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Pavaglione, Banchi e Piazza Maggiore

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Pavaglione, Banchi e Piazza Maggiore

pavaglione,banchi,piazzamaggiore

This component comprises one of the most important and best conserved public spaces of medieval origin of all Europe, which was later transformed into a political forum in the renaissance period. It is composed of Piazza Maggiore, Piazza Re Enzo and Piazza del Nettuno with its monumental fountain by Giambologna (16th century). 

The long porticoed structure of exceptional architectural value unites all the principal public buildings of Bologna – starting with the medieval renovation of the platea communis – uses a shared formal language. It forms a monumental promenade with architectural characteristics that boldly stand out in the historic city. Of particular importance here are the Pavaglione, the longest continuous portico of Bologna, the Archiginnasio portico, originally the headquarters of the University, and the porticoes of the surrounding structures, which were built to harmoniously connect to it.

The continuation with the past was also preserved in its purposes, which remained substantially unchanged over the centuries.

pavaglione,banchi,piazzamaggiore
Pavaglione, Banchi e Piazza Maggiore

Point of interest

vista del palazzo comunale con palazzo dei notai sullo sfondo

Town Hall

Town Hall

The Town Hall is the result of a series of acquisitions that began in 1287, with the arrival of the first magistrates in a tower...

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Palazzo dei Notai

Palazzo dei Notai

Over the centuries, the Palazzo, featuring an outstanding Ghibelline battlement, was the headquarters of the Society of Notaries from which it takes its name. It...

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Palazzo del Podestà

Palazzo del Podestà

As of 1201 it was the first Municipality headquarters. In 1472 the building was completely rebuilt, under the ruling of Giovanni II Bentivoglio, who wanted...

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Palazzo Ratta Agucchi

Palazzo Ratta Agucchi

The spacious porticoed building that extends from Piazza Galvani as far as Via D’Azeglio is the result of the transformation of a series of properties...

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vista di palazzo re enzo da piazza del nettuno

Palazzo Re Enzo

Palazzo Re Enzo

Its name derives from King Enzo, son of Federico Barbarossa, who was imprisoned there by the Bolognese rulers from 1249 until his death in 1272.The...

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VISTA DELLA PIAZZA VERSO SAN PETRONIO

Piazza Galvani

Piazza Galvani

The square was inaugurated by Pope Pius IV in coincidence with the construction of the portico and the Archiginnasio building in 1563. This property had...

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Portico della Morte

Portico della Morte

A first portico was erected in the 15th century to protect the entrance of the church of Santa Maria della Morte, and stands almost on...

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Neptune Fountain

Neptune Fountain

The fountain stands in a square which was specially built in 1564. Tommaso Laureti was responsible for the hydraulic and architectural works, while the realisation...

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Palazzo del Modernissimo

Palazzo del Modernissimo

Alessandro Ronzani a brewery owner, had a tavern in Palazzo Lambertini, an ancient building in the heart of the Mercato di Mezzo. It is a...

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vista di piazza maggiore verso san petronio e portico dei banchi

Piazza Maggiore

Piazza Maggiore

The heart of Bologna. This is the Platea communis, the town square created in the thirteenth century to house the City Council chambers in the...

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front of the building

Palazzo dei Banchi

Palazzo dei Banchi

Between 1407 and 1412, a loggia was built to bring order to the humble and very densely-constructed buildings of the market area facing the east...

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facciata della basilica di san petronio presa da palazzo del podestà

Basilica of San Petronio

Basilica of San Petronio

The 7th of June 1390 saw the laying of the first stone of this great church that the Municipality of Bologna decided to dedicate to...

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Check out the contributions related to this component

Porticoes as veins

They are houses with the colour of the earth: the colour of the fruits of the earth, where the weight of time and the sky has passed with sun and rain. The colours of the countryside: the red of apples, the amber of wheat and pumpkin, the purple of wine, the green of hay. These are colours that ferment and effervesce in the hot weather, merging into a single matter that ignites and releases its aroma.

A strong, pungent smell of earth and ripe fruit. A substance that continuously decomposes and is reborn in a new form as new life.

Thus continues the life of the city, which extends like a growing body. It is supported by a sense and, arguably, a skeletal residue of ancient architecture, and the partitioning and zoning of neighbourhoods and urban areas.

The porticoes are like veins; they are the vascular system of this great harmonious body.

The porticoes can be explained by Bologna's rural and agricultural origins in the Emilia heartlands. There they provided shelter not only for men, but also for animals and work tools. There is still a memory, and indeed an example, of such structures in the surrounding countryside. On the outward approach to the ancient gates, and thus the countryside then abounding on the city outskirts, the rural character of Bolognese architecture of the past becomes more vividly apparent. Like a natural decorative frieze, the terrain is adorned with the green of hedges and vegetable gardens. Where factories and foundries now roar, cultivated vegetable gardens once pressed upon the city walls. Even among the new buildings, we can still see traces of that time and of its houses, steeped with the significance of the land and its inhabitants.”

GIUSEPPE RAIMONDI

Bologna. Portici come vene, in “Tuttitalia. Enciclopedia dell’Italia antica e moderna”, fasc. 3, 15 febbraio 1961, Firenze-Novara, pp. 92-94.