Squares and landmarks
Piazza Maggiore, also known to the Bolognese as Piazza Grande, is Bologna’s main square, the beating heart of the city and one of the most beautiful squares in Italy. Located in the centre of the city, it is a historic meeting place for tourists, students and residents alike, surrounded by some of the city’s most important buildings and often brought to life by events and markets. Paved with large granite slabs, the square is a masterpiece of medieval urban planning, dominated by the majestic unfinished façade of the Basilica of San Petronio and framed by Palazzo d’Accursio (the city hall), Palazzo del Podestà, Palazzo dei Notai and Palazzo dei Banchi, opening onto Piazza del Nettuno, famous for Giambologna’s monumental Fountain of Neptune.
History
The history of Piazza Maggiore begins in the 13th century, when the medieval commune started buying and demolishing private buildings, houses and churches in a central area with the aim of creating a large public space, needed for civic assemblies, markets and public activities. This space, which kept expanding until the 15th century, was initially called Curia Comunis or Platea Communis.
The square quickly became the political and social centre of the city. The main seats of power were built or consolidated around it: Palazzo del Podestà (the first and oldest government building, completed in the early 13th century), Palazzo Re Enzo (built between 1244 and 1246 and used mainly as a prison for King Enzo of Sardinia, son of Emperor Frederick II of Swabia) and Palazzo d’Accursio (which became the seat of government and Bologna’s city hall as early as the 14th century).
In 1390 construction began on the Basilica of San Petronio, commissioned by the Commune as a civic church: a monumental project intended to surpass St Peter’s in Rome in size, but whose façade was never completed.
The name “Piazza Maggiore” began to spread in the 16th century. At that time, different sections of the square had their own names, such as Piazza Reale in front of Palazzo d’Accursio, or Piazza Montanara. The adjacent Piazza del Nettuno was created, where Giambologna’s famous fountain was completed in 1566.
The Napoleonic reforms made the single name Piazza Maggiore official. After the Unification of Italy, the square was named after Victor Emmanuel II, before definitively returning to the name Piazza Maggiore by a city council resolution of 23 October 1945, after the end of the war.
Today Piazza Maggiore retains its central role in the life of the city, hosting cultural events and public gatherings that bear witness to centuries of Bolognese history.
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