32 Hours In Bologna: Everything I Managed To See and Do
The city of thousands of churches – that’s what I’ve named it – Bologna is incredibly religious with so much history and culture. The heat during this week really hit, as it was the peak of the heatwave that became deadly over the summer, especially in Italy. Unfortunately, my Airbnb had no air-conditioning and little airflow, so a few restless nights and hot days walking around the city. Hoping from one church to another, split up by a few museums and an insanely hot walk up to the top of a tower, big regrets in 37-degree heat. Despite this, Bologna was amazing and highlighted the beauty of Italy and its culture.
Easiest border control at Bologna Airport after I’d flown in from Portugal, as there was no border control. This was only the second time I had arrived at an airport alone, and so I was incredibly confused when I walked through, grabbed my bags and left, following the rest of the passengers on my flight. Kind of sad, I wanted another stamp in my passport.
Churches left right and centre, but I think it is strange that the cathedral, the main religious building is tucked away and hidden compared to some of the others. This cathedral was situated on a side road and the front is not particularly decorated, instead quite boring compared to other cathedrals and churches. Whereas the Basilica of San Petronio is the main church, with many visitors, and the 10th largest in the world. There is nearly a church on every corner, showing the importance of religion in the lives of the Italians.
Basilica of San Fransisco
The Basilica of San Fransisco was so incredibly religious that I did not take any photos of the inside as I wanted to be respectful of those worshipping at the time, and there are signs regarding photography in this basilica. Very religious, all but myself and one other woman visiting signed the cross, prayed and touched the holy water – compared to the other churches I have visited on my travels over the past two weeks, this is the only one where I saw the majority of people there were there to pray. Inside it is beautiful, with a tall carved marble wall in the chancel at the centre of attention. Areas are also sectioned off by metal gates that held statues of religious figures, such as Madonna.
Cattedrale Metropolitana di San Pietro
The Cathedral continued the theme of being incredibly religious and that being the focus, as any church should be, but not as I had previously seen in France, Portugal and Spain. There was someone was confessing, which was very loud and open which surprised me, but despite them speaking Italian it was amazing for me to witness this. I also arrived during a service and it was amazing to hear the singing and prayers, which added to the atmosphere. A small area was sectioned off for them to pray where the priest was proclaiming the word of god.
Italian art is honestly the best thing, although the architecture is not as incredible as that of Spain – it is still amazing – it’s the painted ceilings and artwork that are truly special. The Compianto sul Cristo morto on the right as you enter the Cathedral is an incredible terracota piece of art, depicting six, life-size figures standing over Christ’s body. This piece of art by Alfonso Lombardi was truly magnificent, the way these figures’ expressions are captured and the detail of the clothing.
It was here that I lit a candle, and although I am not religious, I have always wanted to do this and it was a lovely experience.
Uno Café
After the Cathedral, I ventured to this vegan café, and ordered an acai smoothie but should have gone with my go to of mango. I attempted to try something different, it was not amazing and was drinkable, but I would have preferred not to have spent 7 euros on it. The Pain au Chocolat was nice, but nothing extraordinary. The best thing was that I was able to sit and have something vegan, especially in Italy as I personally have struggled to find vegan food when eating in Italy during my visits.
I attempted to go to the Torre dei Prendiparte but is only open on Sundays and holidays. Tip: Do not always rely on Apple Maps!
Basilica of San Petronio
I sat outside this magnificent basilica whilst waiting for my time slot to climb the tower, but this is definitely a touristy church, and the most famous within Bologna. It is the largest and most important church within Bologna, and when it was designed, it was designed to be the biggest in the world but ended up being the seventh instead. Although never completed because of the demands of Pope Pius IV, however what is standing was finished in 1390.
Le Due Torri
My god was this a mistake to climb the tallest of the two towers, the Asinelli Tower. It was 37 degrees Celsius; I was already hot and bothered, and decided a climb to the top of a thin tower would be a good idea. The never-ending stairs of torture! Even at the top there was no breeze, the views were stunning however I could not get over how hot I was!
The Asinelli tower was built between 1109-1119, and partnered with the Garisenda Tower which makes the iconic Bologna skyline and the Two Towers. The taller of the towers stands at 97.2 metres, where visitors can climb nearly 500 steps to the top, and the smaller, which is leaning slightly – clearly an Italian trait – stands at just 47 metres tall.
This climb is not for those with physical disabilities or those scared of heights, as although the climb is not bad nor the views at the top, the descent down those old and tiny wooden stairs is very questionable. I was very worried I would slip and go tumbling down, plus the lighting was not helpful either. The best time to visit this tower would be winter, where you do not turn into a puddle. At least I got my exercise in for the day, and can say I climbed the tallest leaning tower in Italy during a deadly heatwave.
Museo della Storia
This was not the museum I was trying to see, as I was aiming for the Museo di Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, an art museum, however there were building works occurring in the building and I was very confused and it was not until I paid for the history museum that I realised. Regardless, this was still a great museum! A lot of it I did not understand as it is in Italian, and although some of the rooms have brief overviews in multiple languages, this was not in as much detail. The museum takes visitors from the beginning of Bologna’s existence during the roman period, through battles and reconstruction, through the medieval period, the world wars, and up to the present day.
The set up of this museum is very confusing and filled with lots ‘random’ sections, but it all comes together to create one cohesive story. Such as a Ducati motorbike, incredible pieces of art of the city, music and the composers, which all finished with a room filled with sculptures of significant women in Bologna’s history.
Palazzo Albergati
This art gallery was a stark contrast to the rest of the city, with its modern exhibitions and photography rather than paintings and sculptures. When I visited they had two exhibitions on, one being Sicily in the period of 1959-1961, and the other of Vincent Peters’ “timeless time”, which shows the beauty of black and white photography, fashion, models and beauty.
I chose to view Peters’ exhibit, as I have always loved black and white photography, but seeing this exhibition sparked my love for it again, the beauty that shines through without the distraction of colour. I love colour, however the elegance of his style of art was inspiring and influenced me to edit my photos this way.
Bologna, the city of churches, was an incredible experience. I have been to Italy before, to the north in the alps, Florence, and Rome, and although the last two are the closest in terms of history and culture, but even then its so vastly different. Italian culture is so different in each section of the country, but still so distinctly Italy when they come together with their similarities.
Although I was only in this beautiful city for 32 hours, I accomplished a lot and do not think more than a few days is necessary, but Bologna is known for its food, such as the Spaghetti Bolognese but also other pasta’s, cheeses, and meats.
Bologna will always hold a special place in my heart, as it’s the place I found out the grade I was graduating with, standing sweating in the sun, stressing because I could not figure out how to find my grade, whilst waiting to climb the dreaded tower.
