Sept 11 - Bologna

 Sept 11 - Bologna 

We found a real mixture of things to see this morning, and all in the same place, the Palazzo Poggi.  Originally built as a home for the Poggi family in the 16th century it is now the headquarters of the University of Bologna.  It’s also home to a number of the University’ museum collections, including one, Obstetrics, which was of particular interest to one person in particular! 😁 The whole collection though was really very interesting with some great 18th century anatomical waxworks that were originally used for teaching purposes. 

This afternoon took us off for a walk to, and along, the Portico di San Luca and, at 3.8 kms long, it’s the longest portico in the world.  It’s made up of 666 arches and leads from the city up to the Santuario di San Luca, a lovely 18th century church overlooking Bologna.  The portico was originally built to protect churchgoers from the rain but the shade it gave us today was really most welcome as, once we reached the last 2kms, itwas all UP! 🥵😩😊

On the way back into town we made a detour to visit the ‘Basilica di San Domenica’, the final resting place of San Domenica, the founder of the Religious Order, the ‘Domenicans’.  Although quite a nice church in itself the main reason for visiting was that a young Michelangelo had contributed a number of works to the Saint’s tomb that we wanted to see. 



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