NIGEL'S RAMBLES: Unexpected Bologna

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Unexpected Bologna

There is lots to explore in Bologna, and and on a recent visit I visited San Giovanni in Monte, with its curious Renaissance façade. Built on an artificial hill, constructed to imitate the Mount of Olives. The church forms part of the nearby Santo Stefano complex. The interior is mostly Gothic. There are wonderful choir stalls behind the altar. Several of the precious paintings including a Raffaello, that this church once contained, are now to be found in various museums, in Italy and abroad

San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna

San Giovanni in Monte

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, was a nice surprise. Lombard Gothic predominates this church, with the red brick ribbed spiders web effect. I wanted to see the painting by Cimabue, but I had to be content with a copy, as it is away on loan.

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Behind the nineteenth century façade of Saint Vitale Agricola, and below the Baroque church, we descend a flight of stairs and find ourselves in a Paleo Christian crypt that dates back to the year 1000. For a while the church was not consecrated and the crypt was the meeting place of an aristocratic literary circle before disappearing in the nineteenth century. Sever years later when the church was consecrated again and works were being carried out, the crypt remerged. The church is said to be constructed above the Roman arena, where Agricola and his slave Vital were martyred in about 300AD.

One of those little hidden gems that Italian cities conceal, unless you dig them out.