Sept 09 - Bologna

 Sept 09 - Bologna 

Having no set plans for today we went walkabout around town.  In saying that though we’ve always got a list of researched places that are a ‘must see’, ‘could see’, and even a ‘maybe see’ and invariably we’ll end up visiting a number of those. 

In addition to our list, at least in Italy, you can always bank on there being a market, a museum, or even a cathedral or two that’s worth a visit.  Today one of these finds was the market, and so we had a bit of a food stop amongst the horse butchers and the pasta makers, all very nice!. 

Our next port of call was to St Stevens church ( a.k.a. The Basilica - Santuario di Santo Stefano).  Originally built as one building, it was then divided into seven different churches!  Nobody seems to know why this happened but the original build was completed in the 5th century with the additional ‘add-ons’ during the 10th to 14th centuries.  Sadly only four of of the seven churches remain intact

One of the sites on our ‘must see’ listing was the Palace of the Archginnasio of Bologna. One of the most important buildings in the city, the Archginnasio, the name given to the universities of Rome and Bologna in ancient times, is no longer used for this purpose but is still home to the original library and anatomical theatre.  Built in the 16th century this is a magnificent place to visit, not so much for its architecture but for its contents.  On entering the first thing that strikes you are the walls, they are absolutely covered in heralds, and coats of arms, of over 6000 previous students. It’s fantastic, and all very Harry Potter-ish!

This ‘Hogwarts’ effect (affect?) also continues on to the lecture theatre and library where both Erasmus and Copernicus were students.  Einstein was also an attendee here, it was where he delivered his lectures on ‘Relativity’ in 1921. 

Another magnificent room here is the Anatomical theatre.  Built in the 1600’s, it’s shaped like an amphitheatre, and this was where corpses were dissected on the large central marble slab.  Among the many statues around the room are a couple of standouts, two naked and skinless men, known as "gli spellati", the skinned ones!




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