Bologna is an ancient city, with quite the storied history. There are plenty of places to find info on it's history, all of which do a better job than I could of summarizing the city and its university. So here I will share a few tidbits of interesting information that I've found so far:-The University of Bologna is largely recognized as the oldest university in the world. Various schools existed in Bologna previous to the University's existence, and these schools formally came together to form a university in the year 1088AD. This educational structure became the archetype for every following university in the Western world; in fact, the application of the word 'university' was first used by this Bologna institution.
-The world's first public dissections of the human body were performed in Bologna in the 17th Century (under the watchful eye of an Inquisition priest, of course)
-A sundial in the Basilica di San Patronio in Bologna was used as the basis for our modern calendar, and is responsible for the creation of the leap-year system
-The city is reknowned for its cuisine, even among the Italians; this has led to one of the city's nicknames, La Grassa, "The Fat". The city has two other nicknames; La Dotta, "The Learned" for its cultural and educational prowess, and La Rossa, "The Red", for the natural hue of its buildings... and leftist political tendencies.
Here is a great site I found with lots of info on the city to explore:
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/city/15/city_guide/Europe/Bologna.html
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