Bologna is a child-friendly city with various activities to discover together with family.
The SMA is the Museum System of the University of Bologna where you can admire the collection of Zoology among the most important in Italy where you can observe, among others, the hunting trophies of Africa. For children, fascinated by dinosaurs, the appointment is at the Geology Collection Capellini Museum where is located the Diplodocus, the longest dinosaur in Europe.
For a stop with the whole family, the Giardini Margherita in Bologna are the ideal place to spend a few hours surrounded by greenery while not moving from the city. With its 26 hectares it is the largest park in Bologna and right here you can still admire a stretch of the waterways that once characterized the city and formed the ancient Savena canal.
For a tour to enjoy an experience for children, discover the "San Luca Express", a fascinating trip on a small train that connects the historic centre of Bologna with the Basilica of San Luca whose Madonna protects the whole city below. On board an integrated audio guide will show you historical and landscape curiosities about Bologna and the surrounding areas. For a new perspective the "City Red Bus" offers a 1-hour tour to discover the arts, monuments and secrets of the city.
A visit to Bologna with kids is the perfect opportunity to spend a few hours admiring the very curious and original museums in Bologna: from the Virtual Reality Museum to the “Mille voci e Mille suoni” Communication Museum where you can retrace the history of radio and music to TV and computers. There are also workshops and initiatives that take place throughout the year, which can be consulted directly on the website of each museum.
In 1655 the Fabbriceria di San Petronio decided to entrust the project of a new sundial line to "Dr. Gian Domenico Cassini Genoese". Cassini had already been teaching Astronomy in Bologna for some years and was noted for the accuracy shown in astronomical observations, including those of the comet of 1652, which he showed to be far above the orbit of the Moon, contrary to current Aristotelian ideas, which believed that comets were fumes from the Earth's atmosphere and not celestial bodies.
Cassini presented a daring project but had to overcome considerable economic, logistic, technical and even "academic" difficulties. The naves of the great basilica, which had been deliberately built so as to overlook the town square, did not have a north-south orientation. The greatest technical difficulty, therefore, was precisely that of being able to avoid that the path of sunlight was interrupted by the columns, being able to use as much as possible the large size of the building.
After accurate observations of the path of the Sun, the gnomonic hole was placed in the fourth vault of the left aisle, at a height equal to 1000 ounces of the royal foot of Paris (27.07 meters) and on the day of the summer solstice of 1655 the first stone of the sundial line was laid. The length on the ground of the line from the vertical point to the gnomonic hole, as predicted by Cassini, was equal to the six hundred thousandth part of the earth's circumference (66.8 meters).
On the occasion of the solstice, Cassini published a poster inviting all the citizens and professors of the University to attend the final verification of the meridian line and the passage of the image of the Sun "between those columns, which was believed to prevent its description".
The birth of the arcades of Bologna can be traced back to the early Middle Ages and has something curious, it is not in fact a work born for military or urban purposes but as self-management of the inhabitants of the city for the need to "enlarge" their living spaces. They used to increase the size of their houses in height as the family grew and it was necessary at some point to build columns to support the houses. This solution had innumerable advantages: the porticoes allowed the citizens to defend themselves from the rain or from the hot summer sun and above all to let the goods pass under any weather conditions, far from the dirt that was usual to find on the streets. Moreover, local craftsmen could benefit from a well ventilated, bright and sheltered place, better than the first floors they were used to and which often hosted their stores.
With the passing of the centuries this work has become a symbol of synergy between the inhabitants and the city and between the city and the marvelous Colli Bolognesi, among which Bologna has had the fortune to rise. Typical is in fact the path of San Luca, which from the city accompanies tourists under the longest portico in the world to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, in a maze of fascinating paths.
The arcades of Bologna, born out of necessity, are now an international tourist destination and recently entered the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites! For the city and for all the staff of the Hotel Corona D'Oro it is a great satisfaction, our bond with Bologna is strong and it is wonderful to see internationally recognized what we are so fond of.
For your next trip let yourself be charmed by the culture and charm of a city so rich in history, come and discover the beautiful Bologna!
In the 14th century, Bologna's wealthy bourgeoisie had developed a deep political awareness and unity, and was also in strong economic and commercial competition with Milan and Florence, two very powerful poles at the time. For Bologna it was not possible to impose its power with weapons and swords, its supremacy had to be shown through architectural works of great difficulty. Thanks to this strong "competition" we owe the construction of the Basilica of San Petronio: Bologna did not want to remain impassive towards the two cities that had already begun the construction of their cathedral (Florence had already been building for more than a century, Milan a few years earlier) and decided, through its administrative council, to start work as soon as possible.
As we can see, the Basilica of San Petronio would have been built by civic and not ecclesiastical will like the cathedrals of Milan and Florence. It has been a brave decision, especially in a century when papal influence dominated not only political decisions, but also the daily lives of all citizens.
According to the logic of the Church, this decision was a insidious attack from the city to bypass ecclesiastical power. The city administrators justified themselves by saying that this monument would also be a symbol of religious faith, which would benefit the papacy too in terms of political influence.
What began as an attempt to compete with Florence and Milan became an ideal of freedom, autonomy and independence and the Church tried to interrupt the construction work several times.
The climax reached its peek in 1562, when Pope Pio IV decided to purchase most of the land around the Basilica. Thanks to this astute move, the local administrators' ambitious project to create a cathedral in the shape of a Latin cross (and thus a religious symbol) was made impossible and was never completed. The Pope therefore considered his exclusive right to erect religious monuments to be unaffected, and the civic community remained in possession of the largest civic cathedral in Italy. From that day Basilica of San Petronio became a symbol of Bologna's independence from everyone, even the Pope.
In Bologna, there is no dispute as to whether panettone or pandoro is better, because the Bolognese people have simply created their own cake!
The traditional dessert with which Christmas lunch ends is called “Certosino” and has even medieval origins! Pharmacists (at that time called "speziali") had access to a multitude of ingredients and, in addition to medical recipes, they also dabbled in the preparation of sweets, hence the first name of the Certosino dessert: "PANSPZIÈL", which takes its inspiration from "Pane degli speziali". The recipe was perfected over time by the monks of the Carthusian (Certosino in italian) monastery, who took charge of the subsequent production of this cake, so much so that it ended up being identified with the monks even in its name: "Certosino". The traditional recipe calls for it to be made with: flour, pine nuts, chocolate, almonds, sultanas, candied fruit and honey.