Our last visit in Bologna was to the Archiginnasio, which was built in the 16th century to bring together in one place the University schools of Legisti and Artisti. The latter included medicine. As it is tucked away behind St Petronius off the precinct of high fashion shops in a narrow street leading off the main piazza. We at first had some difficulty locating it, even though our Blue Guide to North Italy pronounces it the most important building in the city.
There are two main halls, one open to the public is the Stabat Mater, named for the first performance of Rossini's opus there, and was the lecture hall for the Legisti.
The other public room is the Anatomy Theatre, reconstructed after war damage, where the students were surrounded by statues of ancient and Bolognese physicians and symbols of the heavenly constellations on the wooden ceiling. The lecturer's chair above the dissecting slab would add aweful authority to any speaker.
It is acknowledged that the best bits of the building are the walls, arches, and loggiati and staircases, which are all decorated with inscriptions to the distinguished faculty and thousands of coats of arms of students over the centuries. The official commentary does however caution that the length and contents of an inscription does not always reflect the standing of the lecturer.
After a slow walk towards our hotel we found a pleasant restaurant. I picked a mid-priced wine from Sardinia which on tasting was foreign to our buds; the sommelier agreed that it would be better suited to accompany cheese. She replaced it with a slightly cheaper Barolo that suited us well; we observed our wine reject being sold by the glass later in the evening.
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