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Celebrate St. Patrick's weekend in Bologna at Irlanda in Festa
Irlanda in Festa
Bologna
La Dotta and La Grassa
Bologna, the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region is known as both la Dotta (the learned), and la Grassa (the fat). Two nicknames that speak volumes about this charming city's culture and history.
Learned because it is home to the oldest existing university in Europe, founded in 1088 and still highly regarded today. Bologna has a thriving student population, making it one of the liveliest cities in Northern Italy.
Fat because Bologna is the acknowledged culinary capital of Italy, a country that has produced some of the world's favourite cuisine. Pasta rules the roost here, with fresh tagliatelle and lasagne being particularly good.
Bologna is a rich and thriving city, that manages to retain a small-town feel. You can walk from one side of the city to the other in less than an hour, for example.
Did you know about Bologna?
- Dante, Petrarch, Erasmus, and Copernicus all studied in Bologna
- Famous Bolognese include Guilgelmo Marconi (inventor of the telegraph), Luigi Galvani (Famous physicist), Romano Prodi (Italian prime-minister), Pier Paolo Passolini (poet, film-maker, and journalist),and up to three Popes (Benedict XIV, Gregory XIII , and Gregory XV)
- The pilgrammage route up to San Luca, the magnificent church that overlooks the city, is the longest entirely covered pilgrammage route in Europe. One of Bologna's famous portico galleries covers the route all the way up to the church.
- The Bologna train station bombing of 1980 was, prior to the Madrid bombing by Al-Qaeda, the worst instance of terrorism in Europe. 85 people died when neo-fascists left a bomb in a crowded waiting room, on the 2nd of August 1980.
- The Basillica of San Petronio, that dominates Bologna's Piazza Maggiore was intended to be larger than St. Peter's in Rome, until the Papacy blocked the move. Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emporor here in 1530, by Clement VII
- Don't look for spaghetti bolognese on a menu - if you find it, the restaurant is catering just for tourists, as spaghetti is completely the wrong pasta to accompany the meaty Bolognese ragu. The classic meat/pasta dish here is Tagliatelle Bolognese, strands of fresh egg pasta served with that famous meat sauce.