The hidden secrets of Bologna

Today is.. SAN PETRONIO!! 🥳🥳🥳

That’s means in Bologna is a day of holiday.

San Petronio is the patron saint of the city to whom the homonymous Basilica in Piazza Maggiore is dedicated.

During this day in the city there are a lot of event, concert, markets, every year it’s diffent and at the end of the evening there are always the fireworks.

There is also a way of say dedicated to him, when u have a lot of keys on our hand u can hear someone say: “How many keys u have, are u San Petronio?”

That’s because San Petronio is the owner of the key of the city.

So I decided to celebrate this day sharing with u..

THE BEST SECRETS OF BOLOGNA!

Yes because in this city we have a lot of secrets that we have hidden for centuries, but after the pandemic we had an invasion of people from all the world that everyday comes to discover my city. How cool is that?

Little Venice

Via Piella, 16

Follow the map but to go to via Piella is near via indipendenza.

Here there is a small window on the river if is empty is only because they deviated the water to the farmers or they are working to keep the clean the channel.

I love this spot sometimes when I go to work I stop there for some minutes.

In the past Bologna was a city like Venice but some “smart” person decided to cover all the rivers…So we call it our “Little Venice”, yeah we are creative I know 😜.

The “chair”

Via Indipendenza, 4

Taking a stroll in via indipendenza u will find the shop H&M, actually the store isn’t important but is important the palace where it is located.

In the past was made by Majani a famous local brand of chocolate, here there was their first location and they asked to the architect to make a palace that have to look like a liberty chair. .. and voila we have the chair.

U can see it only if u go in the opposite side of the street.

The three not so “hidden” phrases

Via Indipendenza, 1c

“Panis vita, canabis protectio, vinum laetitia” u can read this under the porch at the end of via Indipendenza where there is the Bar (Coffe Shop) Canton De Fiori.

This means:

Pane è la vita/bread is life

La cannabis è protezione/ Cannabis give us protection

Il vino è gioia/ wine give us joy

About the cannabis believe it or not but none of the farmers never tried to smoke it was used to make ropes, bags, canvas, sometimes fabric for clothes if you were very poor.

It was one of the principal cultivation in Italy, the farmers used to cultivate it and they putted the canes inside small lake called: “maceri” in Eng. should be: “pulped” that are called in this way because the canes stay there to macerate for months .

Then the farmers had to go inside the cold water to take the canes and they started removing the outer skin to collect the hemp threads and began making ropes.

The broken phone under the porch of palace Podestà

Piazza del Nettuno

In the past this place was famous for the hangings, but thanks to the acustic of the porch were used year later in the Medieval Times to make lepers and plague victims confess, thus avoiding the risk that they would infect the priests.

Even today people go under the porch in the opposite side to try the acustic, in fact if two people go in the opposite corners with the face against the wall can hear what the other says.

La Fontana del Nettuno/ Neptune fountain

The Statue of Neptune on the top of the fountain was made by Giambologna and Laureti on request of Pier Donato Cesi.

Giambologna was the one that created the statue, when he proposed the first version of the statue Cesi said that his virility was too big and people would be shocked by the statue so to reduce the size of it.

Giambologna wasn’t happy because he was proud of his job, so what he made?

He satisfied the applicant with his request but he also created an optical illusions, ddepending on which point you look at the statue from, the Neptune's finger will look like if he is very “happy” to see u😂. The best poit to see this optical illusin it's from the stairs of the library. 😂 😂

The 3 arrows under the porch of Corte Isolani/Strada Maggiore

Strada Maggiore, 19

There are two legends about the three arrows.

The first legend says that in the past three archers was hired by a man because his wife cheated him. When they arrived at Corte Isolani to kill the woman, when the archers were ready to shoot the arrows she undressed and stayed in front of them naked. So the archers were distracted by her beauty and the arrows stucked under the porch. It seems that this was a joke that people made in 800’ no one is sure this was a real story.

The second legend says that the arrows was stuck by some students who wanted to ruin Raffaele Faccioli's renovation work. This could be true because students always made jokes in particular if they are part of: “the Goliardica”.

Which one is true?

I have no idea, there are the arrows? Maybe but are so hard to see that I remember that maybe I saw the arrows when I was a child, but I never saw it later I don’t know if this was my imagination. But it’s good keep the fantasy alive.

The seven churches

Where now there is the complex of the seven churches in the first place in 100 D.C a noble woman decided to built a round shape temple for Iside.

In 450D.C. San Petronio decided to build an other church he could built it everywhere, but he decided to build it next to the temple, then he converted the temple back into a church.

Other centuries later in 727 the king of Longobard that have all a city where he could built decided to create a new church.

Where u will asking? Exactly next to the church of San Petronio, he had only km and km of space everywhere but he wanted that space…

In the centuries later the friars and priests built the rest of the churches and they add porticoes, a cloister and decorated with painted frescoes.

The Narrowest porch

Via Saragozza, 21

Bologna is famous for our porticos, in fact there are 62km of porticos in all the city 40km of them are in the center and now are become heritage of UNESCO.

But do u know that we have a porch that is the smallest ever?

U will find it at Via Saragozza 21, I never know about it since yrs ago and I’m born in Bologna so imagine how many secret and curiosity are still hidden in this city.

San Luca

San Luca it's the Sanctuary of Bologna, it's located on the Colle della Guardia has been a symbol of Bologna for centuries as well as an object of religious worship.

If u feel guilty for all the food that u have eat during the holiday this is ur place because to reach the Sanctuary u have to walk for a porch of 3796m uphill 666 archs (remember to bring the water with u) there is also a little touristic train to reach San Luca. The view from this point is awesome.

It’s the sanctuary of Madonna di San Luca there is a thing to say about it and isn’t about religion or Faith or architecture etc.

It is one of those thing that people from Bologna have in their DNA, we have to see San Luca even if is far away from us we have to see it, when we come back from a long or short trip we aren’t at home untill we don’t see San Luca.

My granpa picked his house because it had the view on San Luca, I don’t see San Luca from my house but when with the train I go to Bologna I always look out from the windows when I know that I can see it.

Even when we are waiting for really good news we always say: “If it will go fine I will go on San Luca to say thank u” and we do it for real everytime.

The superstition of university students

The superstition says that if a university student goes up the Asinelli tower or crosses Piazza Maggiore diagonally, he or she will not graduate.

So all students avoid doing both.

The brocken vase

If u go on the top of Torre Asinelli* u can see a broken vase.

But why?

There are different interpretations of it:

• It symbolize the political situation of the city and it’s a warning to politicians to do more.

• This symbolizes the ability of the Bolognese to succeed in solving problems or moments of crisis.

My fav is the second because in the moment of crisis we always help each other, we have done it during the earthquake in 2012, we have done it last yr 2023 and unluckily even this yr with the overflow of rivers.

During all this catastrophic events u can see people create help groups through social media to go to the areas to give help, groups have been created to collect food and clothes, groups to go and clean the streets, to help people fix their houses, everyone knows that when there are these moments there will always be someone ready to help.

*Now the tower is closed for security reasons, I have no idea when it will reopen.

Lampione delle Nascite/ Birth lamp

Near Piazza del Nettuno on via Rizzoli

This is one of my fav secret.

You have to know that this lamp is connected with the maternity department of two hospitals of the city: Ospedale Sant’Orsola and Ospedale Maggiore.

Why u will asking…because every time a baby born someone from the staff of the hospital press a button that turn on the light to advise every one in that that there is a new born. 🩷💙

I always check if the light is on and sometimes it is, this always gave me happiness and hope.

Telescope Effect

If you go at the second floor of the Hospital Rizzoli there is a window that it’s in a perfect axis with Torre degli Asinelli, that creates an optical effects which makes the tower appear closer if you move away and vice versa if you move closer it appears further away.

Hope u enjoyed our secrets.

Can’t wait to know which one is your fav and remember to press the ❤️ if u liked and feel free to share.

Have a wonderful day and like always thanks plus a special thank u for my subscribers U ARE AWESOME 🤩!