64S 



BOLOGNA. 



Bologna, ter of a mile broad below the town. The Russian 

 government once proposed to make this place the de- 

 pot of -their commerce ; but the harbour affords no 

 shelter from the winds, and as the navigation of the 

 river is extremely dangerous, this idea was abandoned. 

 Population 600. E. Long. 137, N.Lat.53. (h) 



BOLOGNA, Boionia, Bononia, or Felsina, a 

 city of Italy, formerly the capital of the duchy of Bo- 

 logna, but now the chief place of the department of 

 Reno, is situated in a beautiful plain at the foot of 

 the Apennines,' on the rivers Savona and Reno, the 

 former of which washes its walls, while the latter runs 

 in several branches through the city, and communi- 

 cates with the Po by means of a canal. 



" The ancient name of this city," says Keysler, 

 " was Felsina, from Felsinus, a Tuscan king, who is 

 supposed to have built it twenty-five years before the 

 foundation of Rome. * The name of Bononia is by 

 some derived from a successor of Felsina, called 

 Bonus, but others derive it from the Boii." 



Bologna, which is of an oblong form, is surrounded 

 with a lofty brick wall, and is about five or six Ita- 

 lian miles in circuit, f The streets are narrow, and 

 rather gloomy, from the fronts of the houses being 

 built upon arcades, and the houses are tolerably built. 

 The pillars of these arcades or porticos, are irregular 

 in different houses, some of them being high, others 

 low, some square, and some round, and some of 

 stone, while others are of wood. The streets where 

 the carriages pass are considerably lower than the 

 porticos, like the rows at Chester. The houses are 

 flat roofed, with a parapet towards the streets, and 

 are covered with tiles. 



The public buildings of this city are large and ele- 

 gant, and are equally remarkable for the beauty of 

 their architecture and for their internal decorations. 

 Next to Rome, Bologna contained the most valuable 

 paintings by the first Italian masters ; but many of 

 these noble relics have been carried off by the French 

 to adorn their capital ; and while we think that we 

 are noticing the curiosities of Bologna, we may un- 

 knowingly be describing the statues and pictures of 

 Paris. 



The tower of Asinelli, built by Gerardo Asinelli 

 in 1109, stands in the centre of the city. It is 371 

 feet high, and is the, loftiest in Italy, excepting the 

 cupola of St Peter's. The tower, which is square, 

 is ascended by 464 wooden steps, and inclines from 

 the perpendicular about three feet and a half. 



Near this tower is the leaning tower of Garisenda, 

 which is 144 feet high, and inclines about eight feet 

 two inches from a vertical line. It was formerly of a 

 much greater height; but the foundation of it having 

 given way, a great part of it fell or was taken down. 

 One or the finest buildings of Bologna is the Pa- 

 lazzo Publico, in which the vice legate, the gonfalo- 



niere, and other officers of state had their apartments, Bologna, 

 and in which the courts of justice were held. It 

 stands in the great market place, presenting a front 

 of 218 common paces. A brass statue of Pope Gre- 

 gory XIII. executed by Minganti, and weighing 

 11,300 pounds, stands over the entrance ; and at the 

 left of the entrance is another statue of Pope Boni- 

 face VIII. On the front of the palace are two in- 

 scriptions, one commemorating the interview between 

 Charles V. and Clement VII. in 1529, and the other 

 the dreadful pestilence which visited the city in 1650. 

 One of the apartments shewn to strangers, is the Sa- 

 lone D'Ercole, which contains a noble statue of 

 Hercules, of a huge size, executed in terra cotta by 

 Lombardi. In another little saloon are represented 

 the principal achievements of the Bolognese, inscri- 

 bed with Latin verses. Above the Salone D'Ercole 

 is the Sala Farnese, which derives its name from a 

 marble statue of Pope Paul III. who belonged to the 

 Farnese family. At the expense of the Cardinal 

 Farnese, the walls and cieling of this apartment were 

 painted by the best masters of Bologna. The prin- 

 cipal paintings are, Francis I. King of France, touch- 

 ing for the evil at Bologna before Pope Leo X. ; 

 the public entry of Paul III. into Bologna; the 

 aqueduct of Cardinal A lborno ; and the coronation of 

 Charles V. The museum of Aldrovandi is also in 

 this palace, consisting of 187 folios, and above 200 

 bags full of single leaves, written by the hand of that 

 learned naturalist. The cabinet of valuable medals, 

 belonging to the Marquis Cospi, has been added to 

 this collection. The arsenal, containing military 

 stores and artillery, with 6000 stand of arms, are 

 likewise kept in the palace. 



Before the palace is an area 370 feet long, and 300 

 broad, containing a noble marble fountain, which, 

 with the leaden pipes, &c. is said to have cost 70,000 

 golden crowns. On the top is a statue of Neptune, 

 eleven feet high, supporting a trident. A number 

 of dolphins ejecting water, and four sea nymphs, with 

 streams issuing from each breast, are placed within 

 the bason. The brass statues were executed by 

 Giovanni di Bologna, the rest by Antonio Lupi, 

 and the whole arranged by Lauretti. 



In the private palaces at Bologna are many inte- 

 resting paintings, which our limits will only permit 

 us to enumerate. 



Id the palace of Bonfiglioli are several beautiful 

 pieces by the Caracci's, and nearly fifty drawings by 

 the first masters, among which are the massacre of 

 the innocents, by Raphael; Veturia and Coriolanus, 

 by Baptista Franco. 



The palace of Campeggi, built of freestone, was 

 once the residence of Charles V. In the gardens is 

 a lion of white marble, which was formerly erected 

 at Ravenna by the Venetians. 



* The name Felsina has been derived from a word in the language of the ancient Gauls, which signifies a hill, and is sup- 

 posed to have been given to Bologna, from its situation on the western declivity of the Apennines, " Les Gaulois qui occu- 

 paient deja la vastc plaine qui borde le Po des deux cotes, appelerent le lieu on elle est situee Felsina, qui dans leur langue, 

 comme dans la Teutonique, signifiait colleul ou petite montagne." Tableau Historique, Statistigue et moral de la Haute Italic, 

 par Ch. Denlna, sec. 16. p. 289. Par. 1805. 



-f " Bologna is formed in the similitude of a ship, more long than broad, at one side shewing the figure of a prow, and at 

 the other, that of a poop, having in the midst the most high tower Asinelli, |which repri ents the main mast, the lower Gari- 

 senda, the sails, and the other small towers, the shrouds, to the eye of the beholder." Italy in its Origitial Glory, Ruin, and 

 Revival, by Edmund Warcupp, Esq. Lond. 1660. 



