Via Zamboni
An iconic street in the university area of Bologna, Via Zamboni connects the Due Torri to Porta San Donato, one of the gates that survived the destruction of the city's third and final circle of walls. The street is dotted with places of interest and buildings of great importance, which we will examine in detail.
Malvasia Palace
Walking along the street in the direction of the gate, we come across a small square on the left, which is worth stopping in for two reasons. On the one hand to admire the
mascherone of
Palazzo Malvasia, the bas-relief depicting
a frightening face placed in the centre of a large arch on our left. It is said that at special receptions, wine was once poured from the gaping mouth of the mask directly onto the festive crowd, demonstrating the generosity of the Malvasia family.
On the other hand, this large archway represented the main entrance to the former
Jewish Ghetto of Bologna, which was established in 1566 only to be closed again shortly afterwards, in 1593, when the Jews were removed from the city centres. The entrance had a portal that was closed every evening and reopened early in the morning to prevent the free movement of the Jewish community in the city.
The Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore
Descending along Via Zamboni we then come across other important buildings such as
Palazzo Magnani, decorated with frescoes by the
Carracci, and the Bologna Conservatory named after maestro Giovan Battista Martini, Mozart's mentor during his stay in the city in 1770.
Next to the conservatory there is the
Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore, which is closely linked to the Bentivoglio seigniory that ruled Bologna between the 15th and 16th centuries, before being ousted by a popular uprising. On the left side of the basilica, for example, is the long portico that the noble family had built precisely to connect their palace - now destroyed - with the entrance to the church.
Inside San Giacomo Maggiore is the
Bentivoglio chapel in which members of the influential family were buried, and which houses a splendid altarpiece by Lorenzo Costa. The painting depicts Giovanni II Bentivoglio and his wife Ginevra Sforza kneeling at the feet of the Virgin, and further down, their 11 children.
Another jewel housed in the San Giacomo Maggiore complex is the
Oratory of Santa Cecilia, accessible from the church's external portico. Inside you can admire some splendid examples of 16th-century Bolognese painting, with works by Francesco Francia, Lorenzo Costa, Amico Aspertini and others.
From Piazza Verdi to Porta San Donato
The back of the basilica opens onto
Piazza Verdi, the beating heart of university life. Among the buildings overlooking the square are the former stables of the Bentivoglio family, now converted into a student club, and the Municipal Theatre, which was built on the same site as Bentivoglio's palace.
Beyond the square, on the right side of the portico are the
university museums housed inside Palazzo Poggi and other buildings related to the Bolognese university. Across the street, in 1988 the South American artist Luis Gutierrez painted
a colourful mural dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, one of the first examples of street art in Bologna.
Finally, reaching the crossroads with Via Belle Arti we arrive at Largo Puntoni, an open space that during the Second World War was used to house
urban vegetable gardens. Given the shortage of foodstuffs, during wartime people began to cultivate the land within the centre to ensure the subsistence of the population.
