Archaeological excavations in Sala Borsa - english version

online booking
Limited number of participants - Reservation is necessary

Next dates: to be agreed with the group leader (minimum 10 people)

Meeting point: Biblioteca Sala Borsa, Entrance from Piazza Nettuno 3
Ticket: € 12,00/ person
Duration: about 1 h.
Info - reservation: phone +39 329 3659446 - mail associazione.vitruvio@gmail.com

Going along the underground path located under the glass pavement of the Sala Borsa Library, it is possible to admire the ancient excavations, found during the restoration works of the so called “piazza coperta” (that is “covered square”).
Hundreds of years of city’s history: from the first settlements out of straw huts of the Villanovian culture to the Etruscan Felsina, to the Roman Bononia, founded in 189 b.C.  The different layers of the excavations proves the transformations, which took place in Roman time, and the following degradation events: from structure collapses to the robbing of precious materials between the end of the V and the VII century a.C.
The spoiling of the territory caused a relevant reduction of the buildings, up to their almost complete disappearance in the beginning of the high Medieval Ages.

Each human action or natural event has left a particular and unique trace on this place, which is still visible in present time. That’s why the stratification in the Sala Borsa is a privileged occasion to discover the history of Bologna through an unusual narration of its past landscapes.

Give me the "TIRO" from the tower (English Version)

online booking
Limited number of participants - Reservation is necessary
Meeting point: Marco Biagi Square, corner to Inferno Street

Duration: about 1,5 h.
Ticket: € 12,00
Info - reservation: phone +39 329 3659446 - mail associazione.vitruvio@gmail.com

An unusual and amusing visit-show. At the head of our "historical-cultural expedition" along the porticoes there is Mrs. Onorina Pirazzoli, a character, who represents in some ways the Living Historical Memory of the city. Being sometimes leathery and even a bit odd, she manages to attract the attention of heterogenous spectators, inclusive children, narrating them particular and unknown stories about Bologna. A professional guide is always in the nearby to support her.
Onorina leads her audience through the narrow downtown streets, under the
porticoes, she actually considers as her own sitting-room, telling stories about events, which took place in the shade of the two leaning towers and even before their own construction.
It's quite easy to follow her in the old Jewish Ghetto area, a maze of tiny streets and passages, still revealing of a rich past full of present suggestions.The tour ends in a usually inaccessible place for both citizens and tourists, that is inside a hidden medieval tower in the middle of the city: the Tower of the Pearls.

The Belly of Bologna - tour in english language

online booking
Next dates: to be agreed with the group leader (minimum 15 people)
Limited number of participants - Reservation is necessary
Meeting point: Via dell'Indipendenza, 69 (ingresso Hotel "I Portici") .
Ticket: € 12,00
Duration: about 1,5 h.
Info - reservation: phone +39 329 3659446 - mail info@vitruvio.emr.it

 The zdaura Onorina Pirazzoli strolls once again about Bologna's past, organising a guided tour to discover the secrets of the Montagnola Park. It's the first garden by the entering gates to town, which grew up in 700 years, swelling like the city's stomach. It's always been disputed by different local and foreign powers; however, it's always come back to the people, thanks to incredible revolts or even to simple indifference. Onorina guides us through the Park up to the undergrounds of the previous ice-house in the "I Portici Hotel", an exclusive route, not usually allowed to visitors, which ends inside the suggestive recently restored theatre, where the famous actor Ettore Petrolini once held his performances.