The first building of Palazzo della Mercanzia was constructed in 1294 but we do not know who designed it. However in 1382 the town council decided on to build a place to house the…

One tradition claims that the church of Saints Bartholomew and Gaetano was built on the orders of St Petronius in 432 in an area where the early Bolognese Christians met together, however the only…

In the 13th century the Servites, or the Servants of Maria were the third largest mendicant order (living on almsgiving and charitable donations) after the Franciscans and Dominicans. The order was founded in Florence…

      During the 13th century in many parts of western Europe there were a number of penitential groups whose members were called battuti (beaten) or disciplinati (punished). In Bologna activities were not…

Piazza Maggiore   Around the year 1200 Piazza Maggiore was planned in order to provide a large area for commercial transactions and to house the market. The new square was also used for public…