Bologna - Exhibition Centre and around Travel Guides | Bologna | Sub Regions | Bologna - Exhibition Centre and around

The other side of the railway line begins the modern face of Bologna. In 1965 a Zona Fiere (Exhibition Centre) was built to cater for the increasing number of conventions, fairs and trade shows that were being hosted by the city. If Bologna has only recently become considered a tourist destination it is because until now 80% of its visitors have been businessmen. The Quartiere Fieristico also has a park, a theatre and the Ducati factory.

Sights

Zona Fiere

piazza Costituzione. Info: viale della Fiera 20, T 051-282111, http://www.BolognaFiere.it

Bologna's Exhibition Centre announces itself on the skyline with the towers designed by the Japanese architect, Kenzo Tange, in homage to the city's iconographic Due Torri. The original design for the whole area foresaw many more trees and green areas but these were never realized, leaving the complex rather bare and concrete. Aside from the halls which house the stands and exhibitions of visiting shows, the complex houses the Palazzo degli Affari e del Commercio (the city's Chamber of Commerce) and also the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Gallery of Modern Art, piazza della Costituzione 3, T 051-502859, Tue-Sun 1000-1800, closed Mon. Entry €6, concession €4.13). This museum houses a collection of over 2000 works of modern art, both Italian and international, including some important pieces by Carlo Carra, Giorgio de Chrico, Max Ernst and Jackson Pollock.

Parco Nord

Beyond the Fiera district.

Further along via Stalingrado (a road name which like many others in this area such as via Yuri Gagarin emphasizes the city's leftist political stance) and just beyond the ringroad, this park area is used for pop concerts, demonstrations and visiting circuses, and also has its own resident Luna Park where children and families can enjoy a fair experience of the real sort.

Bolognina

between via de' Carracci and via Francesco Barbieri.

A human aspect of Bologna's modern face is represented by the small grid of multi-ethnic streets of la Bolognina (Little Bologna). These streets, full of the shops, cafés and restaurants of Bologna's immigrant communities from Africa, former Yugoslavia and the Orient add an interesting edge to Bolognese life.

Chiesa del Sacro Cuore

via Matteotti. 0800-1230 1500-1900.

Further along the line of the railway the eye is greeted by the extraordinary squat lump of this modern church, built at the turn of the 20th century and with not quite the same sense of proportion as the city's other places of worship – the nave seems too tall and fat for the cupola – but awe-inspiring in a different, more aggressive way.

Teatro Testoni

via Matteotti 16. T 051-377790.

Opposite the church, this theatre specializes in putting on plays and shows for and involving children.

Borgo Panigale

Northwest of the old centre, beyond the ringroad.

An industrial wasteland of little note other than that it is home to the Ducati factory, where the famous motorcycles, the equivalent of a Ferrari on two wheels, are still made, and the Museo Ducati, (via C Ducati 3, T 051-6413111/6413259, Mon-Fri 1100-1600, Sat 0930-1330 – visit by prior arrangement only). The museum retraces the history of the famous marque from its origins and through to the present day. Many of the original prototypes and race-winning bikes that are now being replicated as production bikes as part of the Ducati renaissance are on display.

Travel Guides | Bologna | Sub Regions | Bologna - Exhibition Centre and around
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