Bologna

Sister cities

• San Fele
• La Plata
• Kharkiv
• St. Louis
• Thessaloniki
• Valencia
• Coventry
• Bari
• Leipzig
• Zagreb
• Hamamatsu
• Meknes

History

Traces of human habitation in the area of Bologna go back to the 3rd millennium BCE, with significant settlements from about the 9th century BCE (Villanovan culture). The influence of Etruscan civilization reached the area in the 7th to 6th centuries, and the Etruscan city of Felsina was established at the site of Bologna by the end of the 6th century. By the 4th century BCE, the site was occupied by the Gaulish Boii, and it became a Roman colony and municipium with the name of Bonōnia in 196 BCE. During the waning years of the Western Roman Empire Bologna was repeatedly sacked by the Goths. It is in this period that legendary Bishop Petronius, according to ancient chronicles, rebuilt the ruined town and founded the basilica of Saint Stephen. Petronius is still revered as the patron saint of Bologna. In 727–728, the city was sacked and captured by the Lombards under King Liutprand, becoming part of that kingdom. These Germanic conquerors built an important new quarter, called addizione longobarda (Italian meaning 'Longobard addition') near the complex of St. Stephen. In the last quarter of the 8th century, Charlemagne, at the request of Pope Adrian I, invaded the Lombard Kingdom, causing its eventual demise. Occupied by Frankish troops in 774 on behalf of the papacy, Bologna remained under imperial authority and prospered as a frontier mark of the Carolingian Empire. Bologna was the center of a revived study of law, including the scholar Irnerius ( – after 1125) and his famous students, the Four Doctors of Bologna. Bologna boasts of having one of the oldest universities in the western world (University of Bologna), with a continuous operation since 1088, and the first university in the sense of a higher-learning and degree-awarding institute. The medical school was…

Geography

Bologna is situated on the edge of the Po Plain at the foot of the Apennine Mountains, at the meeting of the Reno and Savena river valleys. As Bologna's two main watercourses flow directly to the sea, the town lies outside of the drainage basin of the River Po. The province of Bologna stretches from the western edge of the Po Plain on the border with Ferrara to the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The centre of the town is above sea level (while elevation within the municipality ranges from in the suburb of Corticella to in Sabbiuno and the Colle della Guardia). The province of Bologna stretches from the Po Plain into the Apennines; the highest point in the province is the peak of Corno alle Scale (in Lizzano in Belvedere) at above sea level. Bologna has a mid-latitude, four-season subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). Here are other classifications for the climate of this city: Annual precipitation is around 650–750 mm (25.5–29.5 in), with the majority generally falling in spring and autumn. Snow is not uncommon between late November and early March; one of the snowiest months of the past decade was February 2012. Here are climate normals for the weather station of Bologna Borgo Panigale (at the airport), unaffected by the heat dome of the city, for both 1961–1990 and 1991–2020 periods, in order to highlight changes between the two periods (snow averages are referred to the city of Bologna, since there is not a complete archive for the Borgo Panigale area):

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2026-03-26
  6 km NNW of Montale, Italy
• M 4.3 — 2026-01-13
  1 km NNW of Fornace Zarattini, Italy
• M 4.6 — 2026-01-13
  2 km N of Fornace Zarattini, Italy
• M 3 — 2024-05-22
  1 km N of Collecchio, Italy
• M 3.7 — 2024-02-17
  5 km SSE of Modigliana, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2024-02-17
  3 km SE of Basilicanova, Italy