Bologna's grandest portico — the sweeping arcade beside the Archiginnasio where the city has promenaded for centuries.
Explore → Get Early AccessBologna's grandest portico — the long arcade beside the Archiginnasio where the city promenades past bookshops and cafés, the closest thing Italy has to a covered Champs-Élysées, at a fraction of the pretension.
The name comes from 'padiglione' — the pavilion of the medieval silkworm-cocoon market held here, when Bologna's silk industry ran on hidden canals and water wheels beneath the streets.
Bologna was a silk superpower for four centuries, its technology a guarded state secret — the canal network that powered the mills still flows beneath the city, visible at the famous 'little window' on Via Piella.
Ragù as Bologna actually makes it — tagliatelle not spaghetti, hours not minutes, and the osterie…
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Bologna's Grand Medieval Square
Medieval Skyscrapers Since 1109
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Join food lovers discovering authentic Bologna. Get our guide to real ragù, traditional osterie, and local markets.
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