porticoes of Bologna
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How it came to be
The porticoes of Bologna began when medieval houses pushed their upper floors out over the street on wooden beams, and columns were added beneath to hold them. The first record dates from 1041. A municipal notice of 1288 required every new house to have a portico and existing houses without one to add it.
A decree of 26 March 1568 ordered wooden porticoes rebuilt in brick or stone, though some wooden ones survive, as in via Marsala. The porticoes are privately owned but open to all, and their owners maintain them. The portico of San Luca runs 3,796 m under 666 arches from a city gate up to the sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca.
Bologna's porticoes are described as the largest such system in the world, and in the 20th century reinforced concrete brought new forms. Because Bologna was one of the most heavily bombed Italian cities in the Second World War, the 12 component parts were chosen partly for having suffered least. They were inscribed in 2021.
Data: Wikidata (CC0). Photos: Wikimedia Commons, under each photo’s license. Prototype; may contain errors. We measure usage anonymously to improve the app (PostHog, EU).