Bologna - Basilica di San Francesco

Bologna is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region. Founded by the Etruscans, the city has been an urban center for centuries, first under the Etruscans, then under the Celts, then under the Romans, and again in the Middle Ages.

In 728 Bologna was conquered by the Longobard king Liutprand and thus became part of the Longobard Empire.

In the 11th century the place grew again as a free commune. In 1088 the university was founded, today the oldest university in Europe. As the city continued to expand, it received a new ring of ramparts in the 12th century, and another was completed in the 14th century.

In 1164 Bologna joined the Lombard League against Frederick I Barbarossa, and in 1256 the city promulgated the "Legge del Paradiso", which abolished serfdom and slavery and freed the remaining slaves with public money. The city center was a forest of towers. It is estimated that around 100 family towers of the leading families, church towers and towers of public buildings defined the cityscape.

In 1272, King Enzio of Sardinia, an illegitimate son of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II, died in Bologna after more than 22 years of imprisonment.

The Franciscans had occupied a modest house in Bologna, called Santa Maria delle Pugliole, founded in 1211 by Bernard of Quintavalle, one of the first members of the Order. In 1122 Francis of Assisi visited the city to preach. This sparked a great interest in the Order. At the urging of Pope Gregory IX, the authorities of the commune gave the property on which the basilica is now built to the friars in 1236 for a church of their own.

Construction was begun and sufficiently complete by 1251 that it was consecrated by Pope Innocent IV. The main structure was finally completed in 1263.

During the occupation of Italy by the French Revolutionary Army, in 1796 the church was desecrated and the friary was seized and used as a barracks. The church was restored to religious use in 1842, but was later seized again in the course of the Second Italian War of Independence and used as a military storehouse. It was finally returned to the Franciscans in 1886. The restoration of the church to its original aspect was completed in 1919.

Seen here from a distance in pouring rain,