An intimate knowledge of Bologna: the new tours
Discover Bologna through its monumental porticoes? Now it is possible, thanks to the increasing number of tours that promote knowledge of the city through one of the symbols that best describes it.
Acknowledged as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the porticos have always been an essential feature of Bologna, which has 38 km of them along its entire perimeter in the historic center alone (53 km if you also count those outside the city walls). They are a distinctive feature of its morphology as well as being a valuable shelter from the rain on stormy days and a relief from the incessant sun during the most sultry days.
Exalted by Goethe during his trip to Italy in the late eighteenth century, the arcades were originally created to meet the architectural needs dictated by the increasing population density due to the growing fame of the city’s University (the first in the Western world) which, already in the eleventh century, attracted foreigners and scholars from all over the world. With such a stratagem it was in fact possible to increase the surface of the upper floors of the buildings in the center without stealing space from the road system.
The premises for a rediscovery of the historical places of the city are all there, that’s why, on several online portals, tourist itineraries have appeared to get to know Bologna by walking through its arcades. These are real thematic routes because the porticos, different from each other for location, history and morphology, tell various aspects of the city. The tours are designed to discover Bologna at a slow pace and lead to its most precious treasures: churches, ancient buildings, monuments.
In this way, it is possible to discover curiosities and thematic itineraries such as, for example, the itinerary “Colonne e Capitelli” (Columns and Capitals) which aims at enhancing the heterogeneity of porticoed architecture through the columns of some of the places visited: from the Ospedale dei Bastardini to the Museo Civico Medievale and the Portico dei Servi. Obviously, the different itineraries also lead to Galleria Cavour and the many places of interest near it. These are mainly tours with an artistic or historical theme, those, in other words, that follow the most prestigious and ancient porticos, touching places of interest such as Corte Isolani, the Portico del Pavaglione or that of the Banca d’Italia on Via Farini.
The arcades, in fact, are an intrinsic feature of our spaces: our logo is inspired by them and by the prestigious entrance that leads from the stores to the arcade of Piazza Cavour and represent a peculiarity particularly loved by our visitors since they shelter their walks in our boutiques from the sun and the rain throughout the year. Discovering Bologna and its riches through these tours allows you to immerse yourself in the uniqueness of this city between past wonders and iconic places of the present.