Bologna Museums and Art Galleries

(Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy)

The museums and art galleries of Bologna are likely to be a real highlight of any holiday and a number stand out in particular, with the Museo Civico Archeologico (Archaeological Museum) coming highly recommended.

Located next to the Palazzo dei Banchi, the excellent Museo Civico Archeologico occupies the building of an old hospital and is crammed with one of Italy's most comprehensive collections of antiquities. Art lovers staying in Bologna will appreciate the masterpieces housed at the acclaimed Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna (National Picture Gallery).

Bologna's very own museum card provides great value for money and passes are available for either one or three days. This card allows free access to the city's main museos and reduced entry at others, being readily available at some attractions and tourist information centres.

Museo Civico Archeologico (Archaeological Museum)

Address: Via dell'Archiginnasio 2, Bologna, Italy
Tel: +39 (0)51 233 849
The Museo Civico Archeologico contains one of Italy's major Egyptian collections - with a notable group of Egyptian mummies and glorious sarcophagi, beautiful items from the Iron age Villanova culture, jewellery, artifacts from Etruscan Velzna, funerary art, terracotta urns, ancient vases and also some well-preserved items from Roman times. There is also a gallery of casts, with many detailed copies of famous Roman and Greek sculptures. Of particular interest is a bronze Certosa jar that dates back over 1,500 years and also a copy of the 5th-century Greek sculpture, Phidias's head of Athena Lemnia.
Open hours: Tuesday to Saturday - 09:00 to 18:30, Sunday 10:00 to 18:30
Admission: charge

Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna (National Picture Gallery)

Address: Via Belle Arti 56, Bologna, Italy
Tel: +39 (0)51 421 1984
Bologna's most important art is stored and displayed in the National Picture Gallery, which is set amongst the university buildings. The gallery houses works by many major Italian artists, including some local artists. Highlights include work by 14th-century Bolognese artists - such as the painter Vitale de Bologna, with his intense St. George and the Dragon, several rooms of detached frescoes originating from local churches, and a Renaissance section full with fine works by Antonio and Bartolomeo Vivarini and Cima da Conegliano of Venice - showing the considerable influence to local artists from Venice and Tuscany. There are numerous rooms filled with paintings, many real gems, and some of the larger paintings are displayed in the auditorium.
Open hours: Tuesday to Sunday - 09:00 to 19:00
Admission: charge, children 17 years old and under are free

The University Museums

Address: Via Zamboni, Bologna, Italy
There are a number of interesting, small museums connected to the University complex, housed in the Palazzo Poggi. These include:

• Museo Navale (Naval) - with impressive 18th-century model warships (some very large) and collections of early maps
• Museo di Architettura Militare (Military) - with plans and models of the regions fortifications
• Museo Ostetrico (Obstetric) - a museum devoted to obstetrics
• Museo Aldovrandi - housing the collections of the famous Renaissance naturalist Ulisse Aldovrandi
• Museo di Astronomia (Astronomy) - containing many astronomy instruments that were used in the 18th and 19th centuries

Museo di Antropologia

Address: Via Selme 3, Bologna, Italy
The interesting Museo di Antropologia is full of bones, artifacts of prehistoric Italians and some African masks.
Open hours: Monday to Friday - 09:00 to 13:00
Admission: free

Museo di Mineralogia (Museum of Mineralogy)

Address: Piazza di Porta San Donato, Bologna, Italy
This mineral museum contains an extensive a selection of rocks, precious stones, rare minerals and even some meteorites. The Universita degli Studi is situated close by and may also be of interest.
Open hours: Monday to Saturday - 09:00 to 13:00

Museo di Anatomia Patologica

Address: Via Massarenti, Bologna, Italy
With studies of human and animal deformities, either with wax models or the real thing preserved in bottles, the Museo di Anatomia Patologica is quite unique and very unusual.
Open hours: Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00, Saturday 09:00 to 13:00
Admission: free

Other Museums in Bologna

• Museo Civico Medievale Via Manzoni
• Museo Di Fisica Via Irnerio
• Pinacoteca Nazionale Via Belle Arti
• Museo Dello Studio dell'Ottavo
• Museo Degli Studenti E Della Goliardia Via Zamboni
• Museo Marsili Via Zamboni
• Museo Indiano Via Zamboni
• Collezione Cospi Via Zamboni
• Museo Delle Cere Anatomiche Via Zamboni
• Museo Delle Navi