Bologna

Fusing haughty elegance with down-to-earth grit in one beautifully colonnaded medieval grid, Bologna is actually red, so they say, due to its terracotta colored buildings, and also known for its leftist politics.

We spent one afternoon here amidst the friendly, busy hordes of people.

Walking along, music rang out through this open door, and it turned out to be a real orchestra of mostly college-age people preparing for a concert.

Bologna takes pride in its culture as even details such as this pretty design board over a town planter is appealing.

This is a small section of a large board (outside in the huge plaza) of photos of those in the Resistance from Bologna in WWII.

Santo Stefano : According to tradition Saint Petronius, a bishop of the city during the 5th century, built the basilica over a temple of the goddess Isis. The saint wished to have a building that recalled the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. There are four remaining churches of the seven built together here over the centuries.
As you can see people still worship here.