So we’d walked to and back from San Luca, the sanctuary up on the hill, through the stunning porticoes. We passed through Porta Saragozza and walked until we found a quiet café for refreshment, out of the sun for a little while. Full of sandwiches and a cool drink we walked towards the centre, we’d been through this area on our first evening wander and soon arrived at Piazza Galvani at the back of the huge Basilica di San Petronio. As we hid under Portico del Pavaglione and started heading for the main square, we were distracted to our right by an arch into Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio. I hadn’t done any investigations into what this was, but it was decorated beautifully inside and we decided not to pay to enter the other parts, which turns out was a mistake as its a 16th century wooden hall used for anatomy lectures plus a large library, I guess that’s what return visits are for! Still we enjoyed the walk around the covered square and nose at a small anatomy exhibition. Next we wandered into Piazza Maggiore and enjoyed the views of Palazzo d’Accursio, Palazzo Re Enzo (Torre dell’Arengo) and Basilica di San Petronio, now it was time to head into the Basilica. San Petronio is the patron saint of Bologna and the Basilica’s façade is unfinished which white marble on the lower portion with brick above. The inside is vast, a huge gothic chamber of columns and vaults, a huge altar and 22 side chapels, at times it was like an art gallery, but then again this is what Italian churches are like. But this one had an ace up its sleeve, a 67 metre sundial built by the astronomer Cassini, where at midday on the summer solstice the sun comes through a hole on the roof hitting the mark on the sundial. We eventually left the basilica and headed around to Neptune’s fountain, before heading off for home along Via Ugo Bassi and Via San Felice. That evening we saved our feet by walking 100 metres from the door to a pizzeria, for a first taste of some superb Italian food. The next day saw a country wide train strike, so we decided to remain in Bologna, for a third day, and climb a tower!
Piazza Galvani was first up after our late lunch, here is the back of the Basilica di San Petronio and on the right is Portico del Pavaglione. Full of shops and one intriguing archway, we went for a lookPalazzo dell’Archiginnasio, holding the 16th century wooden hall used for anatomy lectures plus a large library. The walls in this square were full of art and murialsArchways all decoratedA small anatomy exhibition was free to look around, it was of Wolfgang Dauber’s work, part of his Pocket Atlas of Human Anatomy book
Happy on holiday
Stunning areas and vaulted ceilingsWe’d had a sit before leaving to head into the main squareWalking along the side of Basilica di San PetronioThe front of Basilica di San Petronio, it was started in 1390 and a new larger version was considered in 1514, as you can see it is unfinished with marble only part way up and the inner brickwork still on show higher up. Pope Pius IV stopped the larger basilica from being built as it would have been bigger than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, instead he asked for the Archiginnasio to be built. The marble was added in 1538 and it is likely that Pope Pius’ ruling stopped this as well. The church runs slightly off north south which will become important when we get inside.Piazza Maggiore with Palazzo d’Accursio (Torre dell’Orologio) left and Torre Dell’Arango rightInside the vast Basilica, chapels are either side, 22 in all. We spot something intriguing in the small roped off area bottom left
Linda volunteers to guard the front doors! Wouldn’t fancy rehanging these
The part on the floor is marked as December, the winter solstice. This is right by the door in the above picture and marks the start of the sundial line. If you look up from here you will see a small seat at an angle on a window ledge, from there Cassini sat to plan his creation in 1655
June and the crab of Cancer. The sun hits the round circle on 21st June. The accuracy is still astonishing and is only very slightly off due to changes in the earth’s orbit
Summer solstice, the 67 metre sundial meridian line, built by the astronomer Cassini.
The line runs on past the June solstice, high above is the hole surrounded by the sun. Here the sun shines in at midday on 21st June hitting the solstice point. The meridian line naturally runs north and south, Cassini’s creation misses the columns perfectly showing that the church in this case does not run east west like most do
A few candles for our children
Artwork in the Basilica
The huge altar. The organ is one of the oldest in the world from 1476
Looking back through the bascilica
A stunning side chapel as we head for the exit
Gelato is needed after all that culture, I went for pistachio and stracciatella
Linda had tiramisu
Neptune’s fountain as we headed home after a long day
We didn’t fancy heading far for tea, luckily the pizzeria 100 metres from the flat was superb. The young waiter was superb and we chatted about his education and what he was looking to do in the future. A brilliant end to a fantastic day, with plans for more Bologna the next day.
12 thoughts on “Bologna Day 2 (part 2) – Basilica di San Petronio”
The meridian line looks extraordinary. The accuracy is phenomenal. It’s really quite mind-blowing that this is essentially a huge scientific instrument dating from the seventeenth century… and that it was built in a Roman Catholic Basilica to seek answers to questions that the Roman Catholic Church didn’t want to ask and certainly didn’t want answered. Cassini was clearly not only a great astronomer but also a great diplomat, never making explicit statements about the theory that the sun is the centre of the Universe and hence managing to pursue his research without falling out with the authorities. Thanks for sharing.
Cassini worked at the University, I guess Bologna Uni, being one of the most important educational sites in the world, perhaps held some weight in the church
I’ve been to Tuscany, so Florence, Pisa and Siena, also Rome. But I’ve missed off the northern cities like Milan, Bologna, Bergamo, Turin, so wanted to see more of those areas. And maybe in the future Sicily/Puglia area as well
What an amazing place, my eldest would all the science that went into the sundial and Meredian work. And Italian Gelato, nothing even comes close anywhere else we’ve been. Very dark chocolate and cherry was my favourite combo!
treksandtors 
The meridian line looks extraordinary. The accuracy is phenomenal. It’s really quite mind-blowing that this is essentially a huge scientific instrument dating from the seventeenth century… and that it was built in a Roman Catholic Basilica to seek answers to questions that the Roman Catholic Church didn’t want to ask and certainly didn’t want answered. Cassini was clearly not only a great astronomer but also a great diplomat, never making explicit statements about the theory that the sun is the centre of the Universe and hence managing to pursue his research without falling out with the authorities. Thanks for sharing.
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Cassini worked at the University, I guess Bologna Uni, being one of the most important educational sites in the world, perhaps held some weight in the church
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Why did you choose Bologna, Steve? There are so many lovely Italian cities and this is one I haven’t been to so thanks for playing tour guide xx
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I’ve been to Tuscany, so Florence, Pisa and Siena, also Rome. But I’ve missed off the northern cities like Milan, Bologna, Bergamo, Turin, so wanted to see more of those areas. And maybe in the future Sicily/Puglia area as well
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It’s a lovely country xx
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I know I should be commenting on the architecture and the culture which are amazing, but my highlight is that tiramisu – YUM!
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The gelato is just very good in Italy, so can’t argue with that
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I too could dive into that tirimisu gelato. And the pizzas look heavenly too. 🙂
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That gelato didn’t last long at all!!
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What an amazing place, my eldest would all the science that went into the sundial and Meredian work. And Italian Gelato, nothing even comes close anywhere else we’ve been. Very dark chocolate and cherry was my favourite combo!
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The meridian line was a mind blowing thing to see and as with everything Italian it had to look good in marble as well
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Stunning. The gelato and pizza looks delicious.
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