... alla bolognese

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This weekend we went to Bologna. We left Friday afternoon, and caught the fast train. We were able to get there in little time. We spent the rest of Friday walking around the city. One of the distinctive features of the city are its approximate 30 kms of colonnades, the longest being 3.8 kms, starting just outside the city wall to the Basilica of the Madonna of St Luke.

On Saturday, we took off on a walking tour of the city. The tour included the Basilica of San Petronio, the Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio, with its anatomical theatre, the two towers and the Basilicas of Saint Dominic (founder of the Dominicans) and Saint Stephen, with its complex of 7 churches. Amongst the highlights of this tour were the anatomical theatre Archiginnasio, and climbing the Arsinelli tower, at a height of 90 metres. We climbed the 498 steps to the top, and we were rewarded with amazing 360 degree views of Bologna.

After mass on Sunday, we made our way up to the Basilica of the Madonna of Saint Luke. It is located outside of the city centre. Not only does it have an icon of our Lady (allegedly painted by Saint Luke himself), but it also has the longest colonnade leading to it (3.8 km long). As the Basilica is up a hill, we decided to take a tourist train up. Once there, we were only able to enter the crypt, as the basilica was closed because of the recent earthquake. We walked back to Bologna, passing the 666 arches that form the colonnade.

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