THE SEVEN SECRETS OF BOLOGNA
Since day one in Bologna you will listen everyone talking about these seven secrets of the city...not so secret to be honest because everyone knows them but for sure it is worth it to stop by and learn the story behind.
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Finestrella, or the small Venice
Not everyone knows that Bologna is the city of the hidden waters. In Via Piella looking through the famous Finestrella you will see the Little Venice of Bologna, one of the most interesting little corners of the city.
Point of view
The most famous statue of Bologna, statue of Neptune, hides a funny secret. BY standing on the right spot outside of Salaborsa, it is even darker than the others, you will be able to see... the phallus of the God of Sea in erection. The legend says that the artist, Giambologna, got offended after the instruction of the church to reduce Neptune's virility and so, he sculpted the god's finger in that way to create the optical illusion.
The telephone without wires
No wonders if passing under the Palace of Podestà you will see people with faces on the four corners talking to the wall. The wireless channel actually works and it has its story back to the Medieval years. Tradition holds that this was a place which allowed lepers to confess their sins to the monks-priests without any body connection.
The broken Jar
Right at the top of the Asinelli Tower, on which the most scornful university students do not go up until their graduation (it is said that those who go up will never graduate) there is a jar, a broken jar that symbolizes Bologna's good qualities in solving problems.
The protection of cannabis
Panis vita, vinum laeticia, canabis protectio that means bread is life, wine is hapiness and cannabis is protection. This old... graffiti is referred to Bologna's nobpast and not to the use of today. In the past and for many centuries the cultivation of cannabis brought a lot of wellness in the city and so also the economical protection.
Panum Resis
Bologna is alsofamous as 'La Dotta' because here was funded the first free University od the Western world. On a table of University of Bologna headquarters, the Alma Mater Studiorum, in Palazzo Poggi, there is the inscription: 'Panum resis' which indicates that knowledge is the basis of all decisions.
The Arrows in Corte degli Isolani
Walking in Strada Maggiore you will find for sure many people looking up and searching the three arrows that are stuck in the wood of the portico. The legend wants three thieves to be ready to kill a nobleman of Bologna when his wife appeared in the window naked. As a result, the arrows left loose and never found their goal.