The Archiginnasio and the Anatomical Theatre
The historic seat of the oldest university
Bologna is home to the oldest university in the Western world, whose foundation is conventionally dated to 1088, where students came from all over Europe to study law and medicine, and where Dante, Petrarch, Copernicus and Erasmus passed. For centuries the lessons were held in the houses of the masters and in churches, until in 1562-1563, by order of Pope Pius IV, the Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio was built, designed by Antonio Morandi, known as Terribilia, to unite all the schools in one building; it was the seat of the university until 1803.
The palace, behind the long portico of the Pavaglione, has a courtyard with a double loggia, and its walls, staircases and vaults are covered with about 6,000 coats of arms and inscriptions of students and teachers, one of the largest heraldic collections in the world. Today it houses the Biblioteca Comunale dell'Archiginnasio, with hundreds of thousands of volumes. On the first floor is the Anatomical Theatre, built in 1637 for anatomy lessons on human corpses: an amphitheatre entirely in carved fir wood, with tiers around the central marble table, a ceiling with the constellations and statues of famous physicians, and the two famous "Spellati", the "Skinned Men", statues showing the muscles, carved by Ercole Lelli in 1734, supporting the canopy of the teacher's chair. Destroyed by a bombing in 1944, it was faithfully rebuilt with the original pieces.
Tip: the Anatomical Theatre is open to visitors with a small ticket; also look at the Stabat Mater hall, the old lecture hall of the law students.
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