The very heart of Bologna is between Piazza Nettuno and Piazza Maggiore, centre of most of the history of the city. Let's visit those monuments and buildings keeping the secret of the ancient past of Bologna. When we reach Piazza Nettuno, we can see, in the middle, the fountain with the majestic statue of Neptune, the god of the sea, while he is appeasing the waves. The building on the left is Palazzo di Re Renzo, whose name refers to an important prisoner, Frederic II of Swabia's son, who spent in this building the rest of his life, treated like a king. The new wing of the building, which overlooks Piazza Maggiore, is the Palazzo del Podestà where the highest city authorities stayed in the Middle Ages. At the centre of the long porch there is the cross of arches, called Podestà's Vault, and the Arengo Tower, with the Campanazzo. In front of it there is the square, a wide surface that represented the political and religious power of Bologna for many centuries. Once festivals, palios and jousts were held here, and nowadays, it is still one of the main meeting points of the city, where parties, concerts, debates are held, and where people have a walk.
In the middle of the square there is a sidewalk people from Bologna call the "Crescentone", referring to the local focaccia ( a kind of flat bread), called "crescente". The eastern part of the square is dominated by the huge Basilica of San Petronio, popular for its unfinished façade. Let's visit it, but before we have to take a look at the Porta Magna ( the main door), by Jacopo della Quercia.

Let's continue our visit in Piazza Maggiore. On the right of the Basilica of San Petronio there is the Palazzo dei Notai, which was the seat of the Notary Congregation for centuries, with its beautiful Gothic windows decorating the façade. On the eastern side there is the fantastic Palazzo dei Banchi, erected combining different buildings, with a long porch; the building on the other side of the square is Palazzo Comunale or d'Accursio. It is a building, nowadays seat of the Bologna Town Hall, erected combining different buildings as well. On the façade there is the statue of Gregory XIII, the Pope from Bologna, which was turned into the statue of Saint Petronio during the siege of the Napoleonic troops who wanted to destroy all symbols of the Papal powers; it was then changed again, with its original shape. Above it we can see the statue of the Virgin Mary with the Child. The most ancient part of the building dates back to the 12th century, where the Clock Tower is situated. Let's get in to visit the yards surrounded by porches, the elegant Art Hall, Sala Farnese, the Legato Chapel. Some rooms of the building contain the City Art Collections with paintings by Tintoretto and Annibale Carracci, in other rooms there is the Morandi Museum with the works of the painter from Bologna. At the end of the visit, let's have a walk in via Indipendenza, a shopping street full of beautiful shop windows, overlooked by Saint Peter's Church.

Walking around Bologna allows you to enjoy the cheerful atmosphere in the city where people find space and time to relax and enjoy the tasty cuisine and the company of some friends. Let's go to I Carracci, in via Manzoni, for an elegant dinner in one of the most exclusive and historical restaurants in the city.

The central axis in Bologna consists of via Ugo bassi and via Rizzoli, two elegant streets flanked by shops; at the beginning of via Bassi there is the Herb Market, let's go inside to buy something and enjoy the cheerful atmosphere. Let's go on the other side of the market to take a look at the church of San Gregorio and San Siro, and go to le Sfogline, a handmade pasta shop. Let's go back to via Bassi and proceed towards the two Towers. The Asinelli and the Garisenda Towers are the symbols of the city par excellence which, together with many others, destroyed during the centuries, are the reason for its nickname: the "city of towers". Let's reach the top to enjoy one of the most spectacular vistas on the red roofs, and the surrounding hills. Let's leave the towers now, to visit in piazza della Mercanzia nearby, the Palazzo della Mercanzia and proceed then towards Piazza Santo Stefano. The square is one of the cosiest and most typical environments in Bologna; in front of us, there is the Church of Santo Stefano, known as the Seven Churches, because it is made of seven holy buildings. Let's stop for a moment in the square, among the people, the students chatting under the porches, in a very relaxing atmosphere. Let's proceed then in Via Farini, after admiring the elegant shape of the Church of San Giovanni al Monte, and we reach piazza Galvani. We are behind the Basilica of San Petronio ; let's stop for a tasty snack at the historical pastry shop Zanarini with its wide range of desserts, including the typical ones from Bologna, like the rice cake.

The building with its long porch overlooking piazza Galvani is the Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio built in the 16th century by the Vatican. Its construction hindered the enlargement of the Basilica of San Petronio, which was to become bigger that Saint Peter but, instead, was never finished. The building was the seat of the University until 1803; today, inside it, we can visit the Archaeological Civic Museum with the Roman lapidary, Greek and Roman sculptures and an Egyptian collection, and also some findings of Bologna during the Villanova period. Very interesting is the Anatomic Theatre, where the first lessons of anatomy were held, when the surgeon used to explain the students functions and pathologies of the body, analysing and dissecting corpses laying on a marble table in the middle of the room. Let's go out of the building and stop to the historical Zanichelli Bookshop to buy something special: the bookshop has original wooden shelves full of ancient books, where Giosuè Carducci and Giovanni Pascoli used to go to buy their books. The parallel road is via D'Azeglio, pedestrian road considered as Bologna's most elegant centre, with beautiful boutiques and the tables of the bars where we can stop to have a drink and enjoy the sight of the people walking by. The church of Saint John the Baptist of the Celestines dating back to the 13th century overlooks the street.
Let's turn into vicolo Santo Spirito to admire the Catalani Tower, which used to be the highest one, together with the Asinelli tower, before being lowered in the 15th century. Let's go through via Santa Margherita to reach via Cesare Battisti where there is the Church of San Salvatore. Then, we go along via Prota Nuova until we reach the Basilica of Saint Francis.

We suggest you to go to one of the historical places in the city, situated inside an ancient building, for dinner; it is the cosy Osteria de' Poeti.
Tagliatelle, the ubiquitous tortellini, the "crostoni" and the "crescentine"; repices you will certainly enjoy. Then you can decide to taste some good wine at the Enoteca Italiana, a wine shop very close to Piazza Maggiore.

Our itinerary starts from Piazza di Porta Ravegnana, in front of the two Towers, behind which there is the dome of the Church of San Bartolomeo. Let's proceed on the left of the two towers, where once was the area that delimited the Jewish ghetto, and let's visit the Jewish Musem in via Valdonica. Then we walk toward via Zamboni, the street of the university to admire Palazzo Poggi, seat of the University, and then take via delle Belle Arti to visit the National Picture Gallery. Let's go back and stop in via Petroni where there is the Antica Drogheria Calzolari, colonial-style store with a wide range of wines and typical products. Then, we reach Strada Maggiore, where we should definitely stop and visit the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi with the elegant quadriporticus. If we go ahead, we cross via Fondazza, where painter Giorgio Morandi used to live and used as a subject for his paintings. At number 42 of the Strada Maggiore, there is one of the most interesting buildings in the city, Palazzo Hercolani, today seat of the Political Science Faculty. Let's go inside to take a look at the spectacular flight of steps, then we can also visit the beautiful garden of the Bersaglieri with century-old trees and a nice fountain.

When we reach Porta Maggiore, let's proceed towards the next leg of our itinerary: the Carducci Museum. It is the house where the poet lived until he died and it contains manuscripts, objects he owned and his library. The building overlooks a garden made in 1928 with the statue of Giosuè Carducci in the middle and a group of marble statues representing his poetic ideals. From via Dante we go to via Santo Stefano to visit the
Church of San Giovanni in Monte and then we move to via Castiglione, where there is the Great Hall of the University of Bologna, situated inside the 17th-century deconsecrated church of Santa Lucia, with its unfinished façade. Let's turn to via Cartoleria where the Duse Theatre is. In the same road there is one of the most popular and successful wine shops in Bologna, the Godot Wine Bar, where we can stop for a glass of wine and a taste of typical salami and cheese. Let's now walk along via Castiglione up to via dei Poeti, on the left, and then reach piazza San Domenico. Here, there is the Basilica with the same name, containing the remains of the saint and the popular paintings by Ludovico Carracci, Guido Reni, and Domenichino.

Very close to the Basilica of San Domenico, in via Rolandino, we can have dinner at the Anatra e l'Arancia, an elegant restaurant serving international dishes and some regional specialities. If you do not want to miss one of the best ice-cream parlours of the city, you can have the dessert at the Gelateria delle Moline, in via delle Moline 13/b.