 Culta
Bononia Beneath the cellars of many old Bolognese houses dating from the medieval period may be found the foundations of the Roman city which was established as a colony in 189 B.C. In some houses, the traces of even earlier habitations dating from the Iron Age may be discovered. In the sixth century B.C., Bologna was one of the most important Etruscan cities of Padania (the Po valley area) and was know as Felsinea. In the fourth century B.C., the city was invaded and occupied by the Boii Gauls and in the following century the Romans came to the city and changed its name to Bononia. Under the Romans, Bologna was a flourishing and important city with twenty thousand inhabitants, many imposing buildings and a large theatre. It retained its prestige throughout the period of the Roman Empire although its decline echoed that of Empire and its perimeter was gradually reduced. In the fifth century A.D., during the time of the Bishop, St. Petronius, Bologna underwent a revival; a new era of importance and prosperity began in the eleventh century. Bologna reached the height of its prestige in the thirteenth century. In 1249, its militia defeated the Emperor's army and captured King Enzo, son of Frederick II Hohenstaufen, holding him prisoner in the city until his death. It was a century of social reforms: in 1256, Bologna was the first European city to abolish serfdom. At this time, the city walls were extended and Bologna became one of the ten most highly populated centres in Europe, its urban development equalling that of Paris. However, in the fourteenth century after a series of unfortunate wars, civil strife and subjection to the Pope, Bologna began to lose its full sovereignty. For more than two centuries, the control of the city passed between the Visconti, Lords of Milan, the Church of Rome, republican governments and the more important families of the city, who waged battles with one another to obtain supremacy. These family feuds produced a development in the architecture, the urban structure and the cultural life of the city. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, Bologna belonged to the Papal States, governed on the one hand, by a Cardinal Legate of the Pope and, on the other, by the Senate of the city. During this period Bologna was host to several historic events, such as the coronation of Emperor Charles V, the concordat between Pope Leo X and King Francis I of France and various session of council of Trent. With the arrival of Napoleon, Bologna became first the capital of the Cispadane Republic and then the second city, after Milan, of the Cisalpine Republic. The city played an active role in the struggles of the Risorgimento, and in 1859 became part of the new Italian state. Bologna's economic importance dates from the eleventh century when the city became one of the major economic centres of Europe not only due to foundation of the University, but also because of the development of its cloth industry. Bologna boasted one of the most advanced systems of water supply in the word, and, exploiting this source of energy, the city specialised in the art of silk-weaving from the fifteenth century onwards. Bolognese silk mills represented the height of European technology until the eighteenth century. It was also during this period that Bologna became famous for the production of many types of food, such as the famous sausage. During the last century, the city serviced an area where the economy was based essentially on agriculture. The Eight Centenary celebrations of 1888 served also as an attempt to revive the city's economy by linking it more directly to the University. Although it suffered heavy bombing during World War II, Bologna is today a rich and important industrial and commercial nucleus. The 500.000 inhabitants live at the most motorway and railway junction in the country; the historical centre (which, after Venice, has remained the most intact of all the Italian cities) is surrounded by modern buildings, centres for trade fairs and conference and new residential areas. |