Piazza San Domenico and Glossators Tombs

Why is it significant?

Enter the majestic expanse of Piazza San Domenico, paved with river cobblestones and presided over by towering commemorative columns and grand medieval funerary monuments.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Enter the majestic expanse of Piazza San Domenico, paved with river cobblestones and presided over by towering commemorative columns and grand medieval funerary monuments. At the center of the piazza stand the spectacular raised tombs of the Glossators, the celebrated thirteenth-century legal scholars of the University of Bologna who compiled glosses and commentaries on Roman law, establishing Bologna as the legal capital of medieval Europe. The tombs of jurist Rolandino de' Passaggeri and Egidio Foscherari rise on slender stone columns beneath open-sided pyramidal canopies, showcasing the tremendous civic veneration accorded to academic scholars. Flanking the square rises the grand Basilica of San Domenico, begun in 1221 to house the remains of Saint Dominic de Guzmán, the founder of the Dominican Order who died here in Bologna. The tranquil atmosphere invites contemplation of the city's unique marriage between sacred piety and academic intellect.

Step inside the basilica's Chapel of Saint Dominic to behold the magnificent Arca di San Domenico: this marble funerary monument represents one of the crowning achievements of Italian sculpture, carved across three centuries by Nicola Pisano, Niccolò dell'Arca, and the young Michelangelo Buonarroti, who created the kneeling angel holding a candlestick and statues of Saints Proculus and Petronius in 1494. Michelangelo's youthful mastery shines with astonishing dramatic energy.

In the choir behind the main altar sits an extraordinary Renaissance intarsia choir stall crafted by Fra Damiano da Bergamo between 1528 and 1549, which Emperor Charles V admired so intensely that he tested the inlaid wood with his dagger to confirm it was not painted.

Note the tall terracotta column in the square crowned by a statue of Saint Dominic: it was erected in 1627 to give thanks for the cessation of the plague.

Walk west along Via Garibaldi toward the imposing neoclassical portal of the Palazzo di Giustizia.