Palazzo d'Accursio
Overlooking Piazza Maggiore, Palazzo d'Accursio or Palazzo Comunale is one of the most spectacular buildings in Bologna. The palace takes its name from Accursio, a jurist from Bologna who lived between the 12th and 13th centuries, and who at the time lived on the porticoed side of the building, the one on which the clock tower stands.
Following his death, the palace was ceded to the City of Bologna, which first made it a warehouse to store public grain supplies and later a residence for the Anziani Consoli. Palazzo d'Accursio thus became the official seat of city power.
The exterior of Palazzo d'Accursio
The façade of Palazzo d'Accursio opens directly onto
Piazza Maggiore. Its centrepiece is the large central portal designed by Galeazzo Alessi and Domenico Tibaldi, on whose sides various spaces open up today. The crenellated building on the left, which in the 16th century housed the cardinal legate, governor of the city, now houses the offices of the Palazzo Comunale.
On the right there’s a very special place. It is the
Sala Borsa library, a public space opened in 2001 with a beautiful glass and cast-iron structure. Sala Borsa was built on the site of the
former botanical garden, founded by the naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi with the aim of showing medical students the plants to be used for the medicines prepared at the time.
The façade of this quadrangular complex features numerous decorative elements. Among the artists who contributed to the embellishment of the palace are
Niccolò dell'Arca, to whom we owe the terracotta statue of the Madonna and Child, and even Michelangelo, to whom one of the small eagles below the sandstone window to the right of the main portal is attributed.
But there is another statue that stands out on the façade, and it is that of
Pope Gregory XIII, made in bronze in 1580 and placed above the portal. Gregory XIII, born Ugo Boncompagni, was an important Pope for the city because he was born in Bologna, where the family palace still stands today (
Palazzo Boncompagni).
Also worth noting are the
ancient units of measurement carved on the base of the palace, such as the braccio, pertica and piede Bolognese, used as a reference point for the construction of bricks and roof tiles.
What to see inside Palazzo d'Accursio
The interior of Palazzo d'Accursio is full of works of art to be discovered. Entering through the central door and climbing the staircase attributed to Bramante, you reach the second floor, once the residence of the cardinal legate and now home to the
Collezioni Comunali d'Arte.
In addition to a vast collection of paintings, inside we find the beautiful Sala Boschereccia, which houses the
statue of Apollino by Antonio Canova, and the
Sala Urbana, an impressive place frescoed with the coats of arms of prominent figures linked to the city of Bologna between 1327 and 1744.
Finally, not to be missed is the Farnese Chapel, decorated with a cycle of stories about the city, and the magnificent view of Piazza Maggiore that can be enjoyed from the windows of the palace.
