Piazza Maggiore and Basilica di San Petronio

Why is it significant?

Bask in the breathtaking grandeur of Piazza Maggiore, the monumental main square laid out in the early thirteenth century as a symbol of free communal government.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Bask in the breathtaking grandeur of Piazza Maggiore, the monumental main square laid out in the early thirteenth century as a symbol of free communal government. Dominating the southern flank of the plaza stands the titanic Basilica of San Petronio, the sixth-largest church in Europe, measuring one hundred and thirty-two meters long and sixty meters wide. Begun in 1390 under architect Antonio di Vincenzo as a civic temple dedicated to Bologna's patron saint, the church was intended to outshine Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. However, papal authorities intervened in the sixteenth century to halt construction, leaving the monumental facade dramatically split between its ornate lower half of red and white marble reliefs carved by Jacopo della Quercia and its raw, unfinished upper wall of rough brown brick.

Step through the central portal to trace the gleaming brass line inlaid into the marble floor of the left nave: this is Gian Domenico Cassini's astronomical meridian line, laid out in 1655. Measuring sixty-six point eight meters in length, it remains the longest indoor sundial in the entire world, transforming this sacred Gothic temple into a colossal solar observatory that proved Kepler's laws of planetary motion to seventeenth-century scientists.

On February 24, 1530, this basilica witnessed one of the grandest events in European history when Pope Clement VII placed the iron crown of Lombardy and the imperial crown upon Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, marking the very last imperial coronation celebrated on Italian soil.

Note the raised rectangular pavement of the square called the Crescentone: built from pink and white granite in 1934, it remains a cherished gathering spot where superstitious students avoid walking directly across to ensure graduating on time.

Walk south behind the eastern apse of the basilica into Piazza Galvani to visit the historic Archiginnasio.