Piazza Maggiore
The true heart of Bologna, Piazza Maggiore is a must-see for anyone visiting the city. The square originated in the early 13th century as a marketplace, later moved to Piazza VIII Agosto, and as the seat of the city government which was moved from the area of San Pietro to where the offices of the Bologna City Council still reside today.
Being 115 metres long and 60 metres wide, Piazza Maggiore is one of the largest squares in Europe which in summer hosts a well-known open-air cinema and is overlooked by several important buildings in the city. In the centre there is the so-called 'crescentone', the raised platform crossed by hundreds of people every day, whose corners still show signs of the Polish and American tanks that arrived here in 1945 at the end of World War II.
What to see in Piazza Maggiore
The tour of the buildings and monuments facing Piazza Maggiore starts with
Palazzo d'Accursio, located on the west side. Built several times since the 14th century at the behest of the
jurist Accursio, the palace is now the seat of the Bologna City Hall and of the Municipal Art Collections. On the façade, above the entrance portal, we can admire the
statue of Gregory XIII, a Bolognese pope known for having introduced the Gregorian calendar still in use today.
Not far from Palazzo d'Accursio is the
Fountain of Neptune created by Tommaso Laureti in 1563, boasting Giambologna's wonderful statue of the god of the sea. The fountain had the great merit of bringing clean water to the people of Bologna, as well as embellishing the square with a masterpiece of art and engineering. In more recent times, the famous car manufacturer Maserati was inspired by Neptune's trident to create its company logo.
Moving to the north side of the square we can see the
Palazzo del Podestà, the
Torre dell'Arengo and the Palazzo Re Enzo, named after the son of Frederick II, King of Germany, who was imprisoned inside the building for 23 years. Enzo was captured following the Battle of Fossalta and lived imprisoned in the palace until the end of his days.
To the east is
Palazzo dei Banchi, a long façade built by Vignola from 1565 onwards to level this side of the square and disguise the four-sided market that still opens up behind it.
Then there is the
Palazzo dei Notai, on the southern side, near the Basilica of San Petronio. The building once housed the headquarters of the order of notaries, as denoted by the three inkwells decorating the façade.
The Basilica of San Petronio
With its peculiar unfinished façade and imposing dimensions, the Basilica is perhaps
the most symbolic building in Piazza Maggiore. Its construction lasted more than three centuries, starting in 1390, designed by Antonio Di Vincenzo and financed by the people of Bologna, who wanted to underline their independence from the papacy with this gesture. As proof of this will, it was decided to build the basilica with a north-south orientation, the opposite of the one traditionally adopted for cathedrals.This way, the risk of it becoming a symbol of the Pope’s power was averted.
