the historic city centre of bologna is a handsome ensemble of brick buildings and charming porticoed streets.
medieval palaces are clustered around the two central squares, piazza maggiore and piazza del nettuno, flanked to the south by the churches of san petronio and san domenico.
here, too, is the venerable archiginnasio, part of the university of bologna and one of the oldest in europe.
further afield, the skyline is etched by the asinelli and garisenda towers, and by the campanile of santo stefano.
sights at a glance:
fontana di nettuno;
san petronio;
piazza cavour;
san giacomo maggiore;
torri degli asinelli e garisenda;
abbazia di santo stefano.