SEE & DO
BENTIVOGLIO CHAPEL: On Saturday
mornings, volunteers open this 15th-century,
spectacularly frescoed chapel in the Basilica
of San Giacomo Maggiore. The fresco, The
Triumph of Death, has a scythe-wielding
skeleton leaping from a tomb to join its
oxen-riding mates, while on the other wall is
a photo-like portrait of local dignitaries, the
Bentivoglio family. This is also the time to see
Cimabue’s huge Virgin and tuty-haired child
at Santa Maria dei Servi, a few streets over.
MUSEO CIVICO ARCHEOLOGICO: Bologna’s
archaeological museum reopened in
December 2019 with an exhibition on
the Etruscans (the pre-Roman Italians).
Highlights include a leg-shaped perfume
lask, elaborate gold and amber jewellery, and
an urn featuring a human squaring of with
mythical beasts en route to the aterlife. It’s
open until 24 May. etruschibologna.it
CATHEDRAL: Get to grips with Bologna’s
famous towers by climbing the cathedral
bell tower, open on Saturday aternoons. You
get two for the price of one here — a 13th-
century square tower built around an earlier
round one, with a ramp between the two
whisking you 230t to the top. You’ve also got
a perfect view of the tower-pricked skyline,
Piazza Maggiore and Bologna’s signature
twin medieval towers, leaning tipsily. Ater
coming back down to earth, nip into the
crypt to check out the early-Christian and
Roman remains, including a brick with a
Roman dog’s paw print.
UNDERGROUND: Underneath the glass-
loored Salaborsa (the former stock
exchange, now a library) in Piazza Maggiore
are remains from the ancient city of Bononia,
with walkways cantilevered above the
2,000-year-old streets. A Sunday aternoon
crypt tour with Succede solo a Bologna ofers
access to four normally closed crypts, from
the frail arches of the fourth-century San
Zama to San Agricola and Vitale, where the
city’s patron saints are said to have been
martyred. succedesoloabologna.it
QUADRILATERO: Get stuck into the city’s
mythical food scene in this tangle of alleys
east of Piazza Maggiore. Dating back to
medieval times, the area has been home to
delis, greengrocers and bars. Top picks are
Simoni for ham and cheese and Atti for rice
pudding. salumeriasimoni.it paoloatti.com
BASILICA DI SAN DOMENICO: Visit the pretty
cloister and choir seats, deliciously carved
with scenes of everyday Renaissance life;
linger at the marble sarcophagus of St
Dominic, sculpted by Nicola Pisano, with
delicate saints around the top by Niccolò
dell’Arca and a young Michelangelo.
SAN MICHELE IN BOSCO: In the hills behind
San Domenico, this is a monastery-turned-
hospital with jaw-dropping views over the
city. The door to the right of the church altar
whisks you into an otherworldly Renaissance
corridor with a periscope-efect view of the
318t Asinelli Tower; down the staircase are
peaceful cloisters, including an octagonal
one frescoed by the Carracci brothers.Navel gazing // he
neatly rounded shape
of tortellini is said to
be based on Venus’s
navel. he original
recipe dates back
to the Middle Ages
and is kept in the
city archives
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Strolling
in the shade of the city’s porticoes;
tortellini in brodo at Da Nello; an exhibit
at the MAMbo modern art museum;
father and son owners at Formaggeria
Barbieri in Mercato delle Erbe
PREVIOUS PAGES: Salumeria Simoni, a
family-run meat and cheese shop in the
Quadrilatero, an area famous for crafts
and mercantile trading150 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
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