Bologna porticoes: the 12 UNESCO stretches

12 stretches of Bologna's porticoes are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, inscribed in 2021, out of more than 62 km of porticoes in the city.

12 stretches, not 62 kilometers

The city holds more than 62 km of porticoes, and the listed property is 12 selected sets of them, inscribed in 2021 under criterion iv, reference 1650¹.

That distinction gets lost constantly. Walking under a portico in Bologna is not the same as walking through the World Heritage site, and most guides blur the two.

The listing covers work from the 12th century to the present, which is the argument the nomination made: a living building type, not a medieval relic.

The 12, named

Here are all 12: Santa Caterina and Saragozza, Santo Stefano and Mercanzia, Galliera, Baraccano, Pavaglione with Banchi and Piazza Maggiore, San Luca, University and Accademia, Certosa, Cavour with Farini and Minghetti, Strada Maggiore, Treno della Barca, and MAMbo.

The last 2 entries catch people out. Treno della Barca is a housing block and MAMbo is the modern art museum, and neither is what anyone pictures when told to go and look at old arcades.

52.18 hectares of core zone

The core zone measures 52.18 ha² and the buffer zone 1,125.62 ha².

The gap between those two figures says how the site is protected: a small strictly listed area inside a very large controlled setting, which is most of central Bologna.

San Luca: 3,600 meters, and where the steps start

The San Luca portico runs 3,600³ meters from the city to the sanctuary on the Colle della Guardia, on the Comune di Bologna's own figure. The first stretch is 1.5 km on the flat along via Saragozza, and then more than 2 km of climb on steps.

That split is the useful part. The flat kilometer and a half is a walk; what follows is a staircase under a roof, with no way to shorten it once you have started.

Building began in 1674³ and finished roughly a century later, in the 1770³s.

The 666 arches figure is rounded up

The count of 666³ arches is approximate and rounded upwards, and the Comune says so in plain words: the real number is slightly lower, and it depends on how you count.

The same goes for the length. 3,796³ meters circulates widely; the municipal figure is 3,600³. Neither the 666³ nor the 3,796³ should be treated as certain, and this page uses the city's own numbers.

That is not pedantry. It is the difference between a fact and a nice round number that survived because it sounded good.

Why 2 modern buildings are on the list

Of the 12 components, 2 are from the 20th century: the Treno della Barca and MAMbo.

Their presence is the reason the site was inscribed as a continuing tradition rather than as a monument, and the reason the arc of dates runs from the 12th century to today. For the region, see Emilia-Romagna.

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