The University claims to be the world’s oldest, founded in 1088. (Al Azhar in Egypt claims to be older, founded before 1000.). Little does it matter….the University of Bologna is old. We visited what was once the entire university campus, Palazzo Bo, but now home only to the Law faculty. The rooms were a wonderful mixture of Renaissance and mid twentieth century. Here we saw the second anatomy theater, far, far more cramped than Bologna’s anatomy theater. Students here stood in tiers of six balconies looking down into the pit where dissecting took place.
As at Bologna, coats of arms of former students line the walls. The rooms are all very much still used for lectures and exams. A notable statue at the end of the tour is of Helena Lucrezia Coronaro Piscopia, the first woman to be awarded a doctorate, 1678. Other famous faculty included Copernicus, Galileo (his lecture podium is on display), Petrach, Umberto Eco…
The hotel’s Internet service is weak, and prevents me from uploading as many photos as I would like.
