Metropolitan City of Bologna

San Nicolò di Villola is a Roman Catholic parish church located on via Cadriano #11 in Bologna, Italy.

The Battle of Bologna was fought in Bologna, Italy from 9–21 April 1945 during the Second World War, as part of the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy. The Allied forces were victorious, with the Polish II Corps and supporting Allied units capturing the city on 21 April.

The province of Bologna (Italian: provincia di Bologna) was a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its provincial capital was the city of Bologna. The province of Bologna covered an area of 3,702.32 square kilometres (1,429.47 sq mi) and had a total population of 1,004,323 inhabitants as of 31 December 2014, giving it a population density of 271.27 inhabitants per square kilometre. It was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Bologna starting from January 2015.

Bologna (, UK also , Italian: [boˈloɲɲa] (listen); Emilian: Bulåggna [buˈlʌɲːa]; Latin: Bononia) is a city in and the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy, of which it is also its largest. 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. It is known as the Fat City for its rich cuisine, and the Red City for its Spanish-style red tiled rooftops and, more recently, its leftist politics. It is also called the Learned City because it is home to the oldest university in the world.Originally Etruscan, 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 a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s. Home to the oldest university in continuous operation, the University of Bologna, established in AD 1088, the city has a large student population that gives it a cosmopolitan character. 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 the largest permanent trade fairs in Europe. 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.

The University of Bologna (Italian: Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (studiorum), it is the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, and the first degree-awarding institution of higher learning. At its foundation, the word universitas was first coined. With over 90,000 students, it is the second largest university in Italy after La Sapienza in Rome.It was the first place of study to use the term universitas for the corporations of students and masters, which came to define the institution (especially its law school) located in Bologna. The university's emblem carries the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum ("Nourishing mother of studies"), the date A.D. 1088. It has campuses in Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna and Rimini and a branch center abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It also has a school of excellence named Collegio Superiore di Bologna. An associate publisher of the University of Bologna is the Bononia University Press. The university saw the first woman to earn a university degree and teach at a university, Bettisia Gozzadini, and the first woman to earn both a doctorate in science and a salaried position as a university professor, Laura Bassi. It is one of the most prestigious universities in Italy and is commonly ranked among the top universities in Italy and the world. It is especially renowned for its studies in law, medicine, and the natural sciences. University of Bologna had a central role in the sciences during the Italian renaissance, where it housed and educated Nicholas Copernicus as well as numerous other renaissance mathematicians.

Piazza Maggiore (Piâza Mażåur in the Bolognese language) is a central square in Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The appearance in the 21st century, generally reflects the layout from the 15th century. The Northwest corner opens into Piazza del Nettuno with its Fontana del Nettuno, while the Northeast corner opens into the narrower Piazza Re Enzo, running along the flanks of the Palazzo Re Enzo that merges with the Palazzo del Podestà. Flanking the Piazza del Nettuno is the Biblioteca Salaborsa.

The Palazzo del Podestà is a civic building in Bologna, northern Italy. The edifice was built around 1200 as the seat of the local podestà, the various functionaries of the commune. It stands on the Piazza Maggiore, near the Palazzo Comunale and facing the Basilica of San Petronio. Proving insufficient for the massive participation of the people in the city's government, it was in 1245 flanked by the Palazzo Re Enzo, over which stands the Torre dell'Arengo, whose bell was used to call the people during emergencies. The Palazzo del Podestà is a long building, with a large hall on the upper floor. The lower floor is a double open arcade, the so-called Voltone del Podestà, through which pass two lanes of shops. In 1453 Aristotile Fioravanti replaced the bell and reconstructed the original Gothic façade in the Renaissance style by order of Giovanni II Bentivoglio. In the Voltone, in 1525, were placed the terracotta statues of the city's protectors, Sts. Petronius, Proculus, Dominic and Francis, all by Alfonso Lombardi. In the 16th-18th centuries the Palazzo was used as theatre. In the 20th century it was frescoed by Adolfo de Carolis.

Palazzo dei Notai is a historic building in Bologna, Italy. It faces Piazza Maggiore, between the basilica di San Petronio and palazzo d'Accursio. It was built in 1381 by the city's notaries guild as their seat, under design by Berto Cavalletto and Lorenzo da Bagnomarino. Another section facing Palazzo d'Accursio was remade by Bartolomeo Fioravanti around 1437. It was again restored in 1908 by Alfonso Rubbiani. It consists of a brick rectangular building, crenellated on the top, with ground story awnings. The interior has 15th-century frescoes.

Palazzo Re Enzo is a palace located on Piazza del Nettuno, 1 in the historic center of Bologna, northern Italy. The palace takes its name from Enzio of Sardinia, Frederick II's son, who was prisoner here from 1249 until his death in 1272. The palace is presently used to sponsor cultural events and exhibitions.

Salaborsa is the main public library in Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.In 2001, the central offices of the public library were moved into the northern portions of the Palazzo d'Accursio, flanking the Piazza del Nettuno, which is just north of the Piazza Maggiore. Visitors to the library are able to see an archaeological site through the crystal floor in the centre of the library. The ancient ruins are also accessible from the basement floor, where there is information about them.

Palazzo dei Banchi is a Renaissance-style palace façade located on the eastern flank of the Piazza Maggiore in the center of Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. In the 16th century when the present façade was constructed, and still, the Piazza Maggiore was the main public plaza of Bologna, surrounded by the centers of religious and political governance, represented by the cathedral (Basilica of San Petronio) and the palaces of Re Enzo (Pretorian palace) and D'Accursio (city hall). Prior to the 16th century, this end of the Piazza was represented by a jumble of house and store-fronts. In 1412, the Piazza front was roofed with a portico. Amid the houses emerged small alleys: Via Pescherie Vecchie, Via Clavature, and Via degli Orefici, each with their own concentration of businesses. Underneath the porticos adjacent to the Piazza, bankers set up banchi (money changers/loans) to conduct their business. In the 15th and 16th centuries, among the families owning botteghe were the aristocratic and senatorial Malvasia, Duglioli, and Amorini families.In 1565-1568, the commune and merchants wishing to create a pleasing architectural component to this site, commissioned from the architect Vignola, the present design. The asymmetric façade has 15 rounded arches, two of which are larger and lead to the alleys mentioned above, while the others are lower. All are flanked by monumental Corinthian pilasters. Each floor has its own Mannerist rhythm of window placement, unifying the complex into what appears to be a single gallery of one palace. The palace is connected by a portico, known as a Pavaglione, to the Archiginnasio of Bologna, one of the main buildings of the University of Bologna. The term derives from the local dialect “ Pavajån “, meaning "pavilion", in reference to a fair of silkworms held here in 1449. To this day, behind the palace on some days there’s an open-air market of local products. The palace itself is occupied by a combination of businesses and apartments. Also located behind the palace structure is the city's archeology museum and the church of Santa Maria della Vita.

The Basilica of San Petronio is a minor basilica and church of the Archdiocese of Bologna located in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. Construction began in 1390 and its main facade has remained unfinished since. The building was transferred from the city to the diocese in 1929; the basilica was finally consecrated in 1954. It has been the seat of the relics of Bologna's patron saint only since 2000; until then they were preserved in the Santo Stefano church of Bologna.