La Dotta — Die Erste Universität der Welt & Bolognas Intellektuelles Leben
Bologna is 'La Dotta' (the 'Learned One' — the nickname that refers to the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the Western world, founded in 1088, the university that has educated Dante, Petrarch, Copernicus, Thomas Becket, and Albrecht Dürer and that has defined the European university tradition for 900 years) — the university city par excellence, the city where one in six residents is a student and where the intellectual and the academic tradition permeates every aspect of civic life.
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University of Bologna — The World's First University (1088)
Founded 1088, the Alma Mater Studiorum is the oldest university in continuous operation. Its original campus in the Piazza Verdi area includes the Palazzo Poggi (now a science museum) and the Anatomical Theatre, where Copernicus once studied law.
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Archiginnasio — Original University Palace (1563)
The Archiginnasio's walls and ceilings are covered with 7,000 carved coats of arms of students and professors — a heraldic library of medieval academic life. The upstairs Anatomical Theatre (1637) is carved entirely from spruce wood.
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Anatomical Theatre — The Art of Dissection
The Anatomical Theatre features graduated tiered seats around a central dissection table, with the 'Spellati' (flayed men) by Ercole Lelli supporting the canopy above the professor's chair — the most theatrical room in Bologna.
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Piazza Verdi — Student Culture & Teatro Comunale
Piazza Verdi is occupied nightly by thousands of students from the 85,000-enrolled university — the square fronts the Teatro Comunale (1763), Bologna's opera house, and hosts political debates, concerts, and impromptu football games.
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Portici UNESCO — 62km of Medieval Arcaded Streets
Bologna's 62km of porticoes (UNESCO World Heritage 2021) allow pedestrians to walk from the station to the hills entirely under cover — the arcades connect the university to the markets, churches, and osterie of medieval Bologna.
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Osteria del Sole — The Oldest Wine Bar in the World (1465)
Via Righi's Osteria del Sole (founded 1465) doesn't serve food — only wine. Customers bring their own sandwiches and sit at communal tables that have connected professors to students, socialists to aristocrats, for 560 years.