Castles of Bologne, palaces and mansions

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Vizzani

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Pepoli Antico

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Ghisilardi Fava

Commissioned by Bartolomeo Ghisilardi and designed by Zilio Montanari, it was erected between 1484 and 1491. The Palace is in line, at an architectural level with the style of Palazzo Bentivoglio; in the center of the courtyard there is a tower house prior to the construction of the same house, called the Tower of Acknowledgments. Today the palace houses the Medieval Civic Museum and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, as well as the Carracci Fava Literary Cafe.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Malvezzi Campeggi

Count and Marquis of Dozza, Cesare di Giovanni Malvezzi had this magnificent building built in 1522. The works carried out in all likelihood by Andrea and Giacomo Marchesi da Formigine, were completed in 1548. Originally, the building had a single floor with mezzanine, but in 1730 it was expanded by welcoming a large arms room. Today it is home to the Faculty of Law.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Felicini

The palace born from the will of the Felicini family, has a facade marked by a portico with nine arches and pointed windows. It is said, even if there is no convincing evidence, that right here, Leonardo Da Vinci, accompanying the King of France, Francis I, began to design and paint the Mona Lisa.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Grassi

Of medieval origin, Palazzo Grassi has a high historical and artistic façade marked by tall wooden stylates that emphasize the porch, while the upper floor is covered with red bricks. In ancient times it was owned by the Canons, and only in 1466 it was purchased by the Grassi family. In 1865 it passed to the state property pouring in very bad condition. It is now home to the Army Officers Club.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Fantuzzi

The building commissioned by the Fantuzzi family, is distinguished by the presence of two elephants on the facade. The elephants reminded Hannibal, from which the family supported descending. The building covered in strong and provocative rusticated, the very square windows, make think of a paternity of the architect Serio, perhaps the only example of his architecture in the city. Instead, the interiors are designed by the architect Bartolomeo di Domenico Peruzzi, a wonderful example of a sixteenth-century residence.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo di Re Enzo

His name is linked to King Enzo di Sardegna. It was built in 1245 as an extension of the buildings of the Palazzo del Podestà, but three years after its construction it became the home, until the death, of King Enzo. The facades of the building were completely restored in 2003, and overlook the homonymous square, Via Nettuno and Via Rizzoli.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo della Mercanzia

The palace overlooks the homonymous square, is also known as Palazzo del Carrobbio or Loggia dei Mercanti. Work on its construction was completed in 1391. The building was intended to host the Merchants' Forum, with the court attached. It appears as a set of styles, from Lombard to Gothic to classicism - naturalistic. The upper floors can be reached via a staircase built in 1857, when the building underwent a general renovation, with the redistribution of the interior spaces.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo dei Notai

Built already in 1381 by the Order of Notaries, who wanted a monumental building to place their headquarters. It stands in Piazza Maggiore, but only the front facade of the Basilica of San Petronio dates back to 1381, while the one overlooking the Palazzo d'Accursio was restored by Fioravanti in 1437.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo dei Banchi

The sixteenth-century palace executed on a project by Vignola is located in Via dell'Archiginnasio, it is the last in chronological sense erected in the Piazza. It was formerly home to currency changers. It appears with a façade of fifteen arches, of which two lead to the ancient streets of the Clavatures and the Pescherie.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Davia Bargellini

The building was commissioned in 1638 by Camillo Bargellini and executed following Provaglia's project. It is one of the most monumental buildings located in Via Maggiore. The austerity of the building is interrupted by the Giants, two canvasons that side by side the entrance portal from which you access the large Baroque staircase that leads to the upper floor.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Boncompagni

The dwelling of Ugo Boncompagni, then became Pope with the name of Gregory XIII, was supposed to be built on the design of Vignola between 1537 and 1545; in reality, in all probability it was designed by Mascarini. influenced by the Vignola not only for the installation of the building but also for the helical shape of the staircase.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Bolognini

In Piazza Santo Stefano we find the first senatorium residence of the Bolognini family, commissioned in 1451 to the same architect of Palazzo Bentivoglio, Pagno by Lapo Portigiani da Fièsole. The portico is in Renaissance style with round arches with marble capitals. The façade appears decorated with sculptural heads all round. These are the fifteenth-century tradition in the pointed windows and the arches of the cornice.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Cassa Risparmio

The palace is one of the first works by the architect Mengoni, built between 1868 and 1876. It looks like a sumptuous white building. The glossy white marble on the outside corresponds to an interior characterized primarily by the imposing staircase that leads to the upper floor that gives a wide breath to the spaces and volumes.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Caprara

Performed on a design by Francesco Morandi who did not see the end of the works, the palace had to be almost finished in 1602. Outside with porch, covered in a typical Bolognese rusticated, corresponds to a sumptuous interior, both in the furnishings and in the decorative apparatus. Today it is used as a Public Office of the Prefecture.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Bentivoglio

In San Donato street, today Via Zamboni, the space where the Municipal Theater stands, until 1507 was occupied by the grandiose Bentivoglio palace, which had 244 rooms.Called Domus Magna, it was home to Giovanni and Geneva in the richly frescoed rooms upstairs.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo del Podestà

It is erected as a building for the performance of public functions: mayor's and its officials offices.The present structure is very different from the original because the adjacent Palazzo Re Enzo was built later.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Archiginnasio di Bologna

Headquarters of the old university is now the seat of the Municipal Library Archiginnasio, the largest in Emilia-Romagna, which contains important texts of history, philosophy, politics and literature.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo d'Accursio o Comunale

Currently the Town Hall of Bologna, it is a collection of buildings that were merged over the centuries but was originally the home of Francesco Accursio, a lawyer and teacher of the law school in Bologna.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzina della Viola

Built at the end of 1400, it has a quadrangular plan lightened by double logions at the base. From 500 until the Napoleonic age it is home to a student college. In 1803 it was purchased by the Italian Government to make it the headquarters of the University of Agriculture with adjoining Botanical Garden.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Merendoni

The building was purchased by Counts Merendoni in 1773 and completely rebuilt in 1774 on a project by the architect Raimondo Compagnini. The house is finely decorated with frescoes; of particular value is the fresco representing Diana on the wagon by Gaetano Gandolfi. Furthermore, accessing from the porch you will find yourself in front of the large staircase decorated with stucco, with all-round sculptures by Domenico Piò and his students. Today it houses the Salaborsa Library.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo di Giustizia

The building was executed on a project by Palladio in the 16th century, on commission of the Ruini Family. In 1679 the palace was sold to the Ranuzzi family, which would make it a sumptuous senatorium residence. The double elliptical staircase leading to the upper floors was built by Piacentini. His last owner was Felice Baciocchi who by marrying Napoleon Bonaparte's sister, took the title of Prince.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Villa Guastavillani

A beautiful building from the second half of the fifteenth century characterized by a “T” system with an area of more than 5000 square meters. It was renovated around the 2000s by the University of Bologna, of which it became the headquarters of the Historical Archive. Inside it is possible to visit the chapel of the Barbiano family where there are wooden drawers painted with rich decorated bands and different paintings and frescoes of the time.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Gaudenzi Gia dal Monte

Designed by Andrea Marchesi da Formigine, it was completely built in 1529. The characteristic base that runs around the building increases its verticality, already accentuated by the elegant architectural structures. Today it houses the headquarters of the University.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Pini Già Pallavicini

Palazzo Pini Already Pallavicini was built around the fifteenth century on a fifteenth-century nucleus belonging to some noble Bolognese families. The surface is extended for two thousand square meters and the interiors are frescoed and adorned with stucco and works performed by Burrini, Barozzi, Minozzi and other artists. An important historical event occurred in March 1770, when the then child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed in the music room.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Zani

Palazzo Zani was built by the homonymous Tuscan family during the sixteenth century on commission by Marc'Antonio Zani to the Bolognese architect Floriano Ambrosini. The decoration of the Honor Hall is the work of the young Guido Reni, a distinguished student of the Accademia Carraccesca. Since 1948, the Palace has been managed by the Consortium of Renana Reclamation, which took care of its restorations and conservation.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Hercolani

The ancient eighteenth-century residence of the Hercolani family is located in Strada Maggiore. The building, whose construction was entrusted to the architect Angelo Venturoli in 1793, was completed in the early 19th century. It has a majestic sixteenth-century layout on the façade, while inside the last Baroque staircase built in Bologna, offers all the theatricality typical of style.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Villa Aldini

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Bevilacqua

Palazzo Sanuti Bevilacqua degli Ariosti was built in 1477 by the Count of Porretta Nicolò Sanuti. It has the typical appearance of the Bolognese palaces with its beveled rustice.and internally a splendid courtyard around which a richly decorated loggia runs.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Marescalchi

The Palazzo dell'Armi Marescalchi, was chosen for its evocative beauty as the Institutional headquarters of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage for the provinces of Bologna, Modena and Reggio Emilia. It was a senatory palace and an eighteenth-century residence, over the years made more and more precious, for example with seventeenth-century frescoes by the Accademia dei Carracci, or with the “Salle Manger” designed by Martinetti.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Orlandini

Palazzo Orlandini, in Via IV Novembre is located near the Palazzo Marescalchi. The Orlandini Family, following the serious financial disruption of the Marescalchi, purchased the residence and the annexed house of Marconi.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Arcivescovile

The building is accessed through the tallest and oldest portico in the city. It is a building dating back to around 1200, although the facade and the courtyard were built in 1575. The two towers that line the plant are from the twelfth century. The Crowned Tower or Prendiporta and the Azzoguidi Tower or Altabella.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Torresotto del Pratello o di porta Nuova

The Torresotto is part of the second circle of walls. It is also known as Porta Nuova or dei Mille. The building overlooks Piazza Malpighi.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Torre San Vitale

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Orsi

The Orsi palace marked by a beautiful porch on the lower floor, while the upper floor has windows enriched with sixteenth-century decorations. The building is in decline, in fact, restoration works are planned to bring it back to its former glory.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Garagnani

Designed in all likelihood by Andrea Marchesi da Formigine, it was built in the 16th century. The peculiarity that comes to the eye when entering the building is the splendid staircase that dates back to 1750, in full Baroque style, designed by Giovanni Carlo Bibiena.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Malvezzi De'Medici

The palace is also known as “from the dark porch”, because its porch creates a penumbra that hides from the gaze of passers-by. The palace built by the Malvezzi in 1560 on a project by Bartolomeo Triachini, was expanded at the request of the Marquis Giuseppe Malvezzi de' Medici in 1725 with an imposing staircase. Today it hosts the Provincial Administration.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Marconi Gia Orsi

The building executed on a project by Antonio Terribilia in the second half of the 16th century, has a facade with porch in Via San Vitale, while the inner courtyard overlooks Via Benedetto XIV. It contains numerous niches in the courtyard with precious sculptures, but is undergoing restoration due to the very bad conditions in which it pours.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Montanari

The building located in Via Galliera was owned by the Aldrovandi family, who thanks to the riches accumulated by Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi, could afford himself to build a new residence. The project was entrusted to the architect Francesco Maria Angelici in 1725, and the work ended in 1752 entrusted to Torreggiani, master builder on the construction site. Torreggiani also produced the windows that recalled the late Baroque period, while the frescoes to represent the grandeur of the family were commissioned to Bigari and Orlandi.

Castles, palaces and mansions

Palazzo Bocchi

Built on commission by the humanist Achille Bocchi in 1546 by the architect da Vignola, the building was soon used as an Academy by its owner. It is the only building to own two large inscriptions in Hebrew on the plinth.