Would you believe I visited 13 churches in Bologna during a two-day stay, including one where Michelangelo sculpted this angelic candlestick holder?
Madonna di San Luca
My church hopping began with a nearly mile-long ascent to the top of a forested hill completely covered in the porticoes for which Bologna has earned its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Pilgrims, tourists and runners alike use the 666 arches--an odd number, to say the least, given its association with evil in the Book of Revelation--erected more than two centuries ago.
Arch number 444 offers a great view of the city's historic center.
After a partial knee replacement slightly less than six months ago, I took some pain-medicated pride in reaching my destination a thousand feet above sea level where a chapel or church has existed for a millennium. The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca dates back to 1723.
If there was a water fountain or even a concession stand, I didn't see it.
For five euros I could have climbed 100 steps to inspect the dome. No thanks.
Basilica di San Domenico
Interior scaffolding--not for the only time--kept me from seeing much of this church which has been a magnet for artistic works created or donated by the faithful since its construction in the 13th century.
Tiny metallic hearts surround the bottom of a crucifix in one of the chapels. I'm guessing they were once left as offerings.
The context of this exquisite marquetry gave its depiction of knowledge a certain frisson.
The church houses the Arca di San Domenico, a sarcophagus that took 500 years to complete. Michelangelo was only 19 when he sculpted the two candlestick holders at the bottom.
"Madonna of the Rosary" stands atop a marble column in the square outside the church. Designed by Guido Reni in 1632, it commemorates the end of the plague in Bologna. He also painted "Saint Dominic's Glory," the dome directly above the Arca.
Basilica di San Petronio
The facade of this Gothic church, which dominates the Piazza Maggiore, has remained unfinished since construction began at the end of the 14th century. It houses the relics of the Bologna's patron saint who served as the city's bishop in the 5th century.
Santo Stefano
OK, so maybe seven of the churches I visited were in the same place. Until 2000, the relics of Saint Petronius were housed here. Big must trump old in Catholic diocese politics.
Whoever designed this pulpit definitely had a sense of the dramatic.
An 8th century representation of Pilate's Bowl--where the fifth governor of Judea washed his hands before ordering the crucifixion of Jesus--rests on a pedestal in a courtyard behind one of the churches. I couldn't keep them straight as I wandered through the maze-like complex.
Much of the art pre-dated the Renaissance.
More Northern Italy
Venice
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