Bologna

Bologna, the largest city in Emilia-Romagna, was a center of learning and wealth during the first half of the 2nd millennium. Its most iconic site is the Two Towers, built in the 12th century by one of the independent city's powerful noble houses.

An elephant house

The Fountain of Neptune in the city center. The Palazzo Re Enzo behind Neptune is where Emperor Frederick II's last son was imprisoned for life (23 years) after being captured in a battle by Bologna.

The Basilica di San Petronio

The Palazzo d'Accursio

Bologna's Civic Archeology Museum has an excellent collection of Roman and Etruscan artifacts. This torso of Nero had its head removed after he was declared an enemy of state after his death.

The museum had an excellent special exhibit on Etruria. Bologna was originally an Etruscan city called Felsina. This burial urn was found outside the city.

Gold tablets in Etruscan and Phoenician found on the northern Lazio coast. These tablets describe the foundation of the Temple of Pyrgi, where they were found.

Gorgons

Nice wine cooler

Another type of Etruscan tomb

"The journey through the lands of the Rasna naturally has to start from Tarquinia, where the myth located the birth of Tages: a divine child with the wisdom and some physical traits of an old man, like white hair. Tages emerged from a clod of earth turned by a farmer's plow. On hearing the cry of the amazed discoverer, all Etruria is said to have come hurrying up, to learn from his lips the fundamentals of the Etrusca disciplina, the set of rules governing relations between the gods and men, which soon became an identity train of all the populi of Etruria."

Terracotta statues from Etruscan temples

Etruscan burial urns from Perugia

A couple's burial urn

Weapons melted together, found at Populonia

Amber fibulae crafted by the Etruscans

A Bronze Etruscan statue of Hercules, who was popular in their culture as well after being spread to Italy by the Greeks.

Oval shaped Etruscan tombstones

A Roman water pipe from the age of Augustus.

The Archiginnasio of Bologna used to house the University of Bologna, and now houses a library. The walls serve as an enormous heraldic complex. There is also a famous anatomical theater inside.

The Tomb of Rolandino de' Passaggeri, a famous Guelph jurist from Bologna.