HUGE Surprise! Bologna Wasn't At All What We Expected... | Italy Episode 7

Описание: ITALY SEASON FINALE!

POV Bologna, Italy - A real take without the travel vlogger hype - the is the video I wish I had seen before going...

Today we explore the immensely rich food and art scene in Bologna, Italy.

Starting off the day, we head out for a savory egg breakfast in the University district with some commentary on the way of the so-called “art” that encompasses the streets. It goes by many names… let’s put it that way.

After we grab a slice of "Roman-style Pizza" and I go into what makes the pizza in Italy so incredible, from the proper wheat, fermentation to the stone baking process.

Honestly, this was one of my favorite pizza slices in Italy.

Of course, with pizza you need an espresso to wash it down, but this wasn’t the espresso I had in mind… We enter the ultimate cafe nearby and I will say, hipster coffee is something like camping… I enjoy it once and awhile, but I prefer a Tempur-Pedic mattress and WiFi on most days.

We stumbled into Megan’s favorite street food, a common delicacy in Italy - fire roasted chestnuts which reminds me of the doctrine of signatures for the brain.

In the town square there’s The Neptune Fountain (Fontana del Nettuno) completed in 1566- a stunning Mannerist work designed by Tommaso Laureti and sculpted by Giambologna, commissioned by Cardinal Charles Borromeo to honor Pope Pius IV.

Featuring a 3.4-meter bronze statue of Neptune calming the waves, surrounded by four cherubs and four Nereids with water spouting from their breasts, the fountain sparked 16th-century controversy due to its bold nudity, which clashed with Counter-Reformation modesty standards, prompting objections from Church authorities and rumors of temporary “bronze pants” or later proposals for a fig leaf.

A famous anecdote claims Giambologna, told to obscure Neptune’s private parts, designed them to be discreet except from the “Pietra della Vergogna” (Stone of Shame), where the left thumb aligns to create a phallic illusion at a precise vantage point.

Lastly we enter the Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna, Italy which displays one of the most one controversial art frescos in the world: “The Muhammad Eater” (my name for it), a 15th-century fresco by Giovanni da Modena, painted around 1410, in the Bolognini Chapel.

The fresco, inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (specifically Canto XXVIII of the Inferno), depicts scenes of Heaven and Hell, with a striking image of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in Hell being tormented and devoured by demons, reflecting Dante’s portrayal of him as a schismatic in the ninth circle of Hell.

Among the infamous fresco inside the Basilica, is the astronomical feature: The Meridian Sundial designed by the astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini in 1655, stretching 66.8 meters across the basilica’s floor in the left aisle, making it one of the largest indoor solar meridians in the world.

Commissioned to improve the accuracy of calendar calculations and determine the solstices, this gnomon (sundial) uses a pinhole in the basilica’s vault, 27 meters above, to project sunlight onto the inlaid bronze line, marked with zodiac signs and measurements, allowing precise tracking of the sun’s movement.

The project, supported by the Bolognese Senate, reflected Bologna’s scientific prominence, linked to its ancient University of Bologna (founded 1088), and helped refine the Gregorian calendar.

Bologna is a really special place, and I only wish I could have spent more time discovering the other “Seven Secrets" found throughout the city.

I truly hope you enjoyed this video and the Italy season overall my friends. It’s a pleasure to share the wonders and magic of the world with you. I have plenty more to come up shortly.

In the meantime, stay magical!

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