According to the oldest sources, the Cathedral of St Peter’s, the residence of the Archbishop, was commissioned by the town council in the year 910. Over the centuries it has undergone much rebuilding and…

Only two of the icons reputedly painted by St Luke the Evangelist coming from Constantinople are still in existence. One is the Virgin of Vladimir, one of the most venerated icons of the orthodox…

In the medieval world it was common to try to replicate aspects of the city of Jerusalem at the time of the life of Christ for pilgrims who did not have the means of…

  The Spanish preacher Domenico di Guzman arrived in Bologna in 1218. Many young people and scholars from all over Europe were attracted to his lessons at the University. He decided to stay in…

The first Franciscan monks arrived in Bologna in 1211. St Francis himself visited Bologna in 1222 and preached in Piazza Maggiore, attracting a larger number of followers.In 1236 the town council donated some land…

On 20 October 1388 the construction of a civic religious temple dedicated to San Petronio was commissioned by the town’s ruling council. Petronius was the patron saint of Bologna. He had been a Bishop…

This imposing structure is in fact a complex of different palaces that were gradually joined together. The clock tower was the residence of a professor Accursio da Bagnolo who lived there in the 13th…

In the past one of the many names given to Bologna was the Turrita, «the many towered». Some claim there were nearly 200 towers in the medieval city but this in fact is not…