Emilia-Romagna – Breve Viaggio a Firenze

Firenze (pop 362,353 in 2025) is an easy train ride from Bologna, and we are meeting family there for a quick look. We are familiar with so many significant and historic sites, but there are young children and crowded streets involved, so we are unsure how the day will go.

We arrive at the stazione behind the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella (15th century; facade, Leon Battista Alberti, 1470). The Basilica is part of the Convento Domenicano, so its members follow San Domenico di Guzmán; this must be his portrait in the tympanum, below the Stemma Rucellai.

In the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, while pointing out the Obelisco and the Campanile. we get our bearings and make a general plan. To get the kids off to a good start, we head to the Piazza della Repubblica and its giostra a carosello (with scenes of the city on the fascia).

 

 

  

From Repubblica, we make our way to the Mercato Nuovo ('Mercato del Porcellino') The kids enjoy shopping for souvenirs and watching other tourists rubbing the pig's nose. The perfect late-morning weather drives us onward to the Ponte Vecchio. From the railing, we enjoy the glorious views and reflections of the city. Much easier than walking to the Piazzale Michelangelo, from here we may point out all the famous sites and get a lay of the land.

We double-back to the Piazza della Signoria, with the Loggia dei Lanzi, the Palazzo Vecchio (top image, 14th century), and Michelangelo's David (1501-04). The Piazza' s history and artworks still amaze.

From there, we head east, toward the Bargello, and enter the Piazza del Duomo near the south transept. Deliberately, we walk to the front of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore ('Duomo di Firenze', 13th-15th centuries), marveling at the patterns and sculptures.

We all sit down to an enormous Fiorentino lunch; the kids are served first and have time to take a nap. We finish the day shopping around the Mercato Centrale and Orsanmichele, before relaxing in Repubblica with cold drinks and gelato.

 

 

Emilia-Romagna – Ritorno a Bologna

Since our trip last November was constrained by cold weather, we are back in Emilia-Romagna. Early summer vibes permeate Bologna (pop 390,850 in 2024). Our hotel is in the northern section of the old city (north of the Piazza Maggiore), as opposed to our previous stay in the southern.

The Marconi Express gets us from the airport to Bologna Centrale on the city's northern wall. We walk around the station to the east, cross the Piazza XX Settembre, and catch a glimpse of the seamed-copper domes of Chiesa del Sacro Cuore di Gesù (20th century). Though the buildings are new, the familiar colors and forms confirm our memories.

There is a small carousel in front of the Porta Galliera (17th century), and it reminds us of the Piazza della Reppublica in miniature – though the painted vignettes on the fascia are not local sites. However, from the drawbridge to the Porta, we can see the Castello di Galliera (14th century) and the Scala della Montagnola ('Scalinata del Pincio', 19th century).

The south side of the Piazza funnels us onto the Via Galliera and into the Portici di Bologna. The faint facade of the  Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pioggia (18th century) greets us at the runs onto the Via Riva di Reno.

 

 

 

 

After a quick snack at the Mercato delle Erbe and a stop at our hotel, we head out to acquaint ourselves with the neighborhood.

Retracing the Via Galliera, we make our way to the Piazza dell'8 Agosto. Last November, this was a wide, vacant square; now one side is filled with stalls of cheap merchandise – clothes, shoes, housewares (Mercato della Montagnola) piled into towers.

 

 

 

The Parco della Montagnola (early 19th century) is across from the Piazza. The Monumento ai Caduti dell'8 Agosto 1848 ('Il Popolano', Pasquale Rizzoli, 1903) stands at the entrance in a broad, open lawn at the edge of the thick trees.

Its geometry is formal, with a central circular fountain and concentric paths. From behind the Monumento, the towers of Bologna pierce cornice line of the Piazza. Theatrical statues adorn the grassy islands, but workers are setting up some kind of musical festival and we cannot easily navigate the walkways.

 

 

 

We emerge at the northwestern corner, on the landing of the Scala della Montagnola, opposite the Piazza XX Settembre. Sculpted relief panels tell the story of '8 Agosto 1848' when the citizens of Bologna drove the occupying Austrian army out the Porta Galliera (where, earlier, we entered). The next panel seems to show the townspeople cleaning and re-building.

From the landing we can peer down to the ruddy, ruined walls of the Castello di Galliera and the Fontana della Ninfa ('La Moglie del Gigante', Diego Sarti and Pietro Veronesi, 1896) – described by local storytellers as the 'wife', or at least the female counterpart, of the great Nettuno.

We make our way back on the Via del Porto, where we find a small but memorable marker for La Madonna della Grazie. As the sun sinks and the golden hour approaches, the colors of Bologna become sharper and richer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we head for the Piazza Maggiore, in search of gelato. Having spent the day exploring the northern half of the old city (which we had missed on our last trip), it is good to see the grand sites again: the Fontana Vecchia (16th century), the Palazzo Re Enzo (13th century), and the Due Torri (top image, 12th century).

Seasons change, but the history and energy of Bologna are constant, and we feel right at home. 'La Dotta, La Grossa, La Rossa' – learned, fat, and the politically progressive. May she never change.