Bologna

Once the main building of the University of Bologna, it houses the Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio (Archiginnasio Municipal Library). The major attractions of the palace which can be visited are the amazing Teatro Anatomico (Anatomical Theatre) and the Sala dello Stabat Mater (Stabat Mater Hall). Both are well worth visiting.

The medieval Torre Galluzzi (Galluzzi Tower) dominates this tiny square.

One of the main streets of Bologna. It is a meeting point and strolling area. It opens up to Piazza di porta Ravegnana, where the two towers rise.

Named for the lawyers who used to add glosses (notes) to documents. The tombs, which date from the end of the 13th century, are home to many of Bologna's famous scholars.

With small houses built in the 16th century.

Architectural complex comprising the church and adjacent former convent of the Olivetans, with an amazing panoramic view of the city that's great at sunset. Get the number 30 bus if you don't like walking up hills!

Impressive mountain-topped church with a panoramic view which is reachable by a walkway (portico) starting from Porta Saragozza, with over 600 archways - the longest in the world. If you don't want the uphill climb, you can take the San Luca Express tourist train for €13, or the 58 TPER bus (these are small and only run every 30 mins).

Closed to the public since October 2023, the tower (built between 1109 and 1119) is 97.20 metres tall (330 feet), with 498 steps and an incline of 1.3 meters (4 feet). Until 2023 you could climb the 498 steps of this tower for spectacular views of the city, but that month it was closed to the public for safety reasons and renovations are expected to take ten years.

Torre dei Garisenda is 47 m (162 feet) tall and has a lean of over 3m (10 feet). It was built in the 12th century.

60-m tower, the second largest in the city. Presumably it used to be higher than its current height. It's a B＆B and room for events, also hosts shows and presentations.

47 m, built in the 13th century. It's built into the Palazzo del Podestà.

Walk through the historic 666 porticos – the longest portico passage in the world, leaving from the Porta Saragozza at the end of Via Saragozza.

Built in mid-18th century, it offers a panoramic view of the city, although offering only a glimpse of the old historic city. It can be reached by walking along the 666 arches of its unique portico. It has a peculiar layout, being of a round shape. A widely city-known icon, the Madonna di San Luca, is held there.

A little window on the Moline Canal — the Little Venice of Bologna.

In the Palazzo Galvani – a 14th-century building. This building, an old hospital, houses a comprehensive collection of antiquities from civilizations and cultures including ancient Egypt (mummies and sarcophagi), Iron Age Villanova culture, artifacts from Etruscan Velzna, funerary art, terracotta urns, ancient vases and items from Roman times. Do not miss the bronze Certosa jar, which is over 1,500 years old.

A painting collection of works from various historical periods. Features include works by Giuseppe Maria Crespi (Ritratto del cardinale Lambertini- Portrait of Cardinal Lambertini), Ludovico Carracci (S. Caterina in Carcere – St. Catherine in Prison), and Guido Cagnacci (Cleopatra e Lucrezia), Francesco Hayez (Ruth).

Part of Musei Civici d'Arte Antica.

A most curious collection, including religious art of the 1500s, a marionette theatre, an 18th-century gilded carriage, and antique keys and door hardware. Housed in a 17th-century palazzo.

A nice collection of modern art, if you want a break from the more classical pieces that abound in Italy.

Opened in 1993, the museum houses most of the works by the Bolognese painter Giorgio Morandi.

A spectacular collection of music scores, historic instruments, and opera artifacts from 1500 to the early 1900s. There is the first printed score, a 1501 Petrucci. There is the original Clavemusicum Omnitonum of 1606, with 125 keys playing 31 quarter-tones per octave. There is a portrait of Farinelli, perhaps the greatest opera singer of all time. The library was kickstarted in the 1700s by Padre Martini, a Bolognese composer and music teacher, who in addition to teaching students like Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Mozart, was a voracious collector of scores and books. The museum highlights the best of the extensive library. Look for unobtrusive drawers in display cases, marked only by finger-holes; a pull lights up the drawer, and reveals some precious, and light-sensitive, book within. The eight rooms of the museum are also painted with beautiful 19th century trompe l'oeil frescos. Classical music fans will go nuts.

The building houses the headquarters of the University of Bologna. The interior is decorated with frescoes by Pellegrino Tibaldi, on the ground floor is the Hall of Hercules with a statue by Angelo Piò (1730). On the northern side of the Palace is the monumental Aula Magna (1756). Also Palazzo Poggi hosts numerous University Museums. In the University Library of Bologna it has preserved the "Picture Gallery" with over 600 fine portraits of an iconographic collection began in 1754. The museum's collections are organised into sections: Natural History, Anatomy and obstetrics, Physics and chemistry, Military architecture, The Library, Geography and Nautical Science, East Asian Art.

At the Specola, an astronomical tower built in the beginning of 18th century over Palazzo Poggi. The material exposed illustrates the evolution of the astronomic instrumentation through the centuries.

The Museum of European Students is about the history and culture of university students from the thirteenth to the twentieth century. Closed on Monday; Admission free. Don't miss this when you are interested in student life. It's unique.

Rocks, precious stones, rare minerals and meteorites

If you think Bologna's towers are crooked, then you'll want to see the deformed spines and diseased oddities at this gross-out Wax Museum. Although dedicated to the history of the art of medical anatomical models of the 19th century, the real fun are the conjoined twins and tumor-laden lepers on which showcases the art.

Bones, and artefacts of prehistoric Italians.

Created in the mid-16th century for medicinal herbs. The Botanical gardens are home to over 5,000 plant species. Some of the highlights include a full-grown sequoia, and a greenhouse for cacti and carnivorous plants.

16th-century building decorated by frescoes by Carracci. It hosts temporary exhibitions.

The Museum of the history of Bologna is located there.

It hosts the Tagliavini Collection.

This church contains "The Lamentation", a life-size terracotta group sculpture, Renaissance masterpiece by Niccolò Dell'Arca.

16th-century building which hosts temporary exhibitions.

A former 16th-century church. It hosts the Biblioteca di Arte e di Storia di San Giorgio in Poggiale (Art and History Library).

A former church contains works of Carracci and Guido Reni. It is used for concert performances.

Containing the city's most important art, it offers an interesting panorama of the Emilian and Venetian painting from the 13th to the 18th century. A must: the works by Giotto, Raffaello, Parmigianino (Madonna col Bambino/Virgin Mary with Baby and the Saints Margaret, Girolamo and Petronio), Perugino, Tiziano and Tintoretto (Visitazione/Visitation and Saints Joseph and Zacharias).

Located in the area of the former ghetto, this museum covers the history of Bologna's Jewish population.

The Philarmonic Academy of Bologna was established in 1666. Since then it has become a reference point for the city musical life and its fame has spread throughout Europe. Here are preserved the works of many illustrious students, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1770) and autographed documents by Puccini, Verdi and Beethoven

Houses about 2000 works by Italian and foreign artists with special attention to the sculptures by Manzù, Messina, Rodin and Giacometti.

Represents the evolution of the Bolognese motorcycle firm. An exposition of motorcycles, period materials, projects, mechanical components, pictures and videos.

Bologna's main park created in 1875. The chalet converts to a nightclub in the summer evenings.

The oldest park in the city. A public park since the 17th century. Much of the current landscaping dates from the early 19th century. The pond in the center of the park was added in 1888.

Donated to the city in 1916, the gardens had been owned by the Cella family. The 18th-century Villa delle Rose, which was the Cella's residence, hosts art exhibitions throughout the year

On the grounds of the Palazzo Ravone an 18th-century villa, it was opened to the public in 1970.

Designed and built by Tomasso Martelli in the 16th century.

A large park featuring meadows, fields, wooded areas, and a lake.

Bologna's main cemetery, with beautifully carved tombstones, built over the ruins of an ancient Etrusan necropolis.

An Exhibition Centre near Bologna, that among other things has an International Automobile Exhibition every year.

A big ex-industrial hangar, features dj-sets and concerts by international rock bands almost every night.

Now only seldom open. It mainly features raves and techno gigs in an industrial, darkish atmosphere.

Another occupied location that mostly features experimental music festivals and rock concerts.

An occupied ex-agricultural market where Punk-hc, rock and electronic concerts are often featured. A very cheap place, great if you don't mind the punk atmosphere. Every Thursday from 17:30, it is an organic market. The place also has plenty of free and self-managed workshops: bike repair (Wednesdays and Sundays from 18:00 to 22:00), a school of Italian (Monday and Tuesday from 18:00 to 21:00), a hacklab (Wednesday 21:00 to 00:00), yoga, silk-screening, boxing and others.

An historical occupied location that host a wide variety of activities. Every Tuesday from the late afternoon there's an organic market.

A large, 2-floor club that features mostly avant garde electronic, techno and hip-hop gigs and dj-sets. A little book shop, mainly on "alternative" subjects, can be found inside. By bus: Linea 20, 55 or 35.

"storied and legendary Italian indie-punk venue" (Pitchfork), Covo Club is the most renowned indie rock club, features rock djsets and concerts by a number of interesting international bands. Born in 1980, open on Fridays and Saturdays only, Covo Club has hosted in its life more than 1000 concerts including bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, Mumford & Sons, The Gossip, Animal Collective, Black Lips, Wild Nothing, The Undertones, Refused, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Jay Reatard, Beach House and Teenage Fanclub

Next to the "Fiera", is a club that features techno, and sometimes punk and new wave concerts.