The museums of Bologna

A visit to Bologna's main museums is a must. Follow our handy guide for a quick overview.
Bologna is outstanding from a cultural point of view, even in a country like Italy! It boasts over 100 museums, ranging in scope to cover all the various historic and cultural events in the region, from prehistoric times to contemporary art.

The Archaeological Civic Museum, one of the most famous museums in Italy, is certainly worth a visit, with exhibits spanning aeons of history; the Pinacoteca Nazionale, one of the largest art collections in Europe, is also very interesting, housing paintings dating from the 13th to the 18th century, including works by GiottoRaphael and Perugino.

Contemporary art buffs will appreciate a visit to MAMbo – the Bologna Museum of Modern Art. Its permanent collection traces the history of Italian art since the Second World War, while temporary exhibitions centre on artistic research and experimentation.

Art is to the fore again at the Morandi Museum and Casa Morandi. The Museum hosts 250 oil and water colour paintings, etchings and drawings by artist Giorgio Morandi, while Casa Morandi is where the artist lived and worked from 1910 to 1964. It contains models, furnishings and original collections, the artist's small private art collection, a series of pictures from his life, and a library of roughly 600 books.

Music lovers will no doubt enjoy a visit to the Music collections at the Regia Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, Bologna’s Philharmonic Academy. Founded in 1666, for three centuries the Academy was one of European music’s guiding lights, attracting musicians of the calibre of Mozart, Rossini, Arcangelo Corelli and the celebrated 18th century castrato Carlo Broschi, better known by his stage name, Farinelli.

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