Porticoes of Bologna, Porticoes in Bologna, Italy

The porticoes of Bologna are a network of covered walkways that run along the streets of the historic centre, supported by columns and round arches. In the photographs, the arches are painted in warm orange and reddish tones and rest on tall pillars with carved capitals; a small sign reads "PASSO CARPAL". The passages link streets, squares and buildings into a continuous sheltered route.

The first record of a portico dates to 1041, when overhanging upper floors were propped on wooden brackets and then columns. A 1288 municipal ban required every new house to have a portico and existing ones to add it, setting a minimum height and width of 7 Bolognese feet (2.66 m) so a man could ride through. A decree of 26 March 1568 by governor Giovanni Battista Doria and gonfaloniere Camillo Paleotti ordered wooden porticoes rebuilt in brick or stone.

The name Pavaglione comes from "pavaj", the Bolognese word for butterflies, because the silk-worm market was held there; a wooden structure housed it from 1449. Since 1433 a procession has carried a Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child, attributed to Luke the Evangelist, along the 666 arches of the San Luca portico to the cathedral at the Feast of the Ascension.

The 1288 municipal rule set a minimum height and width of 7 Bolognese feet (2.66 m) so a man could ride a horse beneath; the 1352 statutes raised this to 10 feet (3.60 m) for new buildings. Poorer districts ignored the rule and built much lower porticoes, so watch the varying heights as you walk.

The Portico of San Luca links Porta Saragozza, one of the twelve gates of the medieval walls, to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. Its 666 vaulted arcades run 3,796 metres, and since 1433 a procession has carried a Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child, attributed to Luke the Evangelist, along them to the cathedral at the Feast of the Ascension.