62 kilometres of porticoes, up to San Luca
No city in the world has as many porticoes as Bologna: about 62 kilometres of covered walkways, almost 40 of them in the historic centre, which allow you to walk around the city sheltered from rain and sun. In 2021 the porticoes of Bologna were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a selection of twelve stretches representing their history and their different forms.
They were born in the Middle Ages, when the city, with its growing university, needed to house thousands of students and scholars: the owners extended the upper floors of their houses over the street, supported by wooden beams, and in 1288 a city statute made porticoes compulsory for new buildings, requiring them to be high enough for a man on horseback to pass. The oldest ones were in wood, and some still survive, such as those of Casa Isolani in Strada Maggiore, with beams over nine metres high. Over the centuries they were rebuilt in brick and stone, in Gothic, Renaissance and baroque forms. Among the most beautiful are the elegant portico of Santa Maria dei Servi, the arcades of Piazza Santo Stefano, the porticoes of Via Zamboni in the university district, the monumental Portico del Pavaglione, along the Archiginnasio, and even a modern one, the portico of the Barca district, built in 1957. The longest of all is the portico of San Luca, which climbs for almost four kilometres to the sanctuary on the hill.
Tip: download the map of the UNESCO porticoes from the city's tourist website; walking under the porticoes on a rainy day is a true Bolognese experience.
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