The city of Bologna, situating in the centre of Padana Valley and in the crossroads of exchanges, has always been a very important city. In the Iron Age, the Villanoviana civilization build the first village, where now rises up the current Bologna, before called Felsina. After the Villanoviani, there came the Etruscan.
In the VI century bC Felsina became more and more contested between Etruscan, Greeks and Cartaginesi because it is situated in the current Emilia Street, a strategic point for the exchanges. In that period came from the North a few Celtics populations such as Galli Boi, that drove away Etruscan and set them up in Felsina’s (now Bologna's) territory. The Galli Boi were drove away, in turn, by Romans at the end of the Second Punic War and in the 196 bC Felsina was renamed as Bononia. The Roman Bononia was populated by 50000 people and the city developed in a square perimeter of 600 meters divided in districts. It developed in 4 principal and perpendicular streets which are signaled by 4 doors: Rizzoli Street and Ugo Bassi Street, that arranged the biggest "decumano", Galliera Street and D’Aposa Street (consider the torrent where the city born), that arranged the biggest "cardo".
From Roman Bononia remain the service of aqueduct, the archaeological site which is situated below the Sala Borsa Library and different temples. In particular the most important temples were: Iside’s Temple, where now rises up Santo Stefano’s Church, Giano’s Temple, where now rises up San Giovanni in Monte’s Church, Venere’s Temple, where now rises up San Paolo’s Church, Giove Soterio’s Temple, that was situated in the crossroads between the current Ugo Bassi Street and Malpighi Square and Giove Dolicheno’s Temple, where now rises up San Paolo in Ravone’s Church. All of this was both for convenience and because people appropriate of other cultures to change them and also to make them own.
The first walls of Bologna dated back to the period of slow-imperial (roman) decadence and are known with the name of the walls of selenite by the stone they were made from. They helped as protection from barbarian invasions, as shelter from the economic crisis and from the demographic decrease that had depopulated the city until 15000 citizens.
In that period Bologna was governed by ecclesiastical power that maintained the control inside the city. The first bishops were Agricola and Vitale. Their remains are today conserved in Santo Stefano’s Church thanks to the will of the archbishop Ambrogio of Milan. The 4 doors guarded originally the 4 crosses put there by Saint Ambrogio in the year 392, in the current locations of: Ravegnana’s Door, Farini Street, Carbonesi Street and Castello’s Door, which were the main spiritual symbol of the city. They were collocated in San Petronio after the conquest of Bologna from Napoleon 1796.
The medieval City state
Bologna is famous for its towers, its walls and its well-preserved historical centre, which is one of the widest in Italy.
Bologna has acquired many nicknames over the years like 'the learned one' because of its old university (the first one built in Europe), 'the fat one' referred to its famous traditional cuisine, known all over the world and 'the red one' because of the colour of buildings and roof of the historical centre.
Its walls
Bologna has has many sets of wall over the centuries: they reflected the changing of the environment and of the requirements of the city.
In this picture we can see three different walls.
The first one to be built was the red one, between the 4th and the 10th century by the Etruscans. Initially we had four doors and later three other doors were added. The green circle shows the area occupied by the Lombards which was included in the 'Cerchia di Selenite' after the conquest of the city in the 8th century. The name of this area is referred to the material, the selenite, used to build the walls: it's a local dark coloured stone which is a variety of gypsum and is found in transparent crystals.
The yellow circle was built because the city was expanding and new boroughs were born outside the walls: it's called 'Circle of the year 1000' because it was built in that years, but at first people believed it had been built later (in the years of the conflict with Federico Barbarossa).
It was 3,5 km long and it had eighteen doors which were usually named after the streets where they were located, but many of them have been torn down. The doors were also called 'serragli/torresotti' because they were surmounted by a tower.
The third wall was built between 1327 and 1390. This one was 7.6 km long, had twelve doors and was called 'Circla'. This wall was built according to a technique which consisted in preparing two parallel walls with a gap of 1 meter filled with pebbles, tile and sand. We can still see this technique because some parts of the walls are still intact.
Its towers
Bologna was called 'Selva Turrita' because it was the city of towers: there were around 180 towers raised among the 11th and the 12th century. They were a symbol of power and wealth: the taller the tower was, the richer and more powerful the family was. But they also had to protect the city during years of wars.
Many towers were demolished for safety reasons or because people needed to make place for other buildings, but we still have a few left like the tower of Prendiparte, a famous Guelph family which later became military garrison and also a jail and we can still see sentences and marks made by the prisoners on the walls.
But the traditional symbols of Bologna are the two towers Asinelli and Garisenda.
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna, also known as “ALMA MATER STUDIORUM”, is considered the oldest university of Europe.
The “STUDIUM” was founded in 1088 by Irnerius (a jurist and glossarist); in this were studied Roman and Canon law, grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, medicine and pharmacopoeia.
At the beginning the lessons took place in professors’ houses or in rooms rented by the city council, in 1563 the students could finally study in the university’s building (the Archiginnasio palace) and in 1805 the headquarter was moved in Via Zamboni.
The students who studied in Bologna rented houses and books which were very expensive and hardly anyone could afford to buy them.
On the side of the books there were some “gloss” which are notes of persons called precisely glossarist.
The scholars of Bologna were divided in two groups: those who came from a side of the Alps and those who came from the other side of the Alps. A key person in the university was the “rector” aka the dean, who was elected by the students and fully represented them.
The fame of the Studium increased when, in 1158, Frederick Barbarossa invited at the Diet of Roncaglia four students of Irenerius for the purpose of talking about Regalia (his privileges).
During this Diet Frederick wrote HABITA, norms which established that universities are places where research could develop freely and which affirmed the value of scholars of Bologna.
Many important people were at the University of Bologna, among them: Dante Alighieri, Petrarch (two famous italian writers) and Copernicus.
The Liber Paradisus
In 1256 for the first time in human history a governing body abolished slavery and declared the release of the serfs. Bologna had officially been a Medieval City independent from the Emperor since 1116.
This legal deed, also known as “Paradisum voluptatis”, freed all the slaves of the territory of Bologna. During the Roman’s age it was possible for a owner to free one of his slaves with the act of “manumission”, a public ceremony. Bologna, and not only this city, followed Romans’ law, so the only way to abolish slavery, was for the government to buy all the slaves in the city (for 54.014 lire – the currency of that time) as an owner and to free them all. It bought the slaves paying to the owners 10 lire for the ones who were older then 14 and 8 lire for those who were younger.
The officers found 5855 slaves and their research were very thorough because they had to be sure that no one was scamming the government to earn money.
The Commune of Bologna did this for several reasons such as earning more money from the people taxes, creating more manpower, weakening nobility and getting rid of the problem of the mixed marriages between a slave (usually a woman) and a free man.
The document is divided in two main parts: the introduction and the list of the names of all the freed slaves and of the 379 owners.
The first one talks about the Garden of Eden and the Genesis. The original sin generated the hate between people, the devil made the human beings his slaves and the “ancient freedom” that God gave us was recreated by the coming of Jesus Christ. So, if we give to the people the right to be free, we imitate God itself, that’s what is called an “anachronistic process”.
The list is organized putting the name of the owner, then the name of the family man followed by the names of his sons, grouped with a bracket. Near the name of the people younger than 14 there is an “m”.
The book is now stored at the “Archivio di Stato” in Bologna. In 2007 the original manuscript was scanned and published online. In 2008 the Commune of Bologna new seat in the Bonaccorso Palace was launched and the square close to it was named "Liber Paradisus Square".
Churches and convents of Bologna
Bologna and its heroes
THE FOUNTAIN OF NEPTUNE
The Fountain of Neptune is a monumental civic fountain located in the square named Piazza del Nettuno next to Piazza Maggiore in Bologna. Citizens of Bologna nicknamed it in dialect “al Żigànt””, it means giant in italian, because of the big size of the statue.
Pier Donato Cesi, the cardinal legate of the city, wanted this fountain to beautify the new square of Neptune (opened after the destroyment of lots of little buildings) this work had to simbolize the grate pontificial administration of Pope Pio IV.
Pier Donato Cesi committed this work to the founder, from Bologna Zanobio Portigiani, the Palermitan architect Tommaso Laureti, who designed the work in 1563 and Giambologna, a flemish sculptor, who realized an over-lifesize bronze of the Neptune on the top of the fountain. It was completed in 1565 and the Neptune was fixed in place with all the fountain after a couple of years in 1567. Before the fountain was built, an entire building was tear down to make space for it.
The basement of the fountain has three steps, on which is situated a tank made of local boulder and covered by marble of Verona. In the centre of the tank there is a base where there are four Nereids (Neridi) who are touching their breasts. The base is decorated by pontifical emblems and ornaments. the centre of this base raises the Neptune, sculpted by Giambologna’s chisel. The Neptune, is stretching his right hand right up to the sky, almost as if he wanted to placate the waves, is a symbol of the dynastic exaltation of the Pope Pio IV, becoming then the symbol of the political power of the Church in Bologna: just as the Neptune the master of the world. The god Neptune, in fact, resend symbolically to the power that gives wealth and fertility all around him. (caught by wikipedia)
In the middle of the fifth little paragraph there is a curiosity about the statue of the neptune which people of Bologna know.
On the four sides of the marble tank you can see four latin inscriptions which illustrate objectives of the fountain’s building. • Fori Ornamento (built to adorn the square); • Aere Publico (built with citizens money); • Populi Commodo (built for the population use); • MDLXIIII (realized in 1564; actually the date is wrong because the work was finished in 1556)
You can also see the comittants’names reported between the four mermaids. Pius IIII Pont. Max (Pio IV maximum Pope); • Petrus Donatus Caesius Gubernator (Pier Donato Cesi, Cardinal deputy Legate); • Carolus Borromaeus Cardinalis (Carlo Borromeo, Cardinal Legate); • S.P.Q.B. (Senatus Populusque Bonononiensis, Regiment of Bologna).
SOME CURIOSITIES
The Neptune’s tridend has insipred Maserati brothers, they used it as emblemfor their first car, Maserati tipo 26; then they used this simbol as logo for their company.
The legend narrates that befor an important exam, the student in order to ask for luck, has to go around the fountain twice in anticlockwise because also Giambologna went around the pedestal twice thinking at his project and from this started his fame
4 CORNERS OF SECRETS OF BOLOGNA: THE PORCH OF THE POTENTATE: it is located near the fountain of neptune
In stead of keeping your secret, you can reveal it to the potentate’s porch. Under the Arengo’s tower of Re Enzo Palace there is a wonderful special tipe of voult; named "the cross voult" (volta a crocera) it has a fantastic acoustic effect. It can hand down sounds very good. If you speak slow in one of the four corner of the porch, the person who stands at the opposite one will hear and understand all your words. It could be a romantic idea and you could say romantic sentences to your girlfriend, but it could be also a funny game for the children. The history explains us that during the medioeval ages sick people could obtain the religion confession in this way, but this is only one of the thousands legends abuot this beautiful ancd magical place.
THE TWO TOWERS OF BOLOGNA
The two towers are an icon of Bologna and they’re known in all over the world. In the middle ages, our city had a lot of towers: they represented the power of the family that built that tower. Today we can see only 22 towers and the most important are the Garisenda and the Asinelli towers, that are called “Al dau tarr" by the people of Bologna. This expression in dialect means “the two towers” and we can’t imagine the city without them. Here you can find some informations about their history.
The Asinelli tower
The tower was built between 1109 and 1119 and it is 97,20 metre high. It represents the power of Gherardo Asinelli, a noble of our city, and it has belonged to to the municipality of Bologna since XIV century. There is another hypothesis about the origin of the tower: some historians thought that the tower could belong to the second part of the XI century and still today we don’t know exactly its origins. There is a very popular legend about the tower: once upon a time, two burros found a treasure, which contained a lot of money, and the farmer was very happy, but he didn’t say it to anybody. Time later his son wanted to marry a girl, who belonged to an important family and her father said: “If you build a tower, you’ll marry my daughter.” The boy went home and talked with his father, who revealed him that the 2 burros had found a treasure and gave it to his son. The son build the tower and he could marry the beautiful girl. The tower was important for the trade and today we can see some artisans shops to represent the old role of the tower. In the XVI century it was struck by a cannonball, but fortunately the tower resisted and in the XVIII century the tower was used also for scientific experiments. Today a lot of people from all over the world come here to visit the tower. Before you get to the top of it, you’ve to overcome 498 steps.
The Garisenda tower
The tower has an inclination of 3,2 metres and is about 48 metres high, but when it was built (1109-1110), the Garisenda tower was higher than nowadays: between 1351 and 1360 it was curtailed because of its inclination. In the XV century it was bought by the drapers and this tower has been a property of our municipality since XX century, when Raimondo Facchetti, the new owner of the tower, decided to donate it to the municipality. There are a lot of interesting things about the tower; for example Dante Alighieri, one of our most famous poet, wrote about it in his masterpiece, “Divina Commedia”, where Dante compares the giant Anteo to our icon and he says that the tower always seems to fall. Another famous italian writer, Boccaccio, hints to the Garisenda in “Decameron" and also Giosuè Carducci, author of the “Odi Barbare" describes the Garisenda.
CUISINE OF BOLOGNA
Bologna, located in the district of Emilia-Romagna, is well known for its artifacts and cuisine. Although Italy as a whole, is famous for its dishes, Bologna is identified as one of the best cities to find the right dishes, where these were born. Starting from “Tortellini in brodo”, “Tagliatelle al Ragù”, “Lasagne Verdi”, “Mortadella”, “Torta di riso” to the “Bonzarone Cabernet Sauvignon DOC”.
“TORTELLINI IN BROTH”
“Turtlén bulgnais” in the Bolognese dialect.
Portion for 8-10 people.
Ingredients:
for the dough: 7 eggs, 700 gr of flour.
Filling: 300 gr of pork loin, 300 gr of mortadella, 300 gr of raw ham, 150 gr of grated parmesan, 1 egg, nutmeg, salt.
For the making: beef broth of capon or chicken.
History and curiosity of Tortellini: Tortellini can be made in various ways but the most traditional way is in Broth, for Bolognese people eating Tortellini with cream or with butter and sage is a heresy.It is one of the most eaten dishes for the important festivities as Christmas, New Year’s Eve, birthday parties and weddings.The legend says that in the medieval Italy where Venus and Jupiter reached a inn on the sprawls of Bologna one night, exhausted from their contribution in a fight between Modena and Bologna, they shared a room after they had eaten and drunk.The landlord, enthralled by the two, went down and peered through the keyhole.Whatever he could see was only Venus' navel. Enchanted, he ran away to the kitchen and set up tortellini trying to recreate the navel he had seen.
“TAGLIATELLE WITH RAGU’ SAUCE”
“Tiredi a man, cun la canela” (Bolognese dialect) it means made by hand with the rolling pin.
Portion for 4 people.
Ingredients: 400 gr of Ragù bolognese sauce which is made of pulp of pork, veal and beef, sweet pork belly, dry white wine,beef broth, concentrated tomato sauce, butter, onion, carrot, celery and milk or cream (not compulsory)
400 gr of flour, 4 eggs, salt, grated parmesan.
History and curiosity of Tagliatelle: here we have another famous dish which for sure comes from Bologna, a fresh pasta made of dough and eggs instead of the typical durum wheat pasta.According to the legend, because the origins of the tagliatelle are hardly traceable in history, the poet Horace in 35 BC talks of a pasta cooked with chickpeas: the “Lagane”, the term which already occurred in other previous preparations, can intuitively bring us to the most known “Lasagne”.Anyway coming back to the tagliatelle, they were invented in 1487 by Mastro Zefirano, a chef, at the request of Giovanni II of Bentivoglio, Lord of Bologna, on the occasion of the marriage of Lucrezia Borgia with the Duke Alfonso D’Este of Ferrara.It is said that the chef was inspired by the beautiful blond hair of Lucrezia Borgia.
“GREEN LASAGNE”
Portion for 8 people.
Ingredients: 1 kg of Ragù bolognese sauce which is made of pulp of pork, veal and beef, sweet pork belly, dry white wine,beef broth, concentrated tomato sauce, butter,onion, carrot, celery and milk or cream (not compulsory)
400 gr of grated parmesan
for the bechamel sauce: 100 gr of flour, 1 liter of fresh milk, salt and nutmeg, 200 gr of butter
for the green dough: 700 gr of flour, 3 eggs, 350 gr of boiled spinach, well squeezed and minced.
History and curiosity of Lasagne: the lasagna, whose name derives from the Latin làganum (soft), is a tasty dish whose origins come from even the Greek-Roman era.Nowadays it remains only the same name as the oldest lasagna, once there were very different variations from the current one. There are documents, for example as Isidoro from Seville (VI / VII century), who explains us in his work “Etymologiae” that pasta first is boiled and then is fried and intercalated by pies of various meat or cooked in the oven with layers of minced meat.It is during the Middle Ages that we begin to find detailed recipes in which the lasagna begins to take its modern form.The diffusion during this period made them so famous that many poets of the period praised them, for example Jacopone da Todi in Umbria.In Emilia with the advent of egg in the pasta, during the Renaissance period, the recipe was personalized using egg pasta instead of simple wheat flour dough.
Italian: "Chi guarda a maggioranza spesse volte si inganna.Granel di pepe vince per virtù la lasagna".
English: "Who looks for a mojority, most of the time deceives him/herself.The pepper's grain wins for virtue the lasagna".
- Jacopone da Todi.
“MORTADELLA BOLOGNA IGP”
WEB SITE :
Ingredients: national pork meat obtained from striated musculature, salt, pistachio (not compulsory), black pepper whole or in pieces (not compulsory)
History and curiosity of Mortadella: the Mortadella Bologna IGP is made only with cooked pork of high quality.In addition to the characteristic of the cylindrical shape, what makes easy to recognize this mortadella is the intense smell, with a slightly deviled scent and the color that has become a symbol: the rose.For the origins of Mortadella Bologna IGP we have to go back to the 16th century.Later, throughout the Renaissance until today the production of mortadella has never stopped, becoming a real culinary and cultural heritage.As hundreds years ago, even today, through the consortium of protection, established in 2001, and its disciplinary, the mortadella is defended, valued and guaranteed. Through the name of geographical indication, the relationship is widespread with the territory that has made this meat and its tradition great. The Mortadella of Bologna IGP, in fact, can be produced in some areas of central and northern Italy, Emilia Romagna and Lombardy, where it was born and grew with work and passion for several centuries.
“RICE CAKE”
Ingredients: 1 liter of milk, 200 gr of rice, 200 gr of candied sugar, 100 gr of vanilla sugar, 3 egg yolks, 3 whole eggs, 100 gr of peeled almonds, 100 gr of candied cedar, 1 shot of almond liqueur, cinnamon, cloves, peel of a lemon, pinch of salt
History and curiosity of Rice cake: this cake also known as “Torta degli Addobbi” is probably one of the oldest desserts of the Bolognese culinary tradition. Its origins are linked to the famous Feast of Decorations, established since the end of the seventeenth century in the city and in which it was used to expose many colored drapes to the windows, as a sign of celebration.During the festival, the image of Corpus Domini was carried in the procession, accompanied by the band and the parish songs and the houses, decorated with drapes and flowers, were open to neighbors, whom this particular cake of rice was offered to.The spread of sweets based on rice in the Emilia-Romagna region is due to the "mondine", the girls of peasant families (especially of the Apennines) that in the post-war period went to seasonal work in the rice fields of the northern Italy. It was a backbreaking job, these women who were strong and tireless, worked for eight-nine hours in the water with their backs bent. The contract provided that each worker was paid, besides the salary, with a kilogram of white rice originating for each day of service and without deduction on the payroll.
“BONZARONE CABERNET SAUVIGNON DOC”
WEB SITE:
Bonzarone is a wine obtained from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes produced from vineyards of fifteen years old. The "Cabernet sauvignon Bonzarone" wine is one of the most important products of the Bonzara Company in the province of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region. The "Cabernet sauvignon Bonzarone" is a still and dry red wine.Food matching: dishes based on grilled red meats and seasoned dried cheeses.
Serving temperature: 18 ° C. The grapes are harvested by hand and in boxes after a careful selection started with the thinning operation. The aim is to produce grapes and wine rich in polyphenols and extract. The winemaking with long maceration on the skins completes the formation of a wine with a high and elegant structure. After malolactic fermentation, the wine refines for 12 months in French oak barriques and finally goes in the bottle to remain there 12 months before being put on the market.
History and curiosity of Bonzarone: In the 1500s the land of San Chierlo was cultivated by theexpert in winemaking Berghetti's hands. Angelo Lambertini bought a property about hundred hectares in San Chierlo di Monte San Pietro and decided very soon to produce wine in this place.At the beginning of the '60s there were loading the foundations for the enhancement of the Bologna Hills area and Angelo Lambertini was definitely the protagonist of this process, of course with other producers. The first bottlings and the first labels date back to 1970.From this there was a growing, of commitment and enthusiasm, which stopped only in 1986, when at 76 years of age, the founder passed away.This enthusiasm, however, was contagious and soon passed on to his son Francesco, who in the last years of his life had joined him in running the company and other family interests. Today the technical management and production responsibility are entrusted to Dr. Walter Iannini, winemaker who has developed numerous experiences over time and who is currently working on the renewal of the business production structure and the range of our wines.
The WEB sites that I used are:wikipedia, bolognawelcome, bonzara, signorvino, lorenzovinci, lapastadibologna, lacucinaitaliana, taccuinistorici, aifb, bolognatoday, cittadarte.emilia-romagna, google.
FASI DEL LAVORO: Abbiamo diviso il lavoro in tre parti:
-Marco si è occupato del lavoro sulle due torri di Bologna (27 febbraio 3 marzo)
-Alice ha lavorato alla statua del Nettuno in Piazza Maggiore ( 27 febbraio, 3 e 5 marzo)
-Francesca ha invece approfondito in merito al campo culinario bolognese (1 marzo 4 marzo)
Ognuno ha lavorato a casa e in modo individuale, confrontando poi alla fine i tre approfondimenti per eventuali correzioni. Le correzioni sono state svolte da tutti e tre insieme. Le immagini sono state scelte tra quelle a disposizione gratuitamente sul sito di Adobe Spark.
Credits:
Created with images by WordRidden - "Basilica di Santo Stefano" • belgianchocolate - "fontana del nettuno" • Dimitris Graffin - "Fountain of Neptune (Fontana del Nettuno), Bologna" • Dimitris Graffin - "Torri Garisenda & Asinelli, Bologna" • Gaspa - "Le Due Torri da Lontano" • Dimitris Graffin - "Torri Garisenda & Asinelli, Bologna"