4 more images

“Proceed next southward into the Piazza just named, and observe, Palazzo Maggiore fronting it on the west, the Palazzo Maggiore, the residence of the Papal Legate, and of the Senator of Bologna, with a bronze statue of Pope Gregory XIII in a niche on its front.”
— from “Handbook for Travelers in Northern Italy” 1860 by John Murray

WHAT’S IN A NAME? What Mr. Murray calls Palazzo Maggiore is Palazzo Comunale or Palazzo d’Accursio, Bologna’s city hall until November 2008. It borders the 161,458-square-foot Piazza Maggiore, the city’s main square.

Palazzo d’Accursio houses the Civic Art Collection, displaying art work from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The Museo Morandi, with the works by Giorgio Morandi donated to the city by his family, is also located within Palazzo d’Accursio.

Palazzo d’Accursio is a huge complex of buildings which have been connected over the years, originally it was the residence of Accorso di Bagnolo (1182-1263), an Italian jurist. In 1336 it became the seat of the Anziani, the Elders, the city’s highest magistrates; it then became the city hall. It was renovated in the 15th century by Fioravante Fioravanti, when the Clock Tower (see photo #4) added. Another round of restorations were made in the 16th century.

4 more images

Bologna's central square, the Piazza Maggiore, is a good starting point for a walking tour of this city. The most prominent building here is the Palazzo del Podesta, which served as the seat of municipal government for centuries. The Arengo Tower stands over the great palace.

At the south side of the square is the Flemish Giambologna's statue of Neptune, Roman god of the sea (Poseidon to the Greeks).

The current town hall is in the Palazzo d'Accursio, completed in the 16th century. In front is a statue of Pope Gregory XIII.

On the north side of the piazza is the Basilica of St Petronius, begun in 1390 but never quite completed. Antonio di Vincenzo, the noted Bolognese architect, designed it to be even more imposing, but it was just too costly and time-consuming. It's still a masterpiece of Italian Gothic architecture.

What?

Piazza Maggiore is Bologna's most famous square, featuring one of the world's largest basilicas and a selection of fine palazzi, which makes it an ideal starting point for a tour of the city.

It's all-pedestrian, and is also a lovely place for a cappuccino and a gelato, or ice cream

Sights

- Basilica di San Petronio
- Palazzo Comunale
- Palazzo del Re Enzo
- Palazzo del Podesta'