Great architecture sacred and profane…
At the end of the portico we can see, on the right, the statue of Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) the great Bolognese anatomist pioneer of the study on electricity; on the left we are in via Farini and walking along we arrive in Piazza Cavour and on the right we take via Garibaldi, we find on the left the Basilica di san domenico founded by the Saint himself in 1218. The building we see today is the result of works of transformation made during the centuries. Inside the very beautiful chapels, among which the ones that host the Saint’s, Guido Reni’s and King Enzo’s remains.
The sarcophagus keeping the Saint’s remains was made by Nicola Pisano (called Nicola D’Apula 1220/1278), the cymatium was added in the XV century by Nicolò Dell’Arca, (artist born in south Italy an died in Bologna in 1494) the angel on the altar is by Michelangelo, the bowl-shaped vault of the apse was painted by Guido Reni. On the altar of the seventh chapel there is a painting by Giovanni Barbieri called Guercino (1591-1666) and in the 12th, on the left of the presbytery there is one of Filippo Lippi’s tablets. The altar of the high chapel was designed by the architect Alfonso Torreggiani during the restoring works in XVIII century; on the 22th altar we find “Saint Raimondo of Pennaford” by Ludovico Carracci, whose other two works are hosted in the museum “Saint Francesco” and “The Charity”. In the square opposite the Basilica there is Rolandino dè Passeggeri’s grave (1215-1300) one of the greatest jurist of Middle Ages who drew up the decree Liber Paradisus mentioned at the beginning of our itinerary. Walking along via Garibaldi we find Piazza dei Tribunali, with the majestic palazzo di giustizia, ex Palazzo Ranuzzi-Ruini, then Baciocchi; the pure classicism of the façade is by the great architect Andrea della Gondola called Palladio (1508-1580). Notwithstanding the years and the events the palace is among the best preserved ones of the city.
