Bologna: twelve porticoes are listed, not all of them

Bologna has over 62 km of portico, but the World Heritage site inscribed in 2021 is 12 named stretches of it, so a walk that takes in the listed ones is a specific route and not simply a walk around town.

What was inscribed in 2021, exactly

The Porticoes of Bologna went on the World Heritage list in 2021 under criterion (iv), as a serial site of 12 sets built from the 12th century onward, in a city that counts over 62 km of them in total. The core zone measures 52.18² hectares, with a buffer zone of 1,125.62² hectares.

Almost nobody makes that distinction, and it changes what you go looking for. Walking under any arcade is not walking through the site.

The 12 components, by name

The 12 stretches are 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.

Two of those names surprise people. Treno della Barca is a 1950s housing estate and MAMbo is a modern art museum, which is the point of a listing that runs to the present day rather than stopping in the Middle Ages. More at Bologna's porticoes are twelve stretches.

San Luca is 3,600 meters, and half of it climbs

The portico to the sanctuary on the Colle della Guardia measures 3,600³ meters by the Comune di Bologna's own figure, of which the first 1.5 km along via Saragozza is flat and over 2 km is stepped climb. Construction began in 1674³ and ended about a century later.

You will also see 3,796³ meters and 666³ arches quoted widely; those are the popular figures, not the municipal ones. Either way, treat the second half as a hill walk under a roof, not a stroll, and carry water in July.

The Asinelli tower is shut

As of September 2026 the climb up the Torre degli Asinelli is not bookable, because the official Bologna Welcome channel is running a closure notice for maintenance and offering the Torre dell'Orologio as the alternative viewpoint. The closure traces back to the work securing the leaning Garisenda from 2023.

When the tower is open, the climb costs €5, or €3 reduced, on timed slots that can be canceled up to 24 hours ahead, and it is 498⁴ steps with no lift. Prices in euros. Check the booking page before you build an afternoon around it. See getting to Bologna.

1088, and the students

The University of Bologna dates its Studium to 1088⁵ by convention and calls itself the first university of the western world, which is where the name Alma Mater Studiorum comes from.

The practical effect is on the streets rather than in a museum: the university quarter east of via Zamboni sets the price of a plate of tagliatelle and the hour at which the porticoes are still busy. There is more at things to do in Bologna and Emilia-Romagna.

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