Bologna Attractions

The Fountain of Neptune (Fontana di Nettuno) is a monumental civic fountain located in the eponymous square, Piazza Nettuno, next to Piazza Maggiore, in Bologna, Italy Its bronze figure of Neptune, extending his reach in a lordly gesture of stilling and controlling the waters, is an early work of Giambologna's maturity, completed about 1567. An innovation of Giambologna's fountain designs is the fantastic and non-geometrical forms he gave to the basins into which water splashed and flowed, "curiously folded, bulging and elastic in form", as Rosalind Grippi remarked. The fountain is a model example of Mannerist taste of the courtly elite in the mid-sixteenth century: construction of the statue was commissioned by the Cardinal Legate of the city, Charles Borromeo, to symbolize the fortunate recent election of Borromeo's uncle as Pope Pius IV.

Piazza Maggiore is a large pedestrian square located in the monumental center of the old part of the city (Bologna, Italy). It was created in its present appearance in the 13th century. The square is surrounded by the Palazzo dei Notai, the Palazzo d'Accursio, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Basilica of San Petronio. The square is surrounded by the Basilica of San Petronio, the City Hall Building, the portico dei Banchi and the Palazzo del Podestà.

The Towers of Bologna are a group of medieval structures in Bologna, Italy. The two most prominent ones, also called the Two Towers, are the landmark of the city. The Two Towers, both of them leaning, are the symbol of the city. They are located at the intersection of the roads that lead to the five gates of the old ring wall (mura dei torresotti). The taller one is called the Asinelli while the smaller but more leaning tower is called the Garisenda. Their names derive from the families which are traditionally credited for their construction between 1109 and 1119. However, the scarcity of documents from this early period makes this in reality rather uncertain. The name of the Asinelli family, for example, is documented for the first time actually only in 1185, almost 70 years after the presumed construction of the tower which is attributed to them.

The Basilica of San Petronio is the main church of Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates the Piazza Maggiore. It is the fifth largest church in the world, stretching for 132 meters in length and 60 in width, while the vault reaches 45 meters inside and 51 meters in the facade. It can contain about 28,000 persons. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. The Basilica houses an invaluable number of treasures such as the sundial by Cassini and Guglielmini, which indicates the exact period of the current year at all times, the "S. Rocco" by Parmigianino and the marvelous Bolognini Chapel. From the left nave of the basilica, the visitor can gain access to the Museum where many bas-reliefs are collected.

This famous car maker in Italy has been producing some of the most sought-after luxury sports cars in the world for decades. The Lamborghini Museum shows off some of these cars and a look into the history of the company. There is a bus you can take from Bologna to the center of Sant’Agata Bolognese, which is a five minute walk from the museum location. The ATB 576 bus (direction Crevalcore) departs from the main bus station in Bologna and takes roughly 50 minutes to get to the “S. Agata Bolognese Chiesa Frati” stop in Sant’Agata Bolognese, which is five minutes on foot from the museum.

Bologna's main park created in 1875. The chalet converts to a nightclub in the summer evenings. Open: daily 06:00 to midnight.

Galleria Ferrari is a Ferrari company museum dedicated to the Ferrari sports car marque. The museum is not purely for cars; also on view are prizes, photographs and other historical objects relating to the Italian motor racing industry. The exhibition also introduces technological innovations, some of which had made the transition from racing cars to road cars. It is located just 300 metres from the Ferrari factory in Ferrari's home town of Maranello, near Modena, Italy. The museum first opened in February 1990, with a new wing being added in October 2004. Ferrari itself has run the museum since 1995. The total surface area is now 2,500 square metres. The number of annual visitors to the museum is around 180,000. The exhibits are mostly a combination of Ferrari road and track cars. Many of Ferrari's most iconic cars from throughout its history are present in the museum.