Bologna

Bologna (Emilian: Bulåggna pronounced ; ) is the largest city (and the capital) of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy, located in the heart of a metropolitan area (officially recognized by the Italian government as a città metropolitana) of about one million.

The first settlements date back to at least 1000 BC. The city has been an urban centre, first under the Etruscans (Velzna/Felsina) and the Celts (Bona), then under the Romans (Bononia), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality (for one century it was the fifth largest European city based on population). Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna hosts thousands of students who enrich the social and cultural life of the city. Famous for its towers and lengthy porticoes, Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre (one of the largest in Italy) thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s, on the heels of serious damage done by the urban demolition at the end of the 19th century as well as that caused by wars.

An important cultural and artistic centre, its importance in terms of landmarks can be attributed to homogenous mixture of monuments and architectural examples (medieval towers, antique buildings, churches, the layout of its historical centre) as well as works of art which are the result of a first class architectural and artistic history. Bologna is also an important transportation crossroad for the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most 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.

Bologna is home to prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, a UNESCO “city of music”. The city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country: in 2011 it ranked 1st out of 107 Italian cities.

Etruscan, Celtic and Roman times
The area around Bologna has been inhabited since the 9th century BC, as evidenced by the archeological digs in the 19th century in nearby Villanova (Castenaso). This period, and up to the 6th century, is referred to as the Villanovan culture, and had various nuclei of people spread out around this area. In the 7th and 6th centuries BC, Etruria began to have an influence on this area, and the population went from Umbrian to Etruscan. The town was renamed Felsina.

In the 4th century BC, the city and the surrounding area were conquered by the Boii, a Celtic tribe from Transalpine Gaul. The tribe settled down and mixed so well with the Etruscans, after a brief period of aggression, that they created a civilization that modern historians call Gaul-Etruscan (one of the best examples is the archeological complex of Monte Bibele, in the Apennines near Bologna). The Gauls dominated the area until 196 BC, when they were sacked by the Romans. After the Battle of Telamon, in which the forces of the Boii and their allies were badly beaten, the tribe reluctantly accepted the influence of the Roman Republic, but with the outbreak of the Punic Wars the Celts once more went on a war path. They first helped Hannibal's army cross the Alps then they supplied him with a consistent force of infantry that proved itself decisive in several battles. With the downfall of the Carthaginians came the end of the Boii as a free people, the Romans destroyed many settlements and villages (Monte Bibele was one of them) and then founded the colonia of Bononia in c. 189 BC. The settlers included three thousand Latin families led by the consul Lucius Valerius Flaccus. The Celtic population was ultimately absorbed into Roman society but parts of the language have survived in some measure in the Bolognese dialect, which belongs to the Gallo-Italic group of languages and dialects. The building of the Via Aemilia in 187 BC made Bologna an important centre, connected to Arezzo by way of the Via Flaminia minor and to Aquileia through the Via Aemilia Altinate.

In 88 BC, the city became a municipium: it had a rectilinear street plan with six cardi and eight decumani (intersecting streets) which are still discernible today. During the Roman era, its population varied between c. 12,000 to c. 30,000. At its peak, it was the second city of Italy, and one of the most important of all the Empire, with various temples and baths, a theatre, and an arena. Pomponius Mela included Bononia among the five opulentissimae ("richest") cities of Italy. Although fire damaged the city during the reign of Claudius, the Roman Emperor Nero rebuilt it in the 1st century AD. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Bologna fell under the power of Odoacer, Theoderic the Great (493–526), Byzantium and finally the Lombards, who used it mostly as a military centre. In 774, the city fell to Charlemagne, who gave it to Pope Adrian I.

Middle Ages


After a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under Bishop Petronius. According to legend, St. Petronius built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a frontier stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain, and was defended by a line of walls which did not enclose most of the ancient ruined Roman city. In 728, the city was captured by the Lombard king Liutprand, becoming part of the Lombard Kingdom. The Germanic conquerors formed a district called "addizione longobarda" near the complex of S. Stefano. Charlemagne stayed in this district in 786.

In the 11th century, under the Holy Roman Empire, Bologna began to aspire to being a free commune, which it was able to do when Matilda of Tuscany died, in 1115, and the following year the city obtained many judicial and economic concessions from Emperor Henry V. Bologna joined the Lombard League against Frederick Barbarossa in 1164 which ended with the Peace of Constance in 1183; after which, the city began to expand rapidly (this is the period in which its famous towers were built) and it became one of the main commercial trade centres thanks to a system of canals that allowed large ships to come and go.

Traditionally said to be founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is widely considered to be the first university. The university originated as an international centre of study of medieval Roman law under major glossators, including Irnerius. It numbered Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca among its students.

In the 12th century, the expanding city needed a new line of walls, and at the end of the 13th century, Bologna had between 50,000 and 60,000 inhabitants making it the fifth largest city in Europe (after Cordova, Paris, Venice, and Florence) and tied with Milan as the largest textile industry area in Italy. The complex system of canals in Bologna was one of the most advanced waterway systems in Europe, and took its water from the Savena, Aposa and Reno Rivers. The main canals were Canale Navile, Canale di Reno and Canale di Savena. Hydraulic energy derived from the canal system helped run the numerous textile mills and transport goods.

In 1256, Bologna promulgated the "Paradise Law", which abolished feudal serfdom and freed the slaves, using public money. At that time the city centre was full of towers (perhaps 180), built by the leading families, notable public edifices, churches, and abbeys. In the 1270s Bologna's politics was dominated by Luchetto Gattilusio, a Genoese diplomat and man of letters who became the city Governor. Like most Italian cities of that age, Bologna was torn by internal struggles related to the Guelph and Ghibelline factions, which led to the expulsion of the Ghibelline family of the Lambertazzi in 1274.

After this period of great prosperity, Bologna experienced some ups and downs: The city were home to some 50,000 people in the early 1300s. it was crushed in the Battle of Zappolino by Modena in 1325 but then prospered under the rule of Taddeo Pepoli (1337–1347). Then in 1348, during the Black Plague, about 30,000 inhabitants died, and it subsequently fell to the Visconti of Milan, but returned to Papal control under Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1360. In the following years, Republican governments like that of 1377, which was responsible for the building of the Basilica di San Petronio and the Loggia dei Mercanti, alternated with Papal or Visconti resurgences, while the city's families engaged in continual internecine fighting.

Early modern


In 1337, the rule of the noble Pepoli family, nicknamed by some scholars as the "underground nobles" as they governed as "the first among equals" rather than as true nobles of the city. This noble family's rule was in many ways an extension of past rules, and resisted until March 28, 1401 when the Bentivoglio family took over. The Bentivoglio family ruled Bologna, first with Sante (1445–1462) and then under Giovanni II (1462–1506). This period was a flourishing one for the city, with the presence of notable architects and painters who made Bologna a true city of art. During the Renaissance, Bologna was the only Italian city that allowed women to excel in any profession. Women had much more freedom than in other Italian cities; some even had the opportunity to earn a degree at the university. The School of Bologna of painting flourished in Bologna between the 16th and 17th centuries, and rivalled Florence and Rome as the centre of painting.

Giovanni's reign ended in 1506 when the Papal troops of Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace. From that point on, until the 18th century, Bologna was part of the Papal States, ruled by a cardinal legato and by a Senate which every two months elected a gonfaloniere (judge), assisted by eight elder consuls. In 1530, in front of Saint Petronio Church, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII.

Then a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, and another in 1630 to 47,000. The population later recovered to a stable 60,000–65,000. However, there was also great progress during this era: in 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the centre of the University. The period of Papal rule saw the construction of many churches and other religious establishments, and the reincarnation of older ones. At this time, Bologna had ninety-six convents, more than any other Italian city. Artists working during this period in Bologna established the Bolognese School which includes Annibale Carracci, Domenichino, Guercino and others of European fame.

Late modern and contemporary


In 1796 Napoleon conquered Bologna, making it the capital of the short lived Cispadane Republic. After the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 placed Bologna once again under the sovereignty of the Papal States, leading to the uprisings of 1831 and 1848, when the Austrian garrisons which controlled the city where temporarily expelled. Eventually, during the Second War of Italian Independence, on 11 and 12 March 1860 the city voted in favour of annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia, soon to become the new Kingdom of Italy.

World War II
Bologna suffered extensive damage during World War II. The strategic importance of the city as industrial and railway hub connecting northern and central Italy  made it a strategic target for the Allied forces. On July 16, 1943 a massive aerial bombardment destroyed much of the historic city centre and killed scores of 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 was heavily bombed again on September 25. The raids, which this time were not confined to the city centre, left 936 people dead and thousands injured.

During the war, the city became a key centre of the Italian resistance movement and The Ustaše – Croatian Revolutionary Movement (known as the brothers in arms). On November 7, 1944, a pitched battle around Porta Lame, waged by partisans of 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 April 21, 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 the east during the Battle of Bologna which had been fought since April 9. 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 the soldiers were speaking Italian, they poured out on to the streets to celebrate. Polish reconnaissance units of the Polish 2nd Corps entered Bologna from another direction on the same morning as the Friuli Combat Group. The fighting to oust the Germans from the town had been mostly undertaken by Polish troops.

Post-war years
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 had an uninterrupted series of left-wing mayors, the first of whom was Giuseppe Dozza.

In 1977 Bologna was the scene of rioting linked to the Movement of 1977, a spontaneous political movement of the time. The alleged police shooting of a far-left activist, Francesco Lorusso, sparked two days of street clashes that led the government to send in armored vehicles.

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 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 the long tradition of left-wing mayors was interrupted by the victory of the independent candidate Giorgio Guazzaloca, who led a centre-right coalition; this brief experience ended in 2004 when Sergio Cofferati, a former trade union leader, was elected. 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 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.

Territory
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 the western edge of the Po Plain on the border with Ferrara to the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The centre of the town is 54 m above sea level (while elevation within the municipality ranges from 29 m in the suburb of Corticella to 300 m in Sabbiuno and the Colle della Guardia). The Province of Bologna stretches from the Po Plain into the Apennines; the highest point in the province is the peak of Corno alle Scale (in Lizzano in Belvedere) at 1945 m above sea level.

Climate
Bologna has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa), with little influence from the sea; the climatic classification is "zone E, 2259 GR/G". Winters can be cold (-28.8 °C was recorded in Molinella on the night of January 12, 1985).

The record lows recorded in the last twenty years are around -10 °C, while summers are hot and muggy due to the high humidity in this area, and they can be long with long periods of drought (as in 2003); in July and August it is normal for temperatures to rise above 37 °C.

Annual precipitation oscillates between around 450 mm and 900 mm, with the majority generally falling in spring and autumn. Snow is fairly common during winter and heavy snowfalls, even lasting for days, are not unheard of; the last major event was in February 2012, when almost a meter of snow fell on the city and up to 2 meters on the outskirts.

Moderate wind contributes to the formation of fog and haze and to an elevated smog due to local traffic, as well as to the combustion in heating systems (most of which have been converted to methane gas) and industrial establishments. Occasionally, despite all of this, there have been days with gusts up to 120 km/hour (for example on December 26, 1996) due to the winds coming down off the mountains (sometimes the buran from the Siberian steppe reaches the foot of the Apennines); during the month of August, in particular, strong gusts of more than 100 km/hour have been recorded during localized storms.

Government


The legislative body of the municipality is the City Council (Consiglio Comunale), which is composed of 36 councillors elected every five years with a proportional system, contextually to the mayoral elections. The executive body is the City Committee (Giunta Comunale), composed by 7 assessors, that is nominated and presieded over by a directly elected Mayor. The current mayor of Bologna is Virginio Merola (PD), elected on 16 May 2011 with the 50.5% of the votes.

The municipality of Bologna is subdivided into nine administrative Boroughs (Quartieri). Each Borough is governed by a Council (Consiglio) and a President, elected contextually to 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 in order to finance local activities. Of the nine boroughs, eight are governed by the Democratic Party and one by the Lega Nord.

Main sights

 * ''For a complete list, see Buildings and structures in Bologna



Until the late 19th century, when a large-scale urban renewal project was undertaken, Bologna remained one of the few remaining large walled cities in Europe; to this day and despite having suffered considerable bombing damage in 1944, Bologna's 350 acre 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; 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 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 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 km of porticoes in the city's historical centre (over 45 km 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 the twelve gates of the ancient walls built in the Middle Ages, which circled a 7.5 km 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 m) overlooking the town, which is one of Bologna's main landmarks. The winding 666 vault arcade, almost four kilometres (3,796 m) long, effectively links San Luca, as the church is commonly called, to the centre of town. 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 Ascension week.

Other churches in Bologna include:
 * Basilica of San Petronio, one of the world's largest churches
 * Basilica of Santo Stefano and sanctuary
 * Basilica of San Domenico and sanctuary
 * Basilica of St Francis
 * Basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi
 * Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore (13th–14th century), featuring Renaissance artworks such as the Bentivoglio Altarpiece by Lorenzo Costa
 * Church of San Michele in Bosco

Economy


Bologna is an important railway and motorway hub in Italy. The economy of Bologna is characterized by a flourishing industrial sector, traditionally based on the transformation of agricultural and zootechnical products (Granarolo, Segafredo Zanetti). It also includes machinery (Coesia), automobiles, footwear, textile, engineering, chemical, printing and publishing industries, as well as a strong financial, insurance (Unipol) and retail (Coop Italia, Conad) activity. The city's Fiera District (exhibition centre) is one of the largest in Europe, with important yearly international expos focused on the automobile sector (Bologna Motor Show), ceramics for the building industry (International Exhibition of Ceramic Tiles and Bathroom Furnishings) and food industry. In addition, several important firms in the fields of automobiles (Lamborghini), motorcycles (Ducati), mechanics, food, tobacco and electronics have their headquarters in the urban area of Bologna, as well as important retail and wholesale trade (the "Centergross" in Argelato, esabilished in 1973), and one of the largest Italian food processing companies (Conserve Italia).

Transport
Bologna is home to the Guglielmo Marconi International Airport, recently expanded to accommodate larger aircraft. Today, it is the seventh busiest Italian airport for passenger traffic (almost 6 million passengers handled in 2011). Bologna Centrale railway station is one of the most important train hubs in Italy thanks to the city's strategic location. It serves 58 million passengers annually. In addition, Bologna San Donato classification yard, with 33 railway tracks, is the largest in Italy by size and traffic. The city is also served by a large network of public bus lines, including trolleybus lines, operated since 2012 by Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna SpA (TPER).

A large commuter rail service is currently under development (see Bologna metropolitan railway service).

Demographics
At the end of 2010, the city proper had a population of 380,604 (while 1 million live in the greater Bologna area), located in 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, the population of Bologna grew by 0.0 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent. The current birth rate of Bologna is 8.07 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2009, 89.47% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group came from other European countries (mostly Romanians and Albanians): 2.82%, East Asia (mostly Filipino): 1.50%, and South Asia (mostly from Bangladesh): 1.39%.

Education
The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the second oldest existing university in the world after the University of al-Karaouine in Morocco, and was an important centre of European intellectual life during the Middle Ages, attracting scholars from throughout Christendom. A unique heritage of medieval art, exemplified by the illuminated manuscripts and jurists' tombs produced in the city from the 13th to the 15th centuries, provides a cultural backdrop to the renown of the medieval institution. The Studium, as it was originally known, began as a loosely organized teaching system with each master collecting fees from students on an individual basis. The location of the early University was thus spread throughout the city, with various colleges being founded to support students of a specific nationality.

In the Napoleonic era, the headquarters of the university were moved to their present location on Via Zamboni (formerly Via San Donato), in the north-eastern sector of the city centre. Today, the University's 23 faculties, 68 departments, and 93 libraries are spread across the city and include four subsidiary campuses in nearby Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna, and Rimini. Noteworthy students present at the university in centuries past included Dante, Petrarch, Thomas Becket, Pope Nicholas V, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Copernicus. Laura Bassi, appointed in 1732, became the first woman to officially teach at a college in Europe. In more recent history, Luigi Galvani, the discoverer of biological electricity, and Guglielmo Marconi, the pioneer of radio technology, also worked at the University. The University of Bologna remains one of the most respected and dynamic post-secondary educational institutions in Italy. To this day, Bologna is still very much a university town, and the city's population swells from 400,000 to over 500,000 whenever classes are in session. This community includes a great number of Erasmus, Socrates, and overseas students.

The university's botanical garden, the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna, was established in 1568; it is the fourth oldest in Europe.

Bologna is also home to other universities such as the Bologna Center of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). SAIS Bologna was founded in 1955 as the first campus of a US post-graduate school to open in Europe. It was inspired by Marshall Plan efforts to build a cultural bridge between America and Europe. Today, the Bologna Center also hosts the Associazione italo-americana “Luciano Finelli," which supports cross-cultural awareness and exchange between Italy and the United States.

Culture


Over the centuries, Bologna has acquired many nicknames: "the learned one" (la dotta) is a reference to its university; "the fat one" (la grassa) refers to its cuisine.

"The red one" (la rossa) originally refers to the colour of the roofs in the historic centre, but this nickname is also connected to the political situation in the city, started after World War II: until the election of a centre-right mayor in 1999, the city was renowned as a bastion of socialism and communism in particular the Italian Communist Party. The centre-left regained power again in the 2004 mayoral elections, with the election of Sergio Cofferati. It was one of the first European cities to experiment with the concept of free public transport.

The city of Bologna was appointed a UNESCO City of Music on 26 May 2006. According to UNESCO, "As the first Italian city to be appointed to the Network, Bologna has demonstrated a rich musical tradition that is continuing to evolve as a vibrant factor of contemporary life and creation. It has also shown a strong commitment to promoting music as an important vehicle for inclusion in the fight against racism and in an effort to encourage economic and social development. Fostering a wide range of genres from classical to electronic, jazz, folk and opera, Bologna offers its citizens a musical vitality that deeply infiltrates the city’s professional, academic, social and cultural facets."

Entertainment and performing arts
The theatre was a popular form of entertainment in Bologna until the 16th century. The first public theater was the Teatro alla Scala, active since 1547 in Palazzo del Podestà.

An important figure of Italian Bolognese theatre was Alfredo Testoni, the playwright, author of The Cardinal Lambertini, which has had great theatrical success since 1905, repeated on screen by the Bolognese actor Gino Cervi.

In 1998, the City of Bologna has initiated the project "Bologna dei Teatri" (Bologna of the Theatres), an association of the major theatrical facilities in the city. This is a circuit of theatres which offer diverse and colourful cultural and theatrical opportunities, ranging from Bolognese dialect to contemporary dance, but with a communications strategy and promoting unity. Specifically, the shows on the bill in various theatres participating in the project are advertised weekly through a single poster.

Bologna's opera house is the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.

The Orchestra Mozart, whose music director was Claudio Abbado until his death in 2014, was created in 2004.

Bologna hosts a number of festivals and other events, including:


 * Angelica: International Contemporary Music Festival
 * Bologna Contemporanea: international festival on contemporary
 * Bolognafestival: international classical music festival
 * Bologna Jazz Festival: the Italian autumn jazz event
 * Biografilm Festival: International Film Festival devote to Biography
 * BilBolBul:International Comic Festival
 * Casadeipensieri: International Summer Festival of literature and poetry
 * Danza Urbana: International Street Contemporary Dance Festival
 * F.I.S.Co: International Festival on Contemporary art (now merged in Live Arts Week )
 * Future Film Festival: International Festival on animation and special effects.
 * Il Cinema Ritrovato: International Film Festival about Forgotten Films
 * Live Arts Week
 * Gender Bender: International Festival on the gender identity, sexual orientation and body representation
 * Homework festival: electronic music festival
 * Human Rights Film Festival
 * Netmage: International Festival dedicated to Electronic Art (now merged in Live Arts Week )
 * Some Prefer cake: Italian lesbian film festival
 * Zecchino d'Oro: International festival of children's song

Cuisine
Bologna is renowned for its culinary tradition. It has given its name to the well-known Bolognese sauce, a meat based pasta sauce called in Italy ragù alla bolognese but in the city itself just ragù as in Tagliatelle al ragù. Situated in the fertile Po River Valley, the rich local cuisine depends heavily on meats and cheeses. As in all of Emilia-Romagna, the production of cured pork meats such as prosciutto, mortadella and salami is an important part of the local food industry. Well-regarded nearby vineyards include Pignoletto dei Colli Bolognesi, Lambrusco di Modena and Sangiovese di Romagna. Tagliatelle with ragù, lasagne, tortellini served in broth, and mortadella, the original Bologna sausage, are among the local specialties. Traditional Bolognese desserts are often linked to holidays, such as fave dei morti, multi-coloured almond paste cookies made for All Saints' Day, jam-filled raviole cookies that are served on Saint Joseph's Day, and carnival sweets known as sfrappole. Torta di riso, a custard-like cake made of almonds, rice and amaretto, is made throughout the year.

Sport
A sporting nickname for Bologna is Basket City in reference to the successes of the town's two rival historic basketball clubs, Fortitudo and Virtus, though the clubs are now often referred to by the names of their current sponsors. Of the two, the latter won 15 Italian basketball championships and two Euroleagues making them one of the most influential European basketball clubs; the former won two league titles between 1999 and 2005. The rivalry is temporarily dormant since Fortitudo left the country's professional ranks when, following the 2008–09 season, the club was relegated from the top-level Lega A to LegADue, before being relegated further to the nominally amateur Serie A Dilettanti for financial reasons; in the 2012–13 season, Fortitudo will play in the LegADue. The Italian Basketball League, which operates both Lega A and LegADue, has its headquarters in Bologna.

Football also has a strong tradition in Bologna. The city's main club, Bologna F.C. 1909, are currently in Serie B but in the past won seven Italian league championships (the latter in 1963-64), which make them the sixth most successful team in the history of the league; in their heyday in the 1930s Bologna FC were called "Lo squadrone che tremare il mondo fa" (Italian for "The Team that Shakes the World"). The club play at the 38,000-capacity Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, which has hosted the Italian national team in both football and rugby union, as well as the San Marino national football team. It was also a venue at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Rugby union is also present in the city: Rugby Bologna 1928 is not only one of the oldest Italian rugby union clubs but also the first ever club affiliated to the Italian rugby union federation. and, to date (2014) is Italy's oldest rugby union club still in operation. The club took part to the top tier of the Italian championship for the first 25 years of their history never winning the title but getting to the runner-up place several times; they returned in top division (Serie A1 then Super 10), in the late 1990s and faced serious financial problems which led them to the relegation and almost to disappearance. Nonetheless, the club are still alive and operates in 4th division, led by a consortium created by the club's former players. Rugby Bologna 1928 play their home matches at Stadio Arcoveggio, a 2,000-capacity sports venue located in the northern sector of the city.

People

 * Ulisse Aldrovandi (naturalist, 1522–1605)
 * Antonio Alessandrini (anatomist and parasitologist, 1786–1861)
 * Maria Gaetana Agnesi (mathematician, humanitarian, and linguist, 1718–1799)
 * Amico Aspertini (painter, c. 1474–1552)
 * Pupi Avati (director, born 1938)
 * Riccardo Bacchelli (writer, 1891–1985)
 * Adriano Banchieri (composer, 1568–1634)
 * Agostino Barelli (architect, 1627–1687)
 * Antonio Basoli (painter and scene designer, 1774–1848)
 * Laura Bassi (scientist, first female appointed to university chair in Europe, 1711–1788)
 * Ugo Bassi (Italian nationalist hero, executed for role in 1848 uprisings, 1800–1849)
 * Stefano Benni (writer, born 1947)
 * Benedict XIV (Prospero Lambertini, Pope 1740–58)
 * Giovanni II Bentivoglio (1443–1508)
 * Giordano Berti (writer, born 1959)
 * Amedeo Biavati (footballer, 1915–1979, credited with the invention of the stepover, World Champion 1938, played only for Bologna FC)
 * Francesco Ricci Bitti, Italian sports administrator
 * Simone Bolelli (Professional Tennis Player, Born 1985)
 * Giacomo Bolognini (painter, 1664–1734)
 * Rafael Bombelli (mathematician, 1526–1572)
 * Rossano Brazzi (actor, 1916–1994)
 * Raffaella Carrà (singer, born 1943)
 * Annibale Carracci (painter, 1560–1609)
 * Lodovico Carracci (painter, 1555–1619)
 * Agostino Carracci (painter, 1557–1602)
 * Chiara Caselli (actress, born 1967)
 * Pier Ferdinando Casini (politician, born 1955)
 * Pietro Cataldi (mathematician, 1548–1626)
 * Pierluigi Collina (football referee, born 1960)
 * Giovanni Paolo Colonna (composer, 1637–1695)
 * Alessandro Cortini (musician, born 1976)
 * Giuseppe Maria Crespi (painter, 1665–1747)
 * Donato Creti (painter, 1671–1749)
 * Giulio Cesare Croce (cantastorie and writer, 1550–1609)
 * Scipione del Ferro (mathematician, solved the cubic equation, 1465–1526)
 * Francesco Francia (Francesco Raibolini, painter, c. 1450–1517)
 * Lucio Dalla (singer-songwriter, 1943–2012)
 * Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, painter, 1581–1641)
 * Sara Errani (tennis player, born 1987)
 * Gianfranco Fini (politician, born 1952)
 * Aristotile Fioravanti (architect, c. 1415–c. 1486)
 * Luigi Galvani (scientist, discoverer of bioelectricity, 1737–1798)
 * Alessandro Gamberini, (footballer, born 1981)
 * Serena Grandi (actress, born 1958)
 * Gregory XIII (Ugo Boncompagni, Pope 1572–85, instituted the Gregorian Calendar)
 * Gregory XV (Alessandro Ludovisi, Pope 1621-3)
 * Il Guercino (Giovanni Barbieri, painter, 1591–1666)
 * Irnerius (jurist, c. 1050 – at least 1125)
 * Blessed Imelda Lambertini (Dominican novice, Eucharistic mystic, and child saint, c. 1322 – 1333)
 * Claudio Lolli (singer-songwriter, born 1950)
 * Lucius II (Gherardo Caccianemici dell'Orso, Pope 1144-5)
 * Marcello Malpighi (physiologist, anatomist and histologist, 1628–1694)
 * Guglielmo Marconi (engineer, pioneer of wireless telegraphy, Nobel prize for Physics, 1874–1937)
 * Giovanni Battista Martini (musical theorist, 1706–1784)
 * Giuseppe Mezzofanti (cardinal, linguist and hyperpolyglot, 1774–1839)
 * Marco Minghetti (economist and statesman, 1818–1886)
 * Giorgio Morandi (painter, 1890–1964)
 * Gianni Morandi (singer, born 1944)
 * Edgardo Mortara (Catholic priest that was the subject of the Mortara Case during the Risorgimento, 1851–1940 )
 * Gianluca Pagliuca (footballer, born 1966)
 * Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer, poet, director, 1922–1975)
 * Roberto Regazzi (luthier, born 1956)
 * Guido Reni (painter, 1575–1642)
 * Ottorino Respighi (composer, 1879–1936)
 * Augusto Righi (physicist, authority on electromagnetism, 1850–1920)
 * Vasco Rossi (singer-songwriter, born 1952)
 * Carlo Ruini (equine anatomist, 1530–1598)
 * Angelo Schiavio (footballer, 1905–1990, scored the winning goal in extra time in the 1934 World Cup Final, played only for Bologna)
 * Elisabetta Sirani (painter, 1638–1665)
 * Alberto Tomba (skier, born 1966)
 * Ondina Valla (first Italian woman Olympic gold medalist, 1916–2006)
 * Mariele Ventre (teacher and educator, founder of Piccolo Coro dell' Antoniano choir, 1939–1995)
 * Christian Vieri (footballer, born 1973)
 * Vitale da Bologna (painter, fl. 1330, d 1361)
 * Anteo Zamboni (anarchist who at the age of 15 attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini, 1911–1926)
 * Alex Zanardi (racing driver, born 1966)
 * Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti (writer, musician, and composer, 1801–1878)

In addition to the natives of the city listed above, the following have made Bologna their home:
 * Giosuè Carducci (poet and academic, Nobel Prize for Literature, born near Lucca, Tuscany, 1835–1907)
 * Carlo Felice Cillario (Italian conductor of international renown, founder of the Bologna Chamber Orchestra in 1946 (February 7, 1915 – December 13, 2007)
 * Umberto Eco (writer and academic, born in Alessandria, Piedmont, 1932)
 * Enzio of Sardinia (born c. 1218, King of Sardinia and illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II, was imprisoned in Palazzo Re Enzo from 1249 until his death in 1272)
 * Vasco Errani (politician, born 1955)
 * Alfonso Lombardi (sculptor, born in Ferrara, c. 1497–1537)
 * Niccolò dell'Arca (sculptor, born in Bari, c. 1435–1440 – 2 March 1494)
 * Juan Ignacio Molina (naturalist, born in Chile, 1740–1829)
 * Giovanni Pascoli (poet and academic, born in San Mauro di Romagna, 1855–1912)
 * St. Petronius (San Petronio, bishop of Bologna and patron saint of the city, birthplace unknown, died c. 450 AD)
 * Romano Prodi (economist, politician, born in Scandiano, Reggio Emilia, 1939)
 * Gioachino Rossini (opera composer, born in Pesaro, 1792–1868)
 * Giuseppe Torelli (composer, born in Verona, 1658–1709)
 * Wu Ming (collective of writers, active since 2000)
 * Farinelli (Carlo Broschi, castrato opera singer, 1705–1782)

Companies

 * COESIA Group – G.D (packaging)
 * CIBO- Culinary Institute of Bologna – (Culinary-Cooking School))
 * Coop (supermarket chain)
 * Ducati Motor Holding (motorcycles)
 * IMA S.p.A (packaging)
 * Lamborghini (cars)
 * Malaguti (motorcycles)
 * Maserati (cars)
 * Segafredo Zanetti – (coffee)
 * Unipol – (bank and insurance)
 * Viro S.p.A – (padlocks)
 * YOOX Group Spa – (Fashion / Online Apparel Retailer)

International relations
Bologna is twinned with: