Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
If you’re looking for modern art at Bologna, make sure to visit the former industrial zone southwest of Bolognas main railway station: former industry buildings like a tobacco factory, a paper mill and a salt storage have been re-purposed. The bread factory is now inhabited by the Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna – or short: MAMbo. Large rooms with high ceilings offer the perfect setting to present contemporary Italian art.
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The Palazzo Poggi is part of the ensemble of university buildings in the city center of Bologna. It was built for Cardinal Giovanni Poggi in the 16th century and later became the home of the library and a very special scientific collection, the Museo di Palazzo Poggi. The museum contains a lot of ancient scientific displays about nautics, physics, natural history, human anatomy and obstetrics. Seeing this old exhibits in the special style of their creation times is amazing and the museum has an incredible atmosphere.
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Close to the university of Bologna you can discover the national art gallery or Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna (PNB). The museum is presenting regional art from the 13th to the 18th century in a former Jesuit building – a nice place to exhibit religious art. The collection is owned by the city of Bologna and you can explore 30 rooms with works from local painters as well as from famous names like Tintoretto, Raphael, El Greco or Giotto.
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Time for a walk in the park while being at Bologna? Then head to the Porta Castiglione or Porta Santo Stefano city gates. Behind them you’ll the find the largest green space of the city, created in 1879 to honor Italian queen Margherita of Savoy – yes, the one that the famous plain vanilla pizza is named after. The garden is great for doing some sports and there is also an artificially created lake with a bar next to it.
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If it rains at Bologna, you do not need to worry: You can endlessly walk through the city center without being exposed to rain (or sunshine). The reason for that are the Portici; arcades next to the street that sometimes are also decorated very nicely. Astonishing 40 kilometers of streets in the city center have these roofed passages. In medieval times multiple European cities had these arcades but only in Bologna they were later protected on large scale – making the city a UNESCO world heritage site today.
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When you’re thinking about leaning towers in Italy you’ll probably think a bit the famous one at Pisa. Another city of towers was in the past Bologna, as many families had their own ones (giving the city the name La Turrita). And in the center you’ll find two towers that are leaning like the famous one: the Torre Asinelli and the Torre Garisenda. They are not so beautifully decorated as in medieval times they were used for military purposes; today they are the icons of the city of Bologna.
Continue reading “Due Torri”