a few more photos of Bologna

When I first walked into Piazza Maggiore, I was a little disappointed that there were men setting up this huge stage with an area roped off and scaffolding placed right in front of the Basilica di San Petronio. There were two reasons for my disappointment. I was disappointed that it would be very difficult to get a good picture of this church and also that I would not be in Bologna for the free festivities about to take place over the next few days, a dance marathon of some sort.

Fortunately, a couple of hours later when returning for one more moment in this beautiful piazza before heading back to my hotel, I found that although the chairs and the stage was still there and the men were still working on some sort of electrical work, the roped off areas and the scaffolding were no longer there. I started to walk down one of the aisles to get to a good angle to photograph the church when a dog that was by his owner under a chair started growling and barking. I was pretty freaked out (barking dogs and thunder & lightening being my two fears). I jumped and let out a little scream. I was glad to see that he was on a leash, but still was not comfortable being near him and so I maneuvered my way through a few more rows and then was yelled at by the men working on the electrical wiring telling me I could not be there. I sort of acknowledged their message but continued on to get my photo.

The Basilica di San Petronio is the 5th largest church in the world. As you can see the top half was never finished. This makes it a rather unique church today.



In this picture, you can see the sculptures by Jacopo della Quercia on the top of the main doorway, the Porta Magna.



The next three pictures are of the Palazzo Communale, also found in Piazza Maggiore.







Right next to Piazza Maggiore, is Piazza del Nettuno. This piazza is slightly smaller and opens up into Piazza Maggiore. Here you will find the interesting statue of Neptune.



The following two pictures were also taken while in Piazza del Nettuno. I took the first picture earlier when all the scaffolding and workmen had the basilica roped off. The second picture is of the Palazzo di Re Enzo (Palace of King Enzo).