These are a handful of shots from a 19-hour visit ot Bologna last week that won’t fit into a more specific post. Above is Diavolessa, a female devil/gargoyle whose menacing wrought-iron visage stands guard under the portico of the former Ospedale degli Innocenti, the city’s one-time orphanage.

According to BolognaBlog, Bologna’s diavolessa is a copy of a bronze that hangs in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and, to quote an auto-translation, “it is thought that the Bolognese copy was placed at the orphanage’s entrance to prompt parents preparing to abandon their newborns to reflect. Indeed, on the same wall, a Madonna can be seen clutching her child to her chest, almost as if to demonstrate the joys of motherhood.” That’s just to to right, just out of the photo.

Another shot, in profile with a list of what it looks over these days, is below.

Bologna was a city of towers. Twenty-two still dot the skyline today but at its peak in the 12th century, the city boasted some 120, built by wealthy families to showcase their power and to serve as defensive and offensive strongholds. They gradually began to crumble and became a hazard and most were demolished by the 14th century. Below a handful of shots from the clocktower observation deck at the Palazzo d’Accursio over the Piazza Maggiore, the city’s main central square.

And a few more.

Photos from 27 and 28 September 2026.