BOLOGNA, bb-lotnya, Italy (anciently BONONIA), capital of the province of the same name. It lies at the foot of the Apennines, be tween the rivers Reno and Savena, 190 miles north-northwest of Rome., Bologna is five or six miles in circumference, and is surrounded by an unfortified wall of brick. It is an arch bishopric, and has a tribunal of appeal in the first instance, and of commerce. It has ex tensive manufactures of silk goods, velvet, artificial flowers, linen, glass, leather and ma chinery. Good rail communications greatly further the city's trade, which is very large. The town consists of four quarters, the older poorly, and the modern handsomely built. There are colonnades along the sides of the streets affording shade and shelter to the foot-passengers. Bologna was long renowned for its university, founded, according to tra dition, by Theodosius the Younger in 425, but more probably not till 1088, which, in the cen turies of barbarism, spread the light of knowl edge over all Europe. It once had 10,000 students, but the number is now about 1,500 only. Here the famous 'menus taught the civil law in the 1 lth century, and students were at tracted from every quarter. Several learned ladies have at different times been professors such as Laura Bassi, professor of mathe matics and natural philosophy, and Matilda Tambroni, professor of Greek, and the prede cessor of the famous Cardinal Mezzofanti. The university formerly possessed so much influence, that even the coins of the city bore its motto — Bononia.docet (uBologna teaches'). The law school enjoyed the greatest fame. Its teachers had the reputation of inculcating principles favorable to despotism, and were consequently rewarded by the favor of the emperors, and of the Italian sovereigns. Every new discovery in science and the arts found a welcome, and here Galvani discovered galvanism (1789). The medical school is celebrated for having intro duced the public dissection of human bodies, and the scientific journals prove that the love of investigation is still awake in Bologna. The university, indeed, still enjoys an excellent repu tation, and is well provided with scientific col lections, the anatomical collection being espe cially extensive. It possesses in all five facul ties. The university library numbers about 170,000 volumes, with 6,000 manuscripts. Since 1803 the university buildings have consisted of what was formerly the Palazzo Cellesi. The original university building now accommodates the public library, of some 200,000 volumes. The city has a picture-gallery (in the delle Belle Arte) and a museum of archmologi cal and other objects. In the 16th century the famous painters and sculptors, Carracci, Guido Reni, Domenichino and Albani, a school, to which their works have given great reputation. There were, even as early as the 12th and 13th centuries, great painters in Bologna. Francesco Francia was famous in the 15th and early part of the 16th century. The city picture-gallery is rich in the works of these and other artists, the gem of the whole being Raphael's Saint Cecilia.
The chief square of the city, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, formerly the Piazza Maggiore, with the Piazza del Nettuno at right angles, is adorned by several venerable buildings; among them are the Palazzo Communale (or Del Govern), which contains some magnificent halls, adorned with statues and paintings ; Palazzo del (dating from 1201), now the town hall, chiefly remarkable as having been the prison of •Enzius, King of Sardinia, and son of the Emperor Frederick II, who was cap tured and kept here by the Bolognese for more than 20 years, till his death; and the church or basilica of Saint Petronio, with its unfinished front and the meridian of Cassini drawn upon a copper plate in the floor. Among the hundred
other churches, the following are distinguished: Saint Pietro (the cathedral), Saint Salvatore, Saint Domenico (containing the tomb of the Saint Giovanni in Monte, Saint Giacomo Maggiore, all possessed of rich treasures of art, and Saint Stephano, consisting of seven dif ferent churches, and partly dating from the 10th century. The palaces are numerous, and were formerly enriched with numerous and valuable works of art. Many of these have now dis appeared, though frescoes and other internal decorations still remain. The admired fountain of the Piazza del Nettuno is adorned with a Neptune in bronze, by John of Bologna; in the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele is an equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II. The leaning tow ers, Degli Asinelli, and Garisenda, dating from the 12th century, are among the most remark able objects in Bologna. The former is square and of massive brickwork, built in three por tions, and diminishing in diameter to the top. Its height is 321 feet, and its inclination from the perpendicular four feet. The Garisenda is 163 feet high, and inclines about 10 feet. Bologna is famous for macaroni, sausage, liqueurs and preserved fruits. The pilgrimage to the Madonna di S. Luca, whose church is situated at the foot of the Apennines, three miles distant from Bologna, and to which an arcade of 640 arches leads, annually attracts a great number of people from all parts of Italy. This and other places in the environs may be reached by steam tramway.
Bologna was founded by the Etruscans under the name of Felsina, before the foundation of Rome. In 189 B.C. it was made a Roman colony, and called Bononia. On the fall of the Roman empire, it was taken by the Longobards, then it passed into the hands of the Franks, and was made a free city by Charlemagne. In the 12th and 13th centuries it was one of the most flour ishing of the Italian republics; but the feuds between the different parties of the nobles dis turbed the stable government of the city, and led' to its submission to the papal see, and incor poration in the states of the Church, in 1506. Several attempts were made to throw off the papal authority, one of which, in 1831, was for a time successful. In 1849 the Austrians obtained possession of Bologna, and made it the head quarters of their 2d Italian Corps. In 1860 Bologna was by popular vote annexed to the dominions of King Victor Emmanuel. Pop. 172,628.