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 Bologna, city, northern Italy, capital of Bologna Province and Emilia-Romagna Region, on a fertile plain at the foot of the Apennines. A major transportation center and agricultural market, Bologna is the meeting place of the principal roads and railways connecting northern Italy with the Tyrrhenian and southern Adriatic coasts. The chief industries are the manufacturing of farm machinery, steel, processed food, motor vehicles, and chemicals.Bologna was a great center of learning and culture in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. In the medieval center of the city are buildings of warm-colored brick and stucco, arcades lined with small shops, many cobbled streets, and numerous piazzas. Modern suburbs surround the inner city. San Petronio, the most imposing church of Bologna, fronting on the main plaza, the Piazza Maggiore, was begun in 1390, but the exterior was never finished. The spacious interior is constructed in a Gothic style. Other notable churches are San Domenico, built in 1221 but completely altered between 1729 and 1732, and San Francesco, built from 1236 to 1263 and repaired after heavy damage in World War II. An educational and publishing center, Bologna is also the site of the University of Bologna and of museums of painting, archaeology, and Etruscan artifacts. Bologna, which occupies the site of an Etruscan town, Felsina, came under Roman rule in the 2nd century BC. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire it was ruled by the Byzantine Empire, Lombardy, and the papacy. A powerful free commune was established early in the 12th century AD. Generally supporting the anti-imperialist side during the long struggle between popes and emperors, Bologna was returned to papal rule in 1506. Meanwhile, the university was filled with students from Italy and abroad, the arts and crafts flourished, and such eminent painters as Annibale Carracci, Domenichino, and Guido Reni lived and worked here from the 15th to the 17th century. Except during the Napoleonic period from 1796 to 1815 and during several short-lived revolts, Bologna remained under papal overlordship until 1859. It became part of the kingdom of Sardinia in 1860 and of the kingdom of Italy in 1861. A long tradition of opposition to papal rule combined with an economic depression made Bologna and its province a stronghold of republicanism under the monarchy and a center of socialist and Communist strength after World War II. During the war it was heavily bombed, first by the Allies and then by the retreating Germans. Population (1991) 404,378. SOURCE: ENCARTA ENCYCLOPEDIA
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