BOLOGNA

The Palazzo Comunale in Bologna is the set of various palaces, courtyards and buildings of various eras, built in the course of history.
So you notice the different styles that make it unique in the panorama of italian town halls: it is a real fortress, with few entrances, boundary walls, battlements and towers.
In the fourteenth century, a period of bloody wars for the possession of the city between Florence, Venice and the Church, the Cardinal Androino de la Roche, with the excuse to build a garden, encircled by a crenellated wall throughout the area reserved for him and his family.
The garden was then truly built for the government's entertainment, and in 1568 a part of it was used as a Botanical Garden (the second in Italy).
In 1500 a tower was built to emphasize the papal power and many works were made to beautify the complex, in imitation of the Vatican Palace, with the monumental staircase, called "Royal Staircase" and "Palatine Chapel", where, in 1530 Charles V received the iron crown.
Since 1993 the Town Hall houses the Museo Morandi.

A thirteenth century building that takes its name from its most illustrious guest, King Enzo, son of Frederick II of Swabia, which houses the city archives in its halls and chariot, which is a great wagon that was used in war to carry the city's banners.

The Towers of Bologna is one of the hallmarks of the city. Of the many towers that were built between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, today remain less than twenty.
These structures had both military and noble functions: they gave prestige to the family who ordered their construction.
The Asinelli tower was built between 1109 and 1119 by the family that, in addition to receiving social prestige, the military used for defense and sighting. In 1448, in fact, the tower was equipped with a wall to accommodate guards.
Currently, the arches of the arcade of the wall houses some artisan shops, in memory of the marketing function that the city held in the Middle Ages.
The visitors, after covering the 498 steps of the staircase inside, can get to the top of Asinelli that, by about 97.20 meters in height, allows to have the city at your feet.
On fine days, the sight can reach the sea and the foothills of the Veneto.

When: in summer from 9.00 to 18.00, in winter from 9.00 to 17.00
Cost: 3 €

The Basilica of San Petronio is the most important and imposing church in Bologna as well as being the fifth largest church in the world.
The construction of the Basilica began in 1390 but continued for centuries.
To make room for this temple, symbol of civic pride of the city, was necessary to demolish the towers, private homes and eight churches.
It is the last great gothic work carried out in Italy, as a latin cross with three naves and chapels. In gothic style are also the interior decorations, primarily works by Giovanni da Modena, but Parmigianino, Giulio Romano and Masaccio are other artists who gave their personal artistic contribution. Conserves works of the greatest Italian artists of all ages, as Jacopo della Quercia, Filippino Lippi, Vignola and many more. Going to visit the Basilica of San Petronio, then you can not help but notice the Sundial built by Cassini to show that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not vice versa as was the belief of time.

When: from 7.45 to 12.30 and from 15.00 to 18.00

The Basilica of Santo Stefano is a collection of sacred buildings that make up the complex known as the Seven Churches.
The triangular Piazza Santo Stefano, which has recently been restored to its original appearance, has the Church of the Cross, the Church of the Sepulchre, the Church of San Vitale and Sant'Agricola the courtyard of Pilate, the Church of the Martyrium and the Cloister Medieval Museum of Santo Stefano.
All very olds buildings that, even if are dated to different periods, maintain a certain consistency of style, making the overall romanesque building more interesting and best preserved in Bologna.
It is likely that the original design of the complex dates from the fifth century when the bishop Petronius, after a trip to the Holy Land, he wanted to reproduce in the capital of Emilia the holy places of Jerusalem.
During the years alterations and restoration have changed the face of the ancient complex to reduce to four the number of the seven original churches.

When: everyday from 09.00 to 12.00 and from 15.30 to 18.30

The tourist service Girotp allows to know discover, from a new perspective, the beauty of the city of Bologna, its art, its monuments, its secrets. The service, with innovative bus with one discovered floor and, during the winter, fully equipped with 20 seats indoors, provides a 10 km course through the city center to San Michele in Bosco.
On board of the specially equipped bus service is available a multilingual individual audio information that can follow a rich commentary on headphones.
The Stop & Go ticket with a daily valid permits to enter and leave at own discretion to specially marked stops.
Guests are welcomed aboard the bus and assisted by highly qualificated staff.
The audio service is available in 8 languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Russian.
It starts from the terminal Via Amendola, opposite the Central Station of Bologna, for a route that includes the following stops always with the way "stop-go "or ability to get on and off at various stopson its own discretion, to: Arena del Sole - Piazza Nettuno - Piazza Maggiore - Carducci - Boxing - Piazza Cavour - Giardini Margherita - San Michele in Bosco - Annunziata, Via D'Azeglio - Piazza Malpighi - Mambo (Museum of Modern Art)- return to the Central Station bus terminal (in some exhibitions will also carry racing departure from Fiera - Constitution Square).

HOURS:

• from 04/03/2010 to 31/03/2010
  everyday:
  morning 10.00 - 11.00 - 12.00;
  afternoon 14.30 - 15.30
• from 01/04/2010 to 06/06/2010
  everyday:
  morning 10.00 - 10.30 - 11.00 - 11.30 - 12.00 - 12.30;
  afternoon 15.00 - 15.30 - 16.00 - 16.30 - 17.00 (only during week ends)

• entire 10.00 €
• reduced 5.00 € (till 31/03/2010) / 6.00 € (from 01/04/2010) children up to 8 years old and organised school groups
• free for children up to 4 years old

The dense network of canals crossing the city, on the surface are the names of streets (Via del Porto, Riva Reno, Val D'Aposa, Via delle Moline, Via Savenella) and some picturesque spots like the via Piella window (small window overlooking the channel Molina).
The locations of underground Bolognaise channels, but restored, consolidated and made accessible to visitators.
Here it is that you can choose to travel through the river Aposa, a distance of 800 meters which is transformed step by step in a journey back in time, from Bologna Roman of first century to Bologna of the 2nd World War, through stories and legends involving a fantastic journey.
In the past, also called Avesa, the Aposa river , is the only natural river running through Bologna.
Born in the hills between Paderno and Roncrio and runs along Via San Mamolo. After about five kilometers, the river reaches via Rubbiani and makes its way into the heart of Bologna, touching Via San Domenico, Via de 'Poeti, Minghetti Square, Via Rizzoli and Via dell'Inferno, in the old Jewish ghetto.
Piazza San Martino, where describes a coil, the river continues to via delle Moline, behind the houses of Via Capo di Lucca, dating back to 1516.

The stream has been "graved" in the late nineteenth and runs inside a large tunnel. To make it accessible in Piazza Minghetti and in Piazza San Martino, there are two ladders, covered by a metal steel hatch at ground level, sloping down to 5-6 meters deep, reaching the level of the Aposa river.
The journey to discover Bologna underground can not be separated even by Bagni di Mario, a large underground cistern decorated with renaissance pictures charm shafts and a wonderful ogive. An ingenious system of collecting water for the supply of the great Fountain of Neptune.

Remember that the Donatello Hotel is located only 2 km from the exhibition center, easily reached by public transport.

The museum, which is located in the Palazzo Ghisilardi of the fifteenth century, exhibits mainly demonstrations of the medieval city, from the oldest artifacts of VII-IX centuries to the great statue of Boniface VIII (1301).
They are also exposed sculptures and materials dating from the beginning of the fourteenth and the sixteenth century due to examples of Renaissance artists active in Bologna in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Jacopo della Quercia, Francesco del Cossa, Vincenzo Onofri).
Noteworthy are the rich collections of manuscripts, weapons, ivory and glass.

Venue: Via Manzoni, 4

The collection consists of 62 paintings, 18 watercolors, 92 drawings, 78 etchings, 2 sculptures and 2 engraved plates that provides a unique opportunity of knowledge of the artistic career of Morandi, declined in all the techniques and explained in every moment and nuance of poetry.
The exhibition, divided into 11 rooms obtained by the former apartments of the Cardinal Legate, analyzes, through a chronological journey the seasons that have characterized the author's activities, from training to maturity.
Since its founding, the museum is enriched by loans from private collections, generously granted temporary storage, offering visitors the chance to discover works mostly inedite.
The museum supports the enhancement of the collection with a program of temporary exhibitions, designed to pull Morandi's work with other protagonists of the twentieth century, also promotes initiatives and collaborate on exhibition dedicated to the Bolognese artist from major institutions in Italy and abroad.

Venue: Palazzo d'Accursio, Piazza Maggiore, 6

MAMbo supports the most innovative artistic practices by helping to trace the paths of an exhibition focused on contemporary research and experimentation.
The museum is working with cultural and academic institutions to promote opportunities for reflection involving the public and scholars, stimulating debates on the culture of the present.
With its 9,500 square meters MAMbo is the headquarter of the Institution Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, which also includes the Villa delle Rose, Museum for the Memory of Ustica, and Museum Morandi and Morandi's House.
Located in the heart of cultural district of the Manufacture of the Arts, the museum is the focus of a reality series devoted to research and innovation, such as the Cinematheque of Bologna, the laboratories of the University Departments of DMS, the Faculty of Communication Sciences and numerous associations and art galleries.

Location: Via Don Minzoni, 4

The Art Gallery, recently fitted with the most modern exhibition criteria and place of lectures, educational exhibits, conferences, houses a valuable collection of Emilian and Venetian artists from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century.
In modern the halls of the former Jesuit novitiate of St. Ignatius are exposed paintings by Giotto, Raphael, Parmigianino, Titian and Tintoretto.
One section is dedicated to the baroque artists, with paintings by the Carracci, Guido Reni, Domenichino. The renewed Art Gallery has been adapted to the European standards, is now to be considered among the most modern and important national galleries known and appreciated abroad.

Location: Via Belle Arti, 56

The Gallery was established in 1936 at Palazzo d'Accursio inhabited until 1859 by the legate pontificio.
There are over two hundred works on display in twenty rooms of the the Municipal Collections, where, in addition to paintings from the National ambit - Signorelli, Tintoretto, Nuvolone, Artemisia Gentileschi, Pietro Longhi - the emilian figurative production prevails with Vitale da Bologna, Lippo di Dalmasio, Jacopo di Paolo, Francesco Francia, Ludovico Carracci, Cittadini, Guido Cagnacci, Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Ubaldo and Gaetano Gandolfi.
At the decorative arts between sixteenth and eighteenth centuries are dedicated the rooms Rusconi, culminating in the famous room in the country of Valliani and Martinelli (beginning of sec. XIX); a room documenting Palagi artist and collector.
Nineteenth section displays works by Hayez, Fantuzzi, Serra, Mancini, Faccioli.
Scene, in the third room, the culture of Alfonso Rubbiani, represented by restoration projects and embroidery Aemilia Ars.

Venue: Palazzo d'Accursio

The house, near the ancient city walls, housed Giosue Carducci (1853-1907) from 1890 to his death.
It preserves portraits and busts of the poet, personal items and memorabilia. In the house is situated, in addition, the Library Carducci with rich library materials (about 40,000 volumes), letters and manuscripts. Nowadays the house is a special section of the Archiginnasio library of Bologna.
It houses on the ground floor, the museum of the Risorgimento.
It is part of the Carduccian museum the honorary monument dedicated to the poet by the sculptor Leonardo Bistolfi, inaugurated in 1928 in the garden beside the house.

Venue: Piazza Carducci, 5

The Museum of the tapestry since 1990 is located in the nineteenth century Villa Spada.
The Museum contains over six thousand items related to the history of textile manufacturing, Italian, foreign and eastern from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century.
Exposed frames are fully functional, beautifully embroidered fabrics, ribbons, fringes, trimmings, but also miniatures, sonnets and prayers printed on silk.

Venue: c/o Villa Spada, Via di Casaglia, 3

The Civic Bibliographical Musical Museum , founded in 1959 to house the collections of musical heritage of the Municipality of Bologna, in 2004 took the new name of International Museum and library of music, with the inauguration of a museum in Palazzo Sanguinetti, in the historical centre of Bologna.
The building was reopened to the public after a long and careful renovation, which has been perfectly restored the rich interior frescoes, made between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, make it one of the finest examples of Napoleon and neoclassical period in Bologna. The Institute is currently divided into two sites: a wide selection of books, paintings, musical instruments are on display in the museum rooms of Strada Maggiore 34 (Palazzo Sanguinetti), while much of the bibliographic material is available in Piazza Rossini 2 (former Convent of St. James), in rooms adjoining the Conservatory of Music GB Martini.

Location: Strada Maggiore, 34

Presented on June 12, 1998 at the first edition of WDW (World Ducati Week), and was officially inaugurated on 16 October of that year, the Ducati Museum collects testimonies of over half a century of competitions of the Company and a substantial part of the history of 'Company of Borgo Panigale', founded by the Ducati brothers in the far 1926.
Everyday except on Sunday guided tours, by appointment, at the factory to be able to observe closely every stage of production of the full range of motion.

Venue: stabilimento Ducati, Via Cavalier Ducati, 3

Opened May 9, 1999 the Jewish Museum of Bologna (MEB) is located in the sixteenth century Palazzo Pannolini, within the former Jewish ghetto, and was set up to study, preserve and enhance the knowledge on the rich Jewish cultural heritage deeply rooted in many places in Bologna and Emilia-Romagna.
The visit to the Museum's permanent section is integrated closely with the Jewish Route in Bologna, which explores some stages of Jewish history in the places which are still legible and the ancient traces of this presence: the former ghetto, perfectly preserved in its Medieval appearance and among the largest in Italian territory, the sixteenth century Palazzo Bocchi, unique in Europe for a major in Hebrew writing carved on its facade; the precious g othic house of Sforno's family in Piazza Santo Stefano, the monumental cemetery headstones at the lapidary of the sixteenth Medieval Museum of Bologna and also the old homes where the first synagogues were and the first Jewish homes in Bologna.
The Hebrew itinerary in Bologna is completed with a visit to the synagogue and Jewish cemetery.

Location: Via Valdonica 1/5

Historical Museum of radio, gramophones, film and mechanical musical instruments (1760-1960).
UNESCO heritage.
Guided tours only by appointment.
Dedicated to the history of the media audio-video-music, documents the evolution of radio sources by allowing you to listen to 4,000 songs of the history of Italian and Neapolitan music.
Among the 800 exhibits, a dictaphone and cylinder phonographs, gramophones, mechanical musical machines (XVIII-XIX century), relics of Guglielmo Marconi, some orchestrion and a collection of over a thousand discs vintage.
Historical Museum of radio, gramophones, film and mechanical musical instruments (1760-1960).

Headquarters:Via Col di Lana, 7/n

The Museum in Memory of Ustica in Bologna was created by Christian Boltanski, by the will of the Association of Relatives of the victims.
Its permanent installation surrounding the remains of the DC9 beaten on June 27, 1980 as it headed toward the airport of Palermo.

Location: Via di Saliceto, 5

The Museum is housed in the complex of Santo Stefano, also known by the name of Seven Churches.
In late nineteenth century it was considered appropriate to collect in one place the many works and shrines scattered in various buildings of the complex.
The collection was organized in 1916, in refectory room before being transferred to a location outside the complex, a room above the Church of the Trinity.
Finally, in the eighties, the works were placed in the Chapel of Benda and in the adjacent vestry, its present location.
In the first room of the museum holds works by, among others, of Simone dei Crocifissi, Jacopo di Paolo, and the Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist painted by Innocenzo da Imola in the sixteenth century.
In the second room are the shrines, such as the head of San Petronio, the goldsmith work of Jacopo Roseto of end of the fourteenth century, and the Bandage of the Virgin of the seventeeth century.
Among the paintings to be noted St. Martin revives the son of Tiarini's widow, the Holy Trinity of Samacchini and the fresco Massacre of the Innocents of Berlinghiero da Lucca, part of the decorative cycle of the dome of the Holy Sepulcher.

The museum was established in 2004 as a historical collection to provide educational information and show significant objects relating the worship of the Madonna's worship that from the end of the twelfth century, is venerated on Guardia Hill.
The museum is located in Porta Saragozza restored for the occasion, one of the gates of the third ring of the city, which was rebuilt in 1858 to provide a more dignified setting for the annual procession of Our Lady of S. Luke, who frequently came into town from the door.
The museum houses a collection of objects (prints, cards, holy cards, books, brochures, souvenirs ...) donated by collector Antonio Bologna Brighetti on the Madonna of S. Luke and some works of art owned by the Sanctuary of Our Lady of S. Luke deposited at the museum.

This museum was established in the nineteenth century, coinciding with the first chair of Comparative Anatomy at the University of Bologna.
The first core of the collection comes from a donation of Antonio Alessandrini and represents the most significant of all museum's holdings.
The most interesting element of this collection is an eighteenth whale skeleton 16 meters long.
The criteria under which the routes of access are structured are experimental, it is expected, in fact, that the visitor can physically touch the remains for cognitive purposes.
Through observation and study of the skeletons one can deduce an overview on the evolution of vertebrates.
In this section are exposed functional apparatus of vertebrates, in order to propose a comparison between the different anatomies.
Finally, it is been dedicated an exhibition space to the development of the embryos of vertebrates.

Location: Via Selmi, 3

The museum dates back to 1908 when it was established at the University of Bologna the teaching post of Anthropology, and the nucleus of the collection was placed in two rooms of Palazzo Poggi.
In 1991 the museum was rearranged and in 1993 was transferred to its present site.
The material, which documents the history and evolution of man is divided into three sectors.
The first is the one of Paleoanthropology and Prehistory, where there are casts of skulls and skeletons, along with reconstructions of prehistoric environments.
There is also a collection of bones belonging to the Neolithic until the Roman and media exposure on the long road man, that helps to understand better the Paleoanthropology.
The second section is the anthropometric tools and methods, and present the material and tools used by anthropometry.
They are objects to measure the view, the skeleton, and chromatic scales to study the different colors of eyes, hair and incarnate.
The last sector is the man and the environment in which a series of views recounts the relationship between man and environment in different geographical and cultural conditions.

Location: Via Selmi, 3

The Museum of Minearlogy of the University of Bologna, both for its large size and for the number of collections preserved, is one of the largest and most important in Italy.
Established in 1860, the Museum of Minearlogy, is in its present location since 1936 and in it preserves material from the collections of the sixteenth-eighteenth century (Aldrovandi, Cospi, Marsigli), formerly belonged to the useum of Natural History Institute of Science, next to collections of more recent acquisition.

Location: Piazza di Porta san Donato, 1

It 'the most important Italian paleontological museum, with over 500,000 pieces preserved.
The oldest exhibit dates back 750 million years ago. Four sections: the ancient collections, plants, fossils, vertebrate fossils, collections of rocks and invertebrate fossils.
Among the most interesting specimens stands a colossal skeleton of Diplodocus, Jurassic dinosaur 25 feet long, unique in Italy.
The arrangement preserves the nineteenth-century setting with period furniture and some valuable showcases of the 700's.

Location: Via Zamboni, 67

One of the oldest in Italy.
Was founded, in fact, in 1568 as an initiative of Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605).
The total area is about two hectares and on it have grown more than five thousand specimens of local and exotic plants.

Location: Via Irnerio 42

L'Erbario dell'Università di Bologna è uno dei più antichi d'Europa.
Vi sono qui conservate collezioni di piante essicate raccolte dal XVI secolo in poi.

The Museum of Physics of the University of Bologna has arisen in the late seventies at the Department of Physics, Via Irnerio 46, inheriting instruments and documents collected and preserved over three centuries by various scientific institutions in the city.
In nearly two decades of life, as well as educational activities, restoration and cataloging tools already in their possession, the museum has greatly expanded its facilities through numerous acquisitions and donations of material from institutions and individuals.

Location: Via Irnerio, 48

Visiting the Museum can trace the historical period from the 18th and 19th century, when medical scientists felt the need to show at the disciples as realistically as possible the true nature of the human body and its patologie.
They have chosen to represent the wax, a plastic material that more than anything else can be worked right down to microscopic detail and with infinite gradations of color.

Location: Via Irnerio, 48