113-639: Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Milan (1395) and ruled that late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance . He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò . He was the founding patron of the Certosa di Pavia , completing the Visconti Castle at Pavia begun by his father and furthering work on the Duomo of Milan . He captured
226-461: A new exhibition centre and business district . At the end of 1978 the construction of a tower block and several diverse buildings and structures started. In 1985 the headquarters of the regional government of Emilia-Romagna moved in the new district. In 1977, Bologna was the scene of rioting linked to the Movement of 1977 , a spontaneous political movement of the time. The police shooting of
339-487: A Bolognese, tried to reverse the decline of the city with a series of reforms intended to stimulate the economy and promote the arts. However, these reforms achieved only mixed results. The pope's efforts to stimulate the decaying textile industry had little success, while he was more successful in reforming the tax system, liberalising trade and relaxing the oppressive system of censorship. The economic and demographic decline of Bologna became even more noticeable starting in
452-633: A French army under Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it, and it ceased to exist a year later as a result of the Treaty of Campo Formio , when Austria ceded it to the new Cisalpine Republic . After the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 restored many other states which he had destroyed, but not the Duchy of Milan. Instead, its former territory became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia , with
565-626: A Metropolitan Council formed by 18 mayors of municipalities within the Metro municipality. The Metropolitan City of Bologna is headed by the metropolitan mayor ( sindaco metropolitano ) and by the Metropolitan Council ( Consiglio metropolitano ). Since 21 June 2016 Virginio Merola , as mayor of the capital city, has been the mayor of the Metropolitan City. Until the late 19th century, when a large-scale urban renewal project
678-576: A bigger market for the massive agricultural production of the Emilian plains. Indeed, Bologna gave Italy one of its first prime ministers, Marco Minghetti . After World War I , Bologna was heavily involved in the Biennio Rosso socialist uprisings. As a consequence, the traditionally moderate elites of the city turned their back on the progressive faction and gave their support to the rising Fascist movement of Benito Mussolini . Dino Grandi ,
791-416: A bull deposing and excommunicating Bentivoglio and placing the city under interdict . When the papal troops, along with a contingent sent by Louis XII of France , marched against Bologna, Bentivoglio and his family fled. Julius II entered the city triumphantly on 10 November. The period of Papal rule over Bologna (1506–1796) has been generally evaluated by historians as one of severe decline. However, this
904-582: A careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s. In 2000, it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, a UNESCO "City of Music" and became part of the Creative Cities Network . In 2021, UNESCO recognized the lengthy porticoes of the city as a World Heritage Site . Bologna is an important agricultural, industrial, financial and transport hub, where many large mechanical, electronic and food companies have their headquarters as well as one of
1017-436: A centre for the study of medieval Roman law under major glossators , including Irnerius. It numbered Dante , Boccaccio and Petrarch among its students. The medical school was especially renowned. By 1200, Bologna was a thriving commercial and artisanal centre of about 10,000 people. During a campaign to support the imperial cities of Modena and Cremona against Bologna, Frederick II 's son, King Enzo of Sardinia ,
1130-515: A far-left activist, Francesco Lorusso , sparked two days of street clashes. On 2 August 1980, at the height of the " years of lead ", a terrorist bomb was set off in the central railway station of Bologna killing 85 people and wounding 200, an event which is known in Italy as the Bologna massacre . In 1995, members of the neo-fascist group Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari were convicted for carrying out
1243-671: A few other lands. Defeated and taken prisoner in Novara in 1500, he was deported to France , to the Castle of Loches , where he died on 27 May 1508. Louis XII remained Duke of Milan until 1512, when the Swiss army expelled the French from Lombardy and placed Maximilian Sforza , son of Ludovico il Moro, on the Milanese throne. Between 1512 and 1515 the Swiss cantons de facto controlled
SECTION 10
#17327767676881356-454: A four-line tramway network is planned. The large commuter rail service centred on Bologna is branded as the Bologna metropolitan railway service . The average length of time people spend commuting with public transit in Bologna, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 53 min. 9% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average length of time people wait at
1469-490: A high-ranking Fascist party official and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remembered for being an Anglophile, was from Bologna. During the interwar years , Bologna developed into an important manufacturing centre for food processing, agricultural machinery and metalworking. The Fascist regime poured in massive investments, for example with the setting up of a giant tobacco manufacturing plant in 1937. Bologna suffered extensive damage during World War II . The strategic importance of
1582-568: A large territory of northern Italy and the Po valley. He threatened war with France in relation to the transfer of Genoa to French control as well as issues with his beloved daughter Valentina . When he died of fever in the Castello of Melegnano, his children fought with each other and fragmented the territories that he had ruled. During his patronage of the Visconti Castle, he contributed to
1695-533: A much smaller extension than present-day Lombardy. The government of the Habsburgs of Austria was characterized by significant administrative reforms, which the sovereigns of the Austrian house - inspired by the principles of the so-called enlightened absolutism - also introduced in their Lombard territories: for example, the rearrangement of the land register , the suppression of ecclesiastical censorship and
1808-445: A new question for the succession to the throne. In this period, to be precise in 1532, Francesco II Sforza requested and obtained from Pope Clement VII the elevation of Vigevano , a city to which his family had always been deeply linked, to the capital of Vigevanasco , after it had obtained in 1530 the title of city and bishopric according to the same methods. The King Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor claimed
1921-720: A niece of the King of Naples, who took the side of the legitimate heir. Ludovico il Moro responded by encouraging King Charles VIII of France to reclaim the Kingdom of Naples, as until 1442 the Neapolitan throne had belonged to Charles ancestors, the Capetian House of Anjou . In 1494 Charles VIII conquered Naples, upsetting the balance between the various Italian states and starting the Italian Wars . In 1495 Charles VIII
2034-471: A religious procession in Milan. He imprisoned his uncle who soon died, supposedly poisoned on his orders. Galeazzo's role as a statesman also took other forms. Soon after seizing Milan, he took Verona , Vicenza , and Padua , establishing himself as Signore of each, and soon controlled almost the entire valley of the Po , including Piacenza where in 1393 he gave the feudal power to Confalonieri family on
2147-430: A stop or station for public transit is 12 min, while 16% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 5.4 km (3.4 mi), while 7% travel for over 12 km (7.5 mi) in a single direction. At the end of 2016, the city proper had a population of 388,254 (while 1 million live in the greater Bologna area), located in
2260-417: A third and final set of ramparts built in the 13th century, of which numerous sections survive. No more than twenty medieval defensive towers remain out of up to 180 that were built in the 12th and 13th centuries before the arrival of unified civic government. The most famous of the towers of Bologna are the central Due Torri ( Asinelli and Garisenda ), whose iconic leaning forms provide a popular symbol of
2373-792: A third of its GDP and occupies 265,000 people in the Emilia-Romagna region. Bologna is home to the Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport , the seventh busiest Italian airport for passenger traffic (8 million passengers served in 2017). Bologna Centrale railway station is one of Italy's most important train hubs thanks to the city's strategic location as a crossroad between north–south and east–west routes. It serves 58 million passengers annually. The city hosts several minor railway stations (see List of railway stations in Bologna ). Bologna San Donato classification yard , with 33 railway tracks, used to be
SECTION 20
#17327767676882486-562: A total population of 70,000) who lived in poverty. In the revolutions of 1848 the Austrian garrisons which controlled the city on behalf of the pope were temporarily expelled, but eventually came back and crushed the revolutionaries. Papal rule finally ended in the aftermath of Second War of Italian Independence , when the French and Piedmontese troops expelled the Austrians from Italian lands, on 11 and 12 March 1860, Bologna voted to join
2599-400: Is Fiera District , a tower complex designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange in 1985. According to the last governmental dispositions concerning administrative reorganisation, the urban area of Bologna is one of the 15 metropolitan municipalities ( città metropolitane ), new administrative bodies fully operative since 1 January 2015. The new Metro municipalities, giving large urban areas
2712-443: Is also increasing its investment in sustainability as part of a 2022-2024 program that integrates gender perspectives into urban planning, with an emphasis on sustainable mobility, public infrastructure, and green spaces. Traces of human habitation in the area of Bologna go back to the 3rd millennium BCE, with significant settlements from about the 9th century BCE ( Villanovan culture ). The influence of Etruscan civilization reached
2825-417: Is considered the centre of the so-called "packaging valley", an area well known for its high concentration of firms specialised in the manufacturing of automatic packaging machines ( Coesia [ it ] , IMA ). Furthermore, Bologna is well known for its dense network of cooperatives , a feature that dates back to the social struggles of farmers and workers in the 1800s and that today produces up to
2938-520: Is in this period that legendary Bishop Petronius , according to ancient chronicles, rebuilt the ruined town and founded the basilica of Saint Stephen . Petronius is still revered as the patron saint of Bologna. In 727–28, the city was sacked and captured by the Lombards under King Liutprand , becoming part of that kingdom. These Germanic conquerors built an important new quarter, called addizione longobarda (Italian meaning 'Longobard addition') near
3051-417: Is nominated and presided over by a directly elected mayor . The current mayor of Bologna is Matteo Lepore ( PD ), elected on 4 October 2021 with 61.9% of the votes. The municipality of Bologna is subdivided into six administrative boroughs ( quartieri ), down from the former nine before the 2015 administrative reform. Each borough is governed by a Council ( Consiglio ) and a president, elected contextually to
3164-653: Is not a complete archive for the Borgo Panigale area): The legislative body of the municipality is the City Council ( Consiglio Comunale ), which is composed by 48 councillors elected every five years with a corrected proportional system (granting the majority to the list or alliance of lists which receives more votes), contextually to the mayoral elections. The executive body is the City Committee ( Giunta Comunale ), composed by 12 assessors , that
3277-418: Is not uncommon between late November and early March; one of the snowiest months of the past decade was February 2012. Here are climate normals for the weather station of Bologna Borgo Panigale (at the airport), unaffected by the heat dome of the city, for both 1961–1990 and 1991–2020 periods, in order to highlight changes between the two periods ( snow averages are referred to the city of Bologna, since there
3390-619: Is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy . It is the seventh most populous city in Italy , with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its metropolitan area is home to more than 1,000,000 people. Bologna is most famous for being the home to the oldest university in continuous operation , the University of Bologna , established in AD ;1088. Originally Etruscan ,
3503-409: Is the capital of the eponymous metropolitan city and of Emilia-Romagna , one of the twenty regions of Italy. While the province of Bologna has a population of 1,007,644, making it the twelfth most populated province of Italy, Emilia-Romagna ranks as the sixth most populated region of Italy, with about 4.5 million inhabitants, more than 7% of the national total. The seat of the regional government
Gian Galeazzo Visconti - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-427: Is the tenth-largest church in the world by volume, 132 metres long and 66 metres wide, while the vault reaches 45 metres inside and 51 metres in the facade. With its volume of 258,000 m , it is the largest (Gothic or otherwise) church built of bricks of the world. The Basilica of Saint Stephen and its sanctuary are among the oldest structures in Bologna, having been built starting from the 8th century, according to
3729-610: The Cispadane Republic in 1797 to form the Cisalpine Republic , of which Milan became the capital. After the defeat of Napoleon, on the basis of the decisions taken by the Congress of Vienna on 9 June 1815, the Duchy of Milan was not restored but became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia , a constituent land of the Austrian Empire . The kingdom ceased to exist when the remaining portion of it
3842-574: The Emperor of Austria as its king. In 1859, Lombardy was ceded to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia , which became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The fate of the city of Milan was intertwined since the 13th century with that of the Visconti family , who resumed the policy of territorial expansionism inherited from the city's municipality. One of the first Visconti exponents to lead the Lombard city
3955-563: The Gotthard Pass to the gates of Como (today's Canton of Ticino ). The Treaty of Noyon of 1516 confirmed the possession of the Duchy of Milan to the French. Francis of Valois governed the duchy until 1521, when Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor , raised Maximilian's young brother, Francesco II Sforza , to the throne of the duchy. After the decisive French defeat in the Battle of Pavia on 24 February 1525, which left
4068-855: The Ottoman Turks , however, endangered the structure of the Venetian possessions in the Aegean Sea and after 4 years of war the Peace of Lodi was signed in 1454. With this document Francesco Sforza and Alfonso of Aragon were recognized respectively as Duke of Milan and King of Naples, the Republic of Venice extended its dominion up to the Adda and the Holy Italian League against the Turks
4181-616: The Papal States . Papal rule was contested in the uprisings of 1831 . The insurrected provinces planned to unite as the Province Italiane Unite with Bologna as the capital. Pope Gregory XVI asked for Austrian help against the rebels. Metternich warned French king Louis Philippe I against intervention in Italian affairs, and in the spring of 1831, Austrian forces marched across the Italian peninsula, defeating
4294-406: The Peace of Constance in 1183. Subsequently, the town began to expand rapidly and became one of the main commercial trade centres of northern Italy thanks to a system of canals that allowed barges and ships to come and go. Believed to have been established in 1088, the University of Bologna is widely considered the world's oldest university in continuous operation . The university originated as
4407-527: The Western Schism prevented the papacy from restoring its domination over Bologna, so it remained relatively independent for some decades as an oligarchic republic. In 1401, Giovanni I Bentivoglio took power in a coup with the support of Milan, but, having turned his back on them and allied with Florence, the Milanese marched on Bologna and had Giovanni killed the following year. In 1442, Hannibal I Bentivoglio , Giovanni's nephew, recovered Bologna from
4520-523: The disaster of Nicopolis , Galeazzo was strongly suspected of having informed the Ottomans of the Crusaders' plans and of the size and strength of their army as vengeance for his daughter being accused of being behind the illness of King Charles VI of France, and for France's increasing control over the city of Genoa that he had attempted to hamper, for which he had been rebuked by Enguerrand VII before
4633-533: The license to quarter the Visconti's biscione with the imperial eagle in the new ducal flag. The duchy, as defined in the diploma of 1395, included the territory surrounding Milan, between the Adda and Ticino rivers, but the dominions of Gian Galeazzo Visconti extended beyond, including 26 towns and spanned from Piedmont to Veneto and from present-day Canton of Ticino to Umbria . Milan thus became one of
Gian Galeazzo Visconti - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-648: The 1635–1659 Franco-Spanish War, Milan sent and paid for on average 4,000 soldiers per year to the Spanish crown, with many of these men serving in the Low Countries against the Dutch States Army. Bologna Bologna ( / b ə ˈ l oʊ n j ə / bə- LOHN -yə , UK also / b ə ˈ l ɒ n j ə / bə- LON -yə , Italian: [boˈloɲɲa] ; Emilian : Bulåggna [buˈlʌɲɲɐ] ; Latin : Bononia )
4859-660: The 7th Brigade of the Gruppi d'Azione Patriottica against Fascist and Nazi occupation forces, did not succeed in triggering a general uprising, despite being one of the largest resistance-led urban conflicts in the European theatre. Resistance forces entered Bologna on the morning of 21 April 1945. By this time, the Germans had already largely left the city in the face of the Allied advance, spearheaded by Polish forces advancing from
4972-671: The Lombard cities of Como , Crema , Lodi and the Valtellina in 1335, Bormio (Lombardy) and Piacenza (Emilia) in 1336, and Brescia and the Val Camonica in 1337. The brothers Luchino and Giovanni Visconti added Bellinzona (present-day Switzerland in 1342, Parma (Emilia) in 1346 and several territories in southwestern Piedmont in 1347: Tortona , Alessandria , Asti , and Mondovì . Bernabò conquered Reggio Emilia in 1371 and Riva del Garda in 1380, and Gian Galeazzo greatly expanded Milan's dominions, first eastwards, with
5085-736: The Milanese declared the so-called Golden Ambrosian Republic , which soon faced revolts and attacks from its neighbors. In 1450 mercenary captain Francesco Sforza , having previously married Filippo Maria Visconti's illegitimate daughter Bianca Maria, conquered the city and restored the duchy, founding the House of Sforza . The Venetian republic had not abandoned its desire to expand into Lombardy and therefore entered into an alliance with Alfonso V of Aragon , King of Naples , and with Emperor Frederick III , against Francesco I Sforza and his allies. The fall of Constantinople , conquered by
5198-543: The Milanese, only to be assassinated in a conspiracy plotted by Pope Eugene IV three years later. But the signoria of the Bentivoglio family was then firmly established, and the power passed to his cousin Sante Bentivoglio , who ruled until 1462, followed by Giovanni II . Giovanni II managed to resist the expansionist designs of Cesare Borgia for some time, but on 7 October 1506, Pope Julius II issued
5311-655: The Republic of Venice which ceded the entire Apulian coast ( Brindisi , Monopoli , Gallipoli , Polignano , Lecce , Bari and Trani ) in exchange for the withdrawal of imperial claims on Milan, also due to the fact that Charles V did not want to clash with the Venetians, and he knew he didn't have the means to succeed, because the Venetians were too concerned that Milan not fall into the hands of foreigners powers, given that they did not consider themselves "capable of occupying it nor proportionate to be able to hold it". Francesco II Sforza died without heirs in 1535, opening
5424-605: The Senate, which however had to swear fealty to the short-lived Cispadane Republic , created as a client state of the French First Republic at the congress of Reggio (27 December 1796 – 9 January 1797) but succeeded by the Cisalpine Republic on 9 July 1797, later by the Italian Republic and finally the Kingdom of Italy . After the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 restored Bologna to
5537-521: The Via Emilia still runs straight through the city under the changing names of Strada Maggiore, Rizzoli, Ugo Bassi, and San Felice. Due to its Roman heritage, the central streets of Bologna, today largely pedestrianized, follow the grid pattern of the Roman settlement. The original Roman ramparts were supplanted by a high medieval system of fortifications, remains of which are still visible, and finally by
5650-516: The Visconti family, Bologna was recovered by the papacy in 1363 by Cardinal Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz after a long negotiation involving a huge indemnity paid to Bernabò Visconti , Giovanni's heir, who died in 1354. In 1376, Bologna again revolted against Papal rule and joined Florence in the unsuccessful War of the Eight Saints . However, extreme infighting inside the Holy See after
5763-440: The administrative powers of a province, are conceived for improving the performance of local administrations and to slash local spending by better co-ordinating the municipalities in providing basic services (including transport, school and social programs) and environment protection. In this policy framework, the mayor of Bologna is designated to exercise the functions of a metropolitan mayor ( sindaco metropolitano ), presiding over
SECTION 50
#17327767676885876-652: The area in the 7th to 6th centuries, and the Etruscan city of Felsina was established at the site of Bologna by the end of the 6th century. By the 4th century BCE, the site was occupied by the Gaulish Boii , and it became a Roman colony and municipium with the name of Bonōnia in 196 BCE. During the waning years of the Western Roman Empire Bologna was repeatedly sacked by the Goths . It
5989-399: The attack, while Licio Gelli —Grand Master of the underground Freemason lodge Propaganda Due (P2)—was convicted for hampering the investigation, together with three agents of the secret military intelligence service SISMI (including Francesco Pazienza and Pietro Musumeci ). Commemorations take place in Bologna on 2 August each year, culminating in a concert in the main square. In 1999,
6102-448: The battle. Gian Galeazzo had dreams of uniting all of northern Italy into one kingdom, a revived Lombard empire. Obstacles included Bologna and especially Florence . In 1402, Gian Galeazzo launched assaults upon these cities. The warfare was extremely costly on both sides, but it was universally believed the Milanese would emerge victorious. The Florentine leaders, especially the chancellor Coluccio Salutati worked successfully to rally
6215-739: The church is commonly called, to the city centre. Its porticos provide shelter for the traditional procession which every year since 1433 has carried a Byzantine icon of the Madonna with Child attributed to Luke the Evangelist down to the Bologna Cathedral during the Feast of the Ascension . In 2021, the porticoes were named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . San Petronio Basilica , built between 1388 and 1479 (but still unfinished),
6328-423: The city as an industrial and railway hub connecting northern and central Italy made it a target for the Allied forces . On 24 July 1943, a massive aerial bombardment destroyed a significant part of the historic city centre and killed about 200 people. The main railway station and adjoining areas were severely hit, and 44% of the buildings in the centre were listed as having been destroyed or severely damaged. The city
6441-658: The city has been an important urban center for centuries, first under the Etruscans (who called it Felsina ), then under the Celts as Bona , later under the Romans ( Bonōnia ), then again in the Middle Ages , as a free municipality and later signoria , when it was among the largest European cities by population . Famous for its towers, churches and lengthy porticoes , Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre, thanks to
6554-415: The city mayor. The urban organization is governed by the Italian Constitution (art. 114). The boroughs have the power to advise the mayor with nonbinding opinions on a large spectrum of topics (environment, construction, public health, local markets) and exercise the functions delegated to them by the City Council; in addition, they are supplied with an autonomous founding to finance local activities. Bologna
6667-431: The city was administered under Anna Maria Cancellieri (as a state-appointed prefect ), Virginio Merola was elected as mayor, leading a left-wing coalition comprising the Democratic Party , Left Ecology Freedom and Italy of Values . In 2016 , Merola was confirmed mayor, defeating the conservative candidate, Lucia Borgonzoni . In 2021, after ten years of Merola's mayorship, one of his closest allies, Matteo Lepore ,
6780-405: The complex of St. Stephen. In the last quarter of the 8th century, Charlemagne , at the request of Pope Adrian I , invaded the Lombard Kingdom, causing its eventual demise. Occupied by Frankish troops in 774 on behalf of the papacy, Bologna remained under imperial authority and prospered as a frontier mark of the Carolingian empire . Bologna was the center of a revived study of law, including
6893-408: The conquest of the Venetian cities of Verona (1387), Vicenza (1387), Feltre (1388), Belluno (1388) and Padua (briefly, from 1388 to 1390), and later southwards, conquering Lucca , Pisa and Siena in Tuscany in 1399, Perugia in Umbria in 1400, Bologna in Emilia in 1402, and Assisi in Umbria also in 1402. When the last Visconti duke, Filippo Maria , died in 1447 without a male heir,
SECTION 60
#17327767676887006-422: The development of the silk industry. Following Napoleon Bonaparte 's victorious campaign in northern Italy in 1796, the duchy, entrusted to an interim government junta, was ceded to the French Republic by the Habsburgs with the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. But already in 1796 the French had established the vassal state of the Transpadane Republic on the territories of the Duchy of Milan, which merged with
7119-578: The division of his lands among both legitimate and illegitimate children. His first marriage was to Isabelle of Valois , who brought him the title of comte de Vertus in Champagne , rendered in Italian as Conte di Virtù , the title by which he was known in his early career. They had: After Galeazzo's wife Isabelle died in childbirth in 1372, he married secondly, on 2 October 1380, his cousin Caterina Visconti , daughter of Bernabò; with her he had: Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( Italian : Ducato di Milano ; Lombard : Ducaa de Milan )
7232-445: The duchy by making war. The latter, claiming it as an imperial fief upon the extinction of the Sforza, obtained control of the duchy and installed his son Philip II there with an imperial diploma signed in Brussels on 11 October 1540 and made public in 1554. Philip's possession of the duchy was finally recognized by King Henry II of France in 1559, with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis . The duchy, having lost all forms of independence,
7345-401: The duchy. Under the reign of King Francis I , the French Crown managed to re-establish its sovereignty over the Milanese duchy. In 1515, after the bloody Battle of Marignano , which saw the defeat of the Swiss army, the French sovereign deposed Maximilian and installed himself on the ducal throne. Despite the defeat, the Swiss managed to retain the territories along the road that leads from
7458-402: The east during the Battle of Bologna which had been fought since 9 April. First to arrive in the centre was the 87th Infantry Regiment of the Friuli Combat Group under general Arturo Scattini , who entered the centre from Porta Maggiore to the south. Since the soldiers were dressed in British outfits, they were initially thought to be part of the allied forces; when the local inhabitants heard
7571-414: The east, the Swiss Confederacy to the north, and separated from the Mediterranean by Republic of Genoa to the south. The duchy was at its largest at the beginning of the 15th century, at which time it included almost all of what is now Lombardy and parts of what are now Piedmont , Veneto, Tuscany , and Emilia-Romagna . Under the House of Sforza , Milan experienced a period of great prosperity with
7684-403: The event of the extinction of the Visconti dynasty, the title of Duke of Milan went to Valentina's descendants. Louis XII, claiming to be the legitimate heir of the Viscontis, invaded the Milanese state in 1499, driving out Ludovico il Moro. The former Sforza ruler tried in vain to counter the transalpine troops, even asking the Emperor for help, but only managed to briefly recapture the capital and
7797-408: The execution of his nephew Conradin in 1268, he was the last of the Hohenstaufen heirs. During the late 1200s, Bologna was affected by political instability when the most prominent families incessantly fought for the control of the town. The free commune was severely weakened by decades of infighting, allowing the pope to impose the rule of his envoy Cardinal Bertrand du Pouget in 1327. Du Pouget
7910-550: The first modern bureaucracy, with the assistance of his Chancellor Francesco Barbavara. Galeazzo was a devoted father to his daughter Valentina . He reacted to gossip about Valentina at the French Court by threatening to declare war on France. The wife of King Charles VI of France was Isabeau of Bavaria , the granddaughter of Bernabò Visconti, and, thus, a bitter rival of Valentina and her father Gian Galeazzo. Furious at French political manoeuvring that had removed Genoa from his influence, Gian Galeazzo had been attempting to stop
8023-436: The first of whom was Giuseppe Dozza . At the end of the 1960s the city authorities, worried by massive gentrification and suburbanisation, asked Japanese starchitect Kenzo Tange to sketch a master plan for a new town north of Bologna; however, the project that came out in 1970 was evaluated as too ambitious and expensive. Eventually the city council, in spite of vetoing Tange's master plan, decided to keep his project for
8136-636: The five major states of the Italian peninsula in the 15th century. The House of Visconti had been expanding their dominions for nearly a century, under the reigns of Azzone Visconti , Luchino Visconti , Giovanni Visconti , Bernabò Visconti and Gian Galeazzo Visconti: during the rule of Azzone Visconti, the Ossola in Piedmont had been conquered in 1331, followed by Bergamo and Pavia (Lombardy) and Novara (Piedmont) in 1332, Pontremoli (Tuscany) in 1333, Vercelli (Piedmont) and Cremona (Lombardy) in 1334,
8249-463: The force of his arms. Notable are his library, housed in the grandest princely dwelling in Italy, the Castello in Pavia, and his rich collection of manuscripts, many of them the fruits of his conquests. In 1400, Gian Galeazzo appointed a host of clerks and departments entrusted with improving public health. For the new system of administration and bookkeeping this established, he is credited with creating
8362-581: The forces of Charles V in a strong position within the Italian peninsula, Francesco II Sforza joined the League of Cognac against Charles: together with him, the Republic of Venice , the Florentine Republic , Pope Clement VII and the Kingdom of France . The Duke was quickly overwhelmed by Charles troops, but managed to maintain control over some cities and strongholds of the duchy. Thanks to
8475-533: The global centres of trade shifted towards the Atlantic. The traditional silk industry was in a critical state. The university was losing students, who once came from all over Europe, because of the illiberal attitudes of the Church towards culture (especially after the trial of Galileo ). Bologna continued to suffer a progressive deindustrialisation also in the 18th century. In the mid-1700s, Pope Benedict XIV ,
8588-474: The growth of the collection of scientific treatises and richly illuminated manuscripts in the Visconti Library. Gian Galeazzo was the son of Galeazzo II Visconti and Bianca of Savoy. His father possessed the signoria of the city of Pavia. In 1385 Gian Galeazzo gained control of Milan by overthrowing his uncle Bernabò through treacherous means by faking a religious conversion and ambushing him during
8701-552: The highest point in the province is the peak of Corno alle Scale (in Lizzano in Belvedere ) at 1,945 metres (6,381 ft) above sea level. Bologna has a mid-latitude , four-season temperate climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfa ). Here are other classifications for the climate of this city: Annual precipitation is around 650–750 mm (25.5–29.5 in), with the majority generally falling in spring and autumn. Snow
8814-643: The introduction of the silk industry, becoming one of the wealthiest states during the Renaissance . From the late 15th century, the Duchy of Milan was contested between the forces of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of France . It was ruled by Habsburg Spain from 1556 and it passed to Habsburg Austria in 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession as a vacant Imperial fief . The duchy remained an Austrian possession until 1796 when
8927-483: The lands they already had in the valleys around Piacenza. He lost Padua in 1390 when it reverted to Francesco Novello da Carrara . He received the title of Duke of Milan from Wenceslaus, King of the Romans in 1395 for 100,000 florins. Gian Galeazzo spent 300,000 golden florins in attempting to turn from their courses the rivers Mincio from Mantua and the Brenta from Padua, in order to render those cities helpless before
9040-468: The largest freight hub in Italy by size and traffic. Since 2018, it has been repurposed as the Bologna San Donato railway test circuit . The city is also served by a large network of public bus lines, including trolleybus lines , operated since 2012 by Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna (TPER). As of May 2023, the first line of the new Bologna tramway is under construction. Overall,
9153-642: The largest permanent trade fairs in Europe. According to recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index (E-REGI) of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city and the 47th European city in terms of its economic growth rate; in 2022, Il Sole 24 Ore named Bologna the best city in Italy for overall quality of life. Bologna intends to become carbon neutral by 2040 and raise female employment rates, focussing on sustainable and equitable urban development. The city
9266-422: The late 16th to early 17th century reduced the population of the city from some 72,000 in the mid-16th century to about 47,000 by 1630. During the 1629–1631 Italian plague alone, Bologna lost up to a third of its population. In the mid-17th century, the population stabilized at roughly 60,000, slowly increasing to some 70,000 by the mid-18th century. The economy of Bologna started to show signs of severe decline as
9379-617: The latter also featuring Renaissance artworks such as the Bentivoglio Altarpiece by Lorenzo Costa . Finally, the Church of San Michele in Bosco is a 15th century religious complex located on a hill not far from the city's historical center. In terms of total GDP, the Metropolitan City of Bologna generated a value of about €35 billion ($ 40.6 billion) in 2017, equivalent to €34,251 ($ 40,165) per capita,
9492-524: The long tradition of left-wing mayors was interrupted by the victory of independent centre-right candidate Giorgio Guazzaloca . However, Bologna reverted to form in 2004 when Sergio Cofferati , a former trade union leader, unseated Guazzaloca. The next centre-left mayor, Flavio Delbono , elected in June 2009, resigned in January 2010 after being involved in a corruption scandal. After a 15-month period in which
9605-480: The new Kingdom of Italy . In the last decades of the 19th century, Bologna once again thrived economically and socially. In 1863 Naples was linked to Rome by railway, and the following year Bologna to Florence. Bolognese moderate agrarian elites, that supported liberal insurgencies against the papacy and were admirers of the British political system and of free trade, envisioned a unified national state that would open
9718-549: The ordinary income of 1,200,000 gold florins , another 800,000 in extraordinary subsidies. The duchy was officially established on 11 May 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti , the Dominus Generalis of Milan, obtained the title of Duke of Milan by means of a diploma signed in Prague by Wenceslaus of Bohemia . The nomination was ratified and celebrated in Milan on 5 September 1395. Gian Galeazzo Visconti also obtained
9831-553: The people of Florence, but the Florentines were being taxed hard by famine, disease, and poverty. Galeazzo won another victory over the Bolognese at the Battle of Casalecchio on 26–27 June 1402. Galeazzo's dreams were to come to nought, however, as he succumbed to a fever at the Castello of Melegnano on 10 August 1402. He died on 3 September. His empire fragmented as infighting among his successors wrecked Milan, partly through
9944-434: The province of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, of whom 46.7% were male and 53.3% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 12.86 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 27.02 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Bologna resident is 51 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007,
10057-452: The rebellion by 26 April. By the mid-1840s, unemployment levels were very high and traditional industries continued to languish or disappear; Bologna became a city of economic disparity with the top 10 percent of the population living off rent, another 20 percent exercising professions or commerce and 70 percent working in low-paid, often insecure manual jobs. The Papal census of 1841 reported 10,000 permanent beggars and another 30,000 (out of
10170-473: The restoration of older ones. At this time, Bologna had ninety-six convents, more than any other Italian city. Painters working in Bologna during this period established the Bolognese School which includes Annibale Carracci , Domenichino , Guercino , and others of European fame. It was only towards the end of the 16th century that severe signs of decline began to manifest. A series of plagues in
10283-583: The scholar Irnerius ( c. 1050 – after 1125) and his famous students, the Four Doctors of Bologna . After the death of Matilda of Tuscany in 1115, Bologna obtained substantial concessions from Emperor Henry V . However, when Frederick Barbarossa subsequently attempted to strike down the deal, Bologna joined the Lombard League , which then defeated the imperial armies at the Battle of Legnano and established an effective autonomy at
10396-503: The second half of the 18th century. In 1790, the city had 72,000 inhabitants, ranking as the second largest in the Papal States; however, this figure had remained unchanged for decades. During this period, Papal economic policies included heavy customs duties and concessions of monopolies to single manufacturers. Napoleon entered Bologna on 19 June 1796. Napoleon briefly reinstated the ancient mode of government, giving power to
10509-644: The soldiers were speaking Italian, they poured out onto the streets to celebrate. In the post-war years, Bologna became a thriving industrial centre as well as a political stronghold of the Italian Communist Party . Between 1945 and 1999, the city was helmed by an uninterrupted succession of mayors from the PCI and its successors, the Democratic Party of the Left and Democrats of the Left ,
10622-670: The third highest figure among Italian provinces (after Milan and Bolzano/Bozen ). The economy of Bologna is characterized by a flourishing industrial sector, traditionally centered on the transformation of agricultural and zootechnical products ( Eridania , Granarolo , Segafredo Zanetti , Conserve Italia [ it ] ), machinery ( Coesia [ it ] , IMA , Sacmi ), construction equipment ( Maccaferri ); energy ( Hera Group ), automotive ( Ducati , Lamborghini ), footwear, textile, engineering, chemical, printing and publishing ( Cappelli , il Mulino , Monrif Group [ it ] , Zanichelli ). In particular, Bologna
10735-444: The town. The cityscape is further enriched by its elegant and extensive porticoes , for which the city is famous. In total, there are some 38 kilometres (24 miles) of porticoes in the city's historical centre (over 45 km (28 mi) in the city proper), which make it possible to walk for long distances sheltered from the elements. The Portico di San Luca is possibly the world's longest. It connects Porta Saragozza (one of
10848-428: The tradition on the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Egyptian goddess Isis . The Basilica of Saint Dominic is an example of Romanic architecture from the 13th century, enriched by the monumental tombs of great Bolognese glossators Rolandino de'Passeggeri and Egidio Foscherari. Basilicas of St Francis , Santa Maria dei Servi and San Giacomo Maggiore are other magnificent examples of 14th century architecture,
10961-467: The transfer of Genoese sovereignty to France and Enguerrand VII was dispatched to warn him that France would consider further interference a hostile act. The quarrel was more than political. Valentina Visconti, the wife of the Duke of Orleans and Gian Galeazzo's beloved daughter, had been exiled from Paris due to the machinations of Queen Isabeau the same month as the departure of the crusade. In 1396, after
11074-647: The twelve gates of the ancient walls built in the Middle Ages, which circled a 7.5 km (4.7 mi) part of the city) with the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca , a church begun in 1723 on the site of an 11th century edifice which had already been enlarged in the 14th century, prominently located on a hill (289 metres (948 feet)) overlooking the town, which is one of Bologna's main landmarks. The winding 666 vault arcades, almost four kilometres (3,796 m or 12,454 ft) long, effectively links San Luca , as
11187-706: The western edge of the Po Plain on the border with Ferrara to the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The centre of the town is 54 metres (177 ft) above sea level (while elevation within the municipality ranges from 29 metres (95 ft) in the suburb of Corticella to 300 metres (980 ft) in Sabbiuno and the Colle della Guardia). The province of Bologna stretches from the Po Plain into the Apennines;
11300-548: Was Ottone Visconti , elected archbishop in 1262 and who defeated the Della Torre family in the Battle of Desio in 1277. In the first half of the following century, his nephews and great-grandsons who came to govern Milan: Matteo I , Galeazzo I , Azzone and the Archbishop Giovanni , expanding the area of Visconti influence over the surrounding regions. An equal policy of enlargement and consolidation
11413-487: Was a state in Northern Italy , created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti , then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family , which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, it included twenty-six towns and the wide rural area of the middle Padan Plain east of the hills of Montferrat . During much of its existence, it was wedged between Savoy to the west, Republic of Venice to
11526-417: Was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. Under the Spanish viceroys from 1535, Milan became one of the contributors to the Spanish king's army. At the time Lombardy had the most developed manufacturing and commercial economy anywhere in the world, making it a valuable tool for the Spanish military: an armory of paramount strategic importance. In addition to resources, Milan also provided soldiers. During
11639-527: Was concluded. The political balance achieved with the Peace of Lodi lasted until the death of Lorenzo de' Medici , ruler of the Florentine Republic , and the incursion of King Charles VIII of France into Italy in 1494, except for some Swiss incursions which resulted in the Peace of Lucerne. Galeazzo Maria , son of Francesco Sforza, due to his government considered by many to be tyrannical,
11752-457: Was defeated and captured on 26 May 1249 at the Battle of Fossalta . Although the emperor demanded his release, Enzo was thenceforth kept a knightly prisoner in Bologna, in a palace that came to be named Palazzo Re Enzo after him. Every attempt to escape or to rescue him failed, and he died after more than 22 years in captivity. After the death of his half-brothers Conrad IV in 1254, Frederick of Antioch in 1256 and Manfred in 1266, as well as
11865-680: Was elected mayor with 61.9% of votes, becoming the most voted mayor of Bologna since the introduction of the direct elections in 1995. Bologna is situated on the edge of the Po Plain at the foot of the Apennine Mountains , at the meeting of the Reno and Savena river valleys. As Bologna's two main watercourses flow directly to the sea, the town lies outside of the drainage basin of the River Po . The province of Bologna stretches from
11978-468: Was eventually ousted by a popular rebellion and Bologna became a signoria under Taddeo Pepoli in 1334. By the arrival of the Black Death in 1348, Bologna had 40,000 to 50,000 inhabitants, reduced to just 20,000 to 25,000 after the plague. In 1350, Bologna was conquered by archbishop Giovanni Visconti , the new lord of Milan. But following a rebellion by the town's governor, a renegade member of
12091-666: Was expelled from the Peninsula by a League composed of many Italian states, the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of England , but only three years later, in 1498, the Duke of Orléans, who had become King of France with the name of Louis XII , assert his claims on the Duchy of Milan: one of his ancestors, Louis of Orleans , had in fact married Valentina Visconti , daughter of Duke Gian Galeazzo, in 1389, whose marriage contract established that, in
12204-472: Was heavily bombed again on 25 September. The raids, which this time were not confined to the city centre, left 2,481 people dead and 2,000 injured. By the end of the war, 43% of all buildings in Bologna had been destroyed or damaged. After the armistice of 1943 , the city became a key centre of the Italian resistance movement . On 7 November 1944, a pitched battle around Porta Lame , waged by partisans of
12317-565: Was murdered in a conspiracy. His son, Gian Galeazzo , governed under the regency of his mother Bona of Savoy , until his uncle, Ludovico il Moro usurped the throne of the duchy. Ludovico il Moro, son of Francesco Sforza, managed to obtain the guardianship of his nephew Gian Galeazzo and confine him to the Visconti Castle of Pavia , where in 1494 he died in such mysterious circumstances that many suspicions gathered around Ludovico himself. Relations between Ludovico and Ferdinand II of Aragon therefore deteriorated: Gian Galeazzo had in fact married
12430-697: Was not evident in the 1500s, which were marked by some major developments in Bologna. In 1530, Emperor Charles V was crowned in Bologna, the last of the Holy Roman Emperors to be crowned by the pope. In 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio , the main building of the university. The period of Papal rule saw also the construction of many churches and other religious establishments, and
12543-463: Was pursued in the second half of the century by their successors: Matteo II , Bernabò and Gian Galeazzo . After a period marked by tensions between the various members of the powerful family, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, nephew of Bernabò, came to power with a coup in 1385 and gradually unified the vast family domains scattered across Northern Italy . It is said that the territories subject to his dominion earned Gian Galeazzo in one year, in addition to
12656-521: Was then reduced to a regional state subjected to foreign domination. With the Treaty of Baden , which ended the War of the Spanish Succession , the Duchy of Milan was ceded to the Austrian Habsburgs . During the 18th century, the surface area of the duchy - despite its unification in 1745 with the Duchy of Mantua , which however had strong autonomy from Milan - was further reduced, reaching
12769-477: Was undertaken, Bologna was one of the few remaining large walled cities in Europe; to this day and despite having suffered considerable bombing damage in 1944, Bologna's 142 hectares (350 acres) historic centre is Europe's second largest, containing an immense wealth of important medieval, renaissance, and baroque artistic monuments. Bologna developed along the Via Emilia as an Etruscan and later Roman colony;
#687312