A perfect itinerary for a charming weekend, discovering Palazzo Poggi, Santo Stefano, and the city’s traditional osterias, suspended between the alchemy of knowledge and the charm of the “Second Rome.”

A dense history, tinged with ochre and dark red, envelops the nearly 40 kilometers of porticoes of Bologna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021. For centuries, Bologna was not just a city, but an idea: the “Second Papal City” of the Papal States, a center of power that rivaled Rome while asserting an intellectual freedom unique in the world.

Here, in 1088, the Alma Mater Studiorum, the first university in the West, was founded, transforming the medieval alleyways into an open-air laboratory. Here is a “secret” itinerary between the sacred of the monumental Great Halls and the profane of its legendary osterias.

Between the Archiginnasio and Palazzo Poggi: the Wunderkammer of Knowledge

The journey begins with a visit to the historic university buildings, veritable cabinets of wonders of the Enlightenment:

• Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio: a splendid 16th-century building constructed to unify the university campuses. It is the cultured soul of the city, home to the most beautiful Anatomical Theater in the world and a monumental heraldic archive.
• Palazzo Poggi: headquarters of the ancient Institute of Sciences, it preserves the collections in their original 18th-century rooms. Among anatomical wax models, ship models that once astonished nobles, and the marvelous Great Hall of the Historical Library, one feels immersed in the adventures of the explorers of the Royal Geographical Society.

Tradition at the Table: From Grassilli to Tamburini

After a stroll through Piazza Maggiore, the curious unfinished Basilica of San Petronio, and the Two Towers, Grassilli is one of Bologna’s historic addresses where service is an art, and the various versions of the Cotoletta alla Bolognese sautéed in broth with prosciutto and parmesan truly make you understand why Pellegrino Artusi, a famous gastronome, wrote, “When you hear about Bolognese cuisine, bow low, it deserves it.”

To remain immersed in Bolognese tradition, an aperitivo can be enjoyed at Tamburini, a temple of Bolognese gastronomy since 1932, or (an address that’s definitely not a “Secrets” one, but undoubtedly folkloristic, way to understand the soul of the city) at Osteria del Sole.

Drinks have been served here since 1465, while food is brought from home and eaten at the large wooden tables. It’s said that Maison Krug in Reims, seeing massive orders for cases of champagne shipped to an anonymous address in Bologna, decided to send an inspector, convinced that a Michelin-starred restaurant or elite club was located there. When he arrived, he found the Osteria del Sole, where the world’s most expensive champagne was drunk as effortlessly as Pignoletto, accompanied by a “rosetta” of mortadella discarded on the convivial table (in the picture below, the image that framed this moment hang a wall of the Osteria).

Hospitality and design: sleeping in a 14th-century palace

To sleep, you can book one of the three suites at I Conoscenti, the life project of Biancamaria Cifarelli, who transformed Palazzo Conoscenti, a 14th-century building that was once the home of the powerful family of banker Alberto Conoscenti, into a temple of good food, good wine, and good sleep.

I Conoscenti is also an excellent place for lunch, drinks or dinner: the cuisine is entrusted to executive chef Salvatore Amato, a native of Puglia with a Michelin-starred past, including at Bartolini’s MUDEC. He offers dishes that focus primarily on authentic flavors and the ability to linger in the guest’s memory through simplicity, with a few international touches and a short, sustainable supply chain.

Another cool, contemporary address for good food is Casa Azzoguidi, located in a rare 14th-century wooden porch.

Demons, Symbols, and Jazz in Santo Stefano

Another unmissable address is the city’s most beautiful square, Santo Stefano. Here are two truly special places:

• The Seven Churches: The Basilica of Santo Stefano, known as the “Jerusalem of Bologna,” is not just a simple basilica, but rather seven buildings from various eras that fit together like an architectural enigma, commissioned, according to tradition, by San Petronio to mimic the sites of Christ’s Passion.
• Camera con Vista and Camera Jazz Club: Housed in the 18th-century Palazzo Isolani in the magnificent Piazza Santo Stefano, this space was born from the creativity of an antiques dealer and an interior designer. Among classical busts and French chinoiserie, guests can enjoy a drink or an evening in its refined underground Jazz Club, a temple of music in Bologna thanks to the fame and experience of its artistic director, Piero Odorici, one of the most iconic European jazz musicians of our time.

Via D’Azeglio and the artists’ lights

Via D’Azeglio is Bologna’s main high-street that has become a global icon thanks to its signature lights, which transform the verses of some of the most beloved songs by Bolognese artists, from Lucio Dalla to Luca Carboni, into golden threads suspended in the air.

Along the street, you’ll also find Bologna’s only five-star luxury hotel, the Grand Hotel Majestic “Già Baglioni” housed in an 18th-century building.

Nearby, there is also a cool address for a quick lunch or a coffee break: Corner AB.

The Tortellino Temples: From Osteria Bottega to Osteria del Mirasole

On Via Santa Caterina, about 15 minutes from Piazza Maggiore, Osteria Bottega is a cult restaurant where host Daniele Minarelli preserves the legacy of this culinary tradition. It’s a place of devotion to the raw ingredients: from tortellini in capon broth, tiny treasure chests of pasta rolled out with a rolling pin, to culatello made from the “Maiale Pesante Padano” breed of pigs, raised in the wild and aged for 36 months in natural cellars.

Just a few kilometers from Bologna, yet another legendary address, Antica Osteria del Mirasole in San Giovanni in Persiceto embodies the Emilian restaurant of dreams, a culmination of traditional cuisine and exceptional ingredients, thanks to the fact that it is the only family-run “closed-loop” business in the region.

Welcome to chef Franco Cimini and maître d’ Anna Caretti, here is a dish worth a transoceanic journey: Tortellini alla Panna d’Affioramento Mirasole® (yes, a registered trademark). Following the ancient Caretti family recipe, the tortellini are topped with cream made from milk collected in the evening and left to rest until morning.

And this is the best way to start or end a weekend in Bologna.

The Secret

Bologna is characterized by its splendid porticoes and buildings in the typical “red” color. This uniqueness is due to the fact that the city stands on a clay-rich plain, and since the Middle Ages, the cheapest and most readily available building material was not stone (which had to be laboriously transported from the Apennines), but baked brick. The local clay, once baked in the kilns, naturally takes on reddish or orange hues depending on the temperature and soil composition. It is the color of the earth itself that becomes architecture.