Tourist Attraction in Bologna:
I portici di Bologna

The arcades of Bologna represent an important architectural and cultural heritage for the city and are its symbol along with the numerous towers. There is no other city in the world that has as many arcades as Bologna: all together the arcades measure more than 38 kilometers in length only in the historic center, which reach 53 km counting those outside the city. Because of their artistic and cultural relevance, the Bolognese arcades are a candidate for Italian cultural heritage as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The arcades of Bologna were born almost spontaneously, probably in the early Middle Ages, as a projection (at the beginning abusive) of private buildings on public land in order to increase the living spaces. The first historical testimony dates back to the year 1041. In a first period the cubature of the houses was increased by extending the upper floors with the creation of wooden projections supported by the extension of the supporting beams of the floor and - in case of strong protrusion - by shelves called "beccadelli". With time the projections increased in size and it was necessary to build support columns from below to prevent them from collapsing, thus creating porticoes. The arcades offered shelter from the weather and the sun, allowing you to walk the streets in any weather. In addition, they were also a means of expanding commercial and artisan activities, and made the ground floors better habitable, isolating them from the dirt and sewage of the streets. In the beginning the arcades were made of wood, then, after a decree issued March 26, 1568 by the pontifical governor mgr. Giovanni Battista Doria and the Gonfaloniere Camillo Paleotti, were converted to brick or stone. Despite this, some buildings with wooden porticoes still survive in the city, some dating back to medieval times, others restored at the beginning of the 20th century. In the second half of the sixteenth century some of the most important arcades of Bologna appeared: the portico that supports and hides the church of Saints Bartholomew and Gaetano in the Strada Maggiore, by Andrea da Formigine, the loggia of Palazzo del Monte in Via Galliera. Some noble families of the city, however, wanted to distinguish themselves and follow the so-called "Roman fashion" and therefore asked for the pantry, to avoid building their own house with a porch. This is why, in Bologna, Renaissance buildings without a portico were built, such as the buildings of Davia-Bargellini, Fantuzzi, Bevilacqua, Bentivoglio. A very famous example is Casa Isolani in Strada Maggiore. The portico, supported by very high wooden beams (about 9 meters), was erected around 1250. It is one of the few surviving examples of Bolognese civil constructions from the 13th century and is in Romanesque-Gothic style. The beams are in oak wood and support the projection on the third floor of the building. Other examples of medieval wooden porticoes are those of Casa Grassi and of the houses opposite Via Marsala, of the Azzoguidi house in Via San Nicolò and of Casa Ramponesi in Via del Carro (Stendhal, Journey to Italy, 1826) "Often, at two o'clock at night, returning to my lodgings, to Bologna, through these long arcades, the soul exalted by those beautiful eyes that I had just seen, passing in front of those palaces of which, with its great shadows, the moon drew the masses, I it happened to stop me, oppressed by happiness, to tell me: How beautiful it is! " Text processing: Giovambattista Spagnuolo (Myooni)

Attractions in Bologna