Tombs of the glossators of Bologna, Medieval legal scholars monument at Piazza Malpighi, Italy

The Tombs of the glossators are monuments to medieval legal scholars positioned at Piazza Malpighi, featuring raised stone sarcophagi adorned with carved details and architectural ornaments. Each burial site displays stonework that communicates the importance of the professors entombed within.

These monuments were built in the 13th century to honor scholars who invented new ways of reading and explaining Roman law. Their methods became the foundation for how legal studies developed throughout Europe.

The glossators took their name from the "glosse", explanatory notes they added in the margins of Roman law texts. Their tombs stood in highly visible urban spots, and the two surviving arks still face Piazza Malpighi behind San Francesco, where the cemetery of the Gothic church traditionally lay.

The tombs sit at the intersection of two squares in central Bologna and are straightforward to reach on foot. It helps to visit during daylight hours so you can see the carved details clearly on the stone surfaces.

The tomb of Odofredo Denari, built around 1265, was the first recorded here. Its brick base replaced an original colonnade of which only three columns survived to the 19th century, and four small columns of the upper loggia are still original. Rubbiani's surveys give its plan as about 3.50 by 2.50 metres and its height as roughly 11 metres, with the pyramid alone measuring 4.