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Lif e i s like an i c e c r e am, e njoy b e f o r e it m e lt s.
Places Not to Miss
Local Gastronomy Porticos
There are a lot of towns steeped in history The portico is an architectural regulation in
and culture in the Romanian district of Ita- Bologna inherited from the architecture of the
ly, and this district is also well-known as this Middle Age. Even the shape and the height
country’s capital of gastronomy. Parmesan followed some rules at that time. 3.5 kilome-
and Parma raw ham are the quintessence. ters long, with 666 arches, connected with 12
Surrounding areas are all producers of var- Middle-Age ancient gates including Saragozza,
ious delicious things, and the kinds are the Portico di San Luca can keep out the cold
countless: prosciutto di Parma, salame di in the winter and the heat in the summer, and
Canossa, mortadella di Bologna, parmigiano is the world’s longest portico that is still work-
reggiano, lasagne, tortellini and tagliatelle ing. It had been being built for as long as 119
al ragù, just to name a few. Bolognese cui- years from the 16th century to the 17th, which
sine, like the one of Emilia in general, is makes Bologna the most famous city of arches
varied and abundant. You can find all of as this architectural element is a part of the
these in shops around the city. city’s history.
The University of Bologna Asinelli’s Tower
The University of Bologna was established Asinelli’s tower was built between the 1109
in 1088, and is the first ever university in and the 1119 by Asinelli’s family, which used
the world. It’s one of the four most re- the tower also for military reasons. The tall-
nowned universities in Europe along with er one is Asinelli which is 97.5 meters high
University of Paris, University of Oxford and ranks the fourth among all similar towers
and University of Salamanca, and honored in Italy. Asinelli and Garisenda, the lower
as Europe’s “Mother of Universities”. The one. The giant bronze bells on the towers are
major campus is located in Bologna and there of a reason: they are supposed to ring
different schools are spread all over the city. and inform citizens every time there is fire.
The university’s area is about 350,000m . The visitors have to climb 498 wooden stairs
2
Dante, Petrarch, Durer, Desiderius, Goldoni, to reach the top of this tower, that is 97,20
Galileo and Copernicus all once studied or meters high. From there they can enjoy the
taught here. So it is a great place to spend beautiful view of Bologna’s red roofs. When
some time in and learn something new about the weather is good it’s possible to see the
Bologna or even the whole world. sea and the Alps.
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