Bologna represents an important crossroads between northern and southern Italy and in turn between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Its history is linked to the influence of cultures and peoples that have from time to time "marked" the territory and contributed to the economic and cultural development of the city.

Piazza Maggiore is one of the most
large, fascinating and ancient squares in Italy. Here, under the balcony of the Palazzo del
Podestà, the people gathered to witness
the proclamation of laws and the death sentences. Also in the square, the knights' tournaments were held.

Bologna is a European city of a thousand faces, and it certainly fits the three nineteenth-century definitions that portrayed it somewhat oleographically-"learned" for its ancient university, "fat" for its succulent cuisine, and "turreted" for its hundred medieval towers.