Walking past the picture painted on the grating shown in the photo above, I could not help but wonder if there was a shop of some kind right behind it, and just what it was they could possibly sell.  I have said this before, and I am going to say it again: Walking the streets of Italian cities, especially Bologna, is like being in an outdoor museum, a very large outdoor museum.  You never run out of things to see!

On Via Paradiso, #6, on the side of a building, a small shrine was erected by the people who lived on the street, as a way to thank God for saving them from the cholera epidemic that swept over the country in 1855.

The day was a cloudy one, but we were not going to let that deter us from doing anything that we had planned.  After all, we were in Bologna, the city of arcades.  We were going to be just fine!

A plaque marks the house where Francesco Maria Grimaldi was born, and where he lived for 44 years.  Grimaldi was a teacher of fine literature at the Jesuit College, before becoming interested in, and focusing his life on the study of physics, astronomy, and optics.

Palazzo Pallavicini dates from 1493, when it was built by the Sala family.  Today, it hosts art exhibitions.

A plaque on the facade of the building on Via San Felice, #48, marks the house where Alfredo Testoni was born.  Testoni was a playwright who wrote in the local dialect.  One of his plays, Cardinal Lambertini, was made into a motion picture in 1954.

A plaque, originally placed on the facade of a nearby building demolished in the 1970s, now rests on the facade of the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Carità, and remembers the crowning of a miraculous image of the Virgin, which was moved into the church after being venerated for many years by the locals.

The Chiesa di Santa Maria della Carità, as we see it today, dates from 1583, and was designed by Pietro Fiorini.

The former Monastero dei Santi Naborre e Felice is found at Via dell’Abbadia, #1.  This was the first church built in the city of Bologna, dating from 270AD.  Here, the first seven bishops of Bologna lived, from Saint Zama to Saint Felice.

A plaque on the facade of the building remembers the Camaldolese monk, Graziano, who wrote the Concordia Discordantium Canonum here, in which he tried to come to an understanding of canonical and secular laws, and how they differed.

The Chiesa di Santa Maria della Visitazione al Ponte delle Lame dates from 1527.  Built at the site of a very venerated oratory, which sat in the middle of a bridge over the Reno Canal, today, the church is deconsecrated.

At Via Riva di Reno, #72, you will find the former Reale Manifattura dei Tabacchi, also known as the Royal Tobacco Factory.  The factory was designed by Gaetano di Napoli in 1906.  It remained in operation until 1952, when the factory was moved to a larger, more modern complex, in the suburbs of the city.

The factory now houses the Cineteca di Bologna, a film archive founded in 1962, which offers a library, screenings, exhibits, and numerous other resources, all pertaining to the magic of motion pictures.

 

Next up: We visit a park dedicated to the victims of the September 11th attacks, and much more, as we continue to explore Bologna!

 

Note: This blog is written in English and Spanish, and the author takes no responsibility for the quality of any other translations that may appear.  If you have enjoyed this post, please, check out our archives for more posts from Bologna, as well as other Italian destinations.  Grazie!