It sounds kind of strange for a cathedral to be tucked away, but Cattedrale di San Pietro, does not immediately grab ones attention.
Located on Via Dell’Indipendenza, mere minutes from Piazza Maggiore, the cathedral is a little unassuming from the outside, but when you step in, boy does that change. In fact, the visit to the bell towers, is the favourite thing I have done in Bologna so far.
I had walked into the cathedral a few days before, and saw a poster (conveniently for me with an English section), advertising that you can climb the bell tower on Saturday's between 2pm and 4pm.
We went on August 15th, which is a big holiday in Italy, known as Ferragosto. This meant that Bologna was a lot quieter than normal, and it seemed to be mostly tourists occupying the central location.
The weather was lovely as it is the majority of the time, and our mid-afternoon arrival time meant the light was looking particularly fine, bathing different areas of the cathedral.
We took a quick look around, before wandering over to the left-hand side of the cathedral (as you walk in), to book our place on the tour. It's 5 Euro's, which goes towards the refurbishment of the cathedral, and I promise you, it's worth it. Our tour guide, Francisco, was absolutely brilliant, speaking to us in English, and the other people with us in French. His knowledge and enthusiasm really shone through, and he added a lot to the experience.
We were taken to a small side door, where we were told the first few metres of the walk would be in the dark, as the lights were out (bar torches on mobile phones). This added to the sense of excitement and adventure, proper Indiana Jones style (for 30 seconds at least).
Our first stop was at the bottom of the interior tower, where we got to see exactly where we'd be climbing. Francisco was once again very informative, and we got to learn about how old the towers were, and why there is an interior, and exterior one. Here's the view from the bottom of the interior tower. At the very top, you can see a small glass window, which is one of the levels we were aiming for.
The next climb was tiring, although nothing compared to our trip to San Luca! What greeted us at the top though, was well worth it. There are a number of windows (which all have to be shut when there are no guests, so pigeons don't come in!), all offering incredible views of Bologna central. I think we were told this was the second highest tower in the area, but due to it's location, you can see more of the centre. Here's a couple of shots from this level, including the opposite view from the aforementioned window:
We had one more level to climb, and this featured four bells, all of varying size. The largest was ridiculous, and I believe Francisco said it weighed 3.5 tons! In other posts on this site, I've showcased various graffiti, and seen as though we're in Bologna, the bell tower also featured a few examples. Some of the dates next to the various pieces were over hundreds of years old, and I love the idea of someone signing them way back then, and it still being here for us to see in 2020. The walk up to this level did hit home just how old this incredible tower was.
There were a few windows here to look out, and anxiety wise I was okay. In the about me section of the website, I mentioned about a troubling experience with heights, but I felt okay here, despite being hundreds of feet in the air. As I think I have mentioned elsewhere, if I feel safe, it doesn't matter how high I am. That was mostly the case here. Enjoy the views of Bologna presented in this last batch of photos, and if you do get the chance, I urge you to pay a visit. This experience will be hard to top during my stay in Bologna.
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