All the monuments in Bologna
The landmarks and masterpieces worth planning a day around.
SquarePiazza MaggioreSan Petronio's unfinished facade, Giambologna's Neptune fountain, summer film screenings, civic palacesBologna built this square across the twelfth to fifteenth centuries and has never stopped using it, for debates, protests, summer film screenings and daily life alike. San Petronio's facade closes off the southeast side still half clad in raw stone, its marble veneer abandoned mid-thought when funds meant for the church were redirected to build a university palace instead. Palazzo d'Accursio, the seat of city government, faces it from the west, while the adjoining Piazza del Nettuno adds Giambologna's bronze fountain of Neptune, cast in 1567 and still startling for how much flesh the sculptor found in bronze. Together the squares form the civic heart of Bologna, ringed by porticoes that let the crowds gather rain or shine.Plan the visit
Le Due TorriTwo Towers of BolognaAsinelli and Garisenda towers, medieval lean, Dante's Inferno reference, Bologna's skyline since 1119Of the dozens of defensive towers medieval Bologna's rival families once built, only a handful survive, and none rival the pairing at Porta Ravegnana: the Asinelli, at 97 meters the taller of the two, and its shorter, more dramatically tilted neighbor, the Garisenda. Both went up between 1109 and 1119, and Dante mentions the Garisenda's lean directly in the Inferno, comparing a giant he meets to the tower as seen from beneath its overhang. For decades, climbing the Asinelli's 498 steps for a view over Bologna's red rooftops was the city's classic small ordeal. The Garisenda’s lean is a genuine structural concern, and both towers still dominate Piazza di Porta Ravegnana.
Portico di San LucaUNESCOPortico of San LucaLongest portico in the world, 666 arches over 3,796 meters, annual Madonna descent each May, UNESCO listing since 2021Nothing else in the world matches this covered walkway for sheer length: 3,796 meters and 666 arches climbing from the city gate at Porta Saragozza to the hilltop Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, built between 1674 and 1739 specifically to shelter an annual procession carrying a Byzantine icon of the Madonna down into Bologna each spring. Bolognesi walk it today for fitness, for penance, or simply for the view that opens up gradually as the arches climb the Colle della Guardia, and UNESCO recognized the whole system of Bologna's porticoes, this one included, as a World Heritage Site in 2021. Every May, the icon still makes the same descent it was built to protect.
Tours worth booking in Bologna
Compared by our editors, across providers.
Booking through these links may earn Italia Magnifica a commission, at no cost to you.
- Viator
- 2h
- 5.0★ · 7 reviews
from €25Book this tour- Viator
- 2h 40m
- 5.0★ · 20 reviews
from €160Book this tour- Viator
- 2h
- 5.0★ · 10 reviews
from €95Book this tour- Viator
- 1h
- 5.0★ · 14 reviews
from €130Book this tour- Viator
- 3h 40m
- 5.0★ · 64 reviews
from €95Book this tour- Viator
- 7h
- 5.0★ · 32 reviews
from €145Book this tour
More within reach
Monuments a day trip away, elsewhere in Emilia-Romagna.
Castell'ArquatoCastell'ArquatoRocca Viscontea fortress, Collegiata church piazza, Gutturnio wine country, fossil badlands
RavennaUNESCOBasilica of San VitaleJustinian and Theodora mosaics, octagonal Byzantine plan, sixth-century splendor
ModenaUNESCOModena CathedralRomanesque masterwork of Lanfranco and Wiligelmo, Genesis facade reliefs, the leaning Ghirlandina tower, Piazza Grande ensemble
RavennaUNESCOMausoleum of Galla PlacidiaGold-star vault, Good Shepherd mosaic, alabaster windows, Cole Porter legend
RavennaUNESCOBasilica of Sant'Apollinare NuovoProcessions of martyrs and virgins, Theodoric's palace church, twenty-six Christ scenes, nave-length mosaics
ModenaUNESCOGhirlandina TowerModena's emblem, stolen bucket legend, Sala dei Torresani, Gothic spire
ParmaParma Cathedral and BaptisteryCorreggio's dome ascension, Antelami's pink baptistery, Romanesque ensemble, Benedetto's Deposition
RiminiTempio MalatestianoAlberti's Renaissance facade, Sigismondo's pagan church, Piero della Francesca fresco, Giotto crucifix