Landmark
Piazza Maggiore and the Basilica of San Petronio
Bologna · Emilia-Romagna
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Landmark
- COUNTRY
- Italy
- REGION
- Bologna · Emilia-Romagna
- DURATION
- 1–2 days
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
The Piazza Maggiore is the main square of Bologna, the heart of the medieval city, surrounded by the medieval palazzi of the commune, the Neptune Fountain and the unfinished Gothic façade of the Basilica of San Petronio. San Petronio, begun in 1390, was planned to be larger than St Peter’s in Rome, but the papacy halted the work and the façade was never completed — it still shows its unfinished brick upper wall above the marble lower part. Inside, the church holds the longest meridian line in the world, drawn by Cassini in 1655, and the medieval palazzi around the square — the Palazzo d’Accursio, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Palazzo dei Notai — are the civic architecture of the medieval commune.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
The Piazza Maggiore was laid out in 1200 as the new civic centre of Bologna, when the commune was one of the wealthiest cities of medieval Italy. The Basilica of San Petronio was begun in 1390 by the commune as a civic church dedicated to the city’s patron, St Petronius, and planned on a vast scale. Work stopped in the 16th century when the papacy, alarmed at a church larger than St Peter’s, refused to let it be completed, and the façade remains unfinished. The meridian line inside was set in the floor by the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1655 to measure the solar year and to check the Gregorian calendar. The Neptune Fountain on the square, by Giambologna, dates from 1567.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The unfinished façade — the marble lower part and the bare brick upper wall, the most visible sign of the church’s halted construction.
Cassini’s meridian — the 67-metre brass line in the floor, the longest in the world, used to measure the solar year.
The Neptune Fountain — Giambologna’s 1567 bronze Neptune, the symbol of the city.
The medieval palazzi — the Palazzo d’Accursio (the city hall), the Palazzo del Podestà and the Palazzo dei Notai around the square.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
The Piazza Maggiore is the room in which medieval Bologna governed itself, and San Petronio is the church the commune built to assert its ambition against Rome. The unfinished façade is the visible record of that contest — a city that planned a church larger than the pope’s and was stopped. For a visitor, the square is the natural centre of the city and the place to which every street leads.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
Piazza Maggiore and the Basilica of San Petronio
Piazza Maggiore and the Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
44.4939, 11.3428
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FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Trattoria di Via Serra — a beloved trattoria for handmade pasta and Bolognese classics, book ahead
Osteria Bottega — a wine bar and trattoria for the best tortellini in brodo in the city
Trattoria Anna — a no-frills trattoria in the market quarter for tagliatelle al ragù and boiled meats
Salumeria Simoni — a salumeria in the Quadrilatero for a mortadella sandwich and a glass of Lambrusco
Drogheria della Rosa — a romantic trattoria in a vintage grocery for refined Emilian cooking
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Grand Hotel Majestic gia Baglioni — a grand hotel in a 16th-century palace near the station, with a rooftop
Hotel Porta San Mamolo — a charming garden hotel just inside the old walls, a quiet base
Art Hotel Commercianti — a boutique hotel near the Piazza Maggiore, in a medieval building
Hotel Al Cappello Rosso — a historic hotel near the Piazza Maggiore, in business since 1375
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