Via dell'Indipendenza - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Torre del Prendiparte is one of the approximately 20 noble towers still existing in the historic center of the city of Bologna. Erected in the second half of the 12th century, it is 59.50 meters high and is characterized by a slight slope towards the north. The tower was part of the so-called triad of medieval skyscrapers together with those of the Galluzzi and the Azzoguidi.

The Montagnola garden is one of the oldest and most central green areas in the city of Bologna, which opened for the first time in the 17th century. In the garden of the Montagnola the bodies of Luigi Zamboni and Giovanni Battista De Rolandis were solemnly buried on the direct order of Napoleon, who in 1794 led an attempted revolt to Bologna during which Italian tricolor cockades were used; in 1799, with the arrival of the Austrians, the bodies were dispersed.

The Salaborsa Library was inaugurated in 2001 inside Palazzo d'Accursio, the historic seat of the Municipality of Bologna. It overlooks Piazza Nettuno and via Ugo Bassi. Visitors to the library are able to see an archaeological site through the crystal floor in the center of the library. The ancient ruins are also accessible from the basement floor, where there is information about them.

The Re Enzo Palace is a historic building in Bologna dating from the thirteenth century. It was built between 1244 and 1246 at the behest of the podestà Filippo Ugoni as an extension of the municipal buildings of the Palazzo del Podestà and for this reason, called Palatium Novum, but its historical events have made it always linked to the figure of King Enzo of Sardinia.

The Palazzo del Podestà in Bologna overlooks Piazza Maggiore, in the heart of the city, together with the Palazzo Comunale and the Basilica of San Petronio. It was built around 1200, together with Piazza Maggiore as a building to carry out public functions and therefore the seat of the podestà and his officials. The current layout is very different from the original one also because the Palazzo Re Enzo was built later, between 1244 and 1246.

The fountain of Neptune, nicknamed al Żigànt in dialect by the Bolognese because of the size of the statue of Neptune, is located in Bologna in Piazza del Nettuno. The over-life-size bronze figure of the god Neptune was completed and fixed in place around 1567. The statue was an early design by Giambologna, who had submitted a model for the Fountain of Neptune in Florence but had lost the commission to Baccio Bandinelli.