Via Zamboni 33, Bologna

Some history

Palazzo Poggi was built in 1549, it is one of the biggest buildings of the city and has architectural contributions from Bartolomeo Triachini and Pellegrino Ribaldi on the facade (on via Zamboni).

On the inside there is a courtyard that is inspired by Palazzo Farnese in Rome and in the centre of this courtyard there is a statue of Hercules resting by Domenico Piò.

Amongst the painted masterpieces that can be found on the inside, the affrescos by Pellegrino Tibald in the Noble room stand out. The observatory completes the building, it was started in 1712 following a project by Antonio Torri and then finished in 1725 by Carlo Francesco Dotti, it will become one of the most important astronomical observatories in Europe. On the inside the Museum of the Specola can be found, this museum conserves important astronomical instruments. The building became part of the University of Bologna campus in 1860.

The department's branch in Via Zamboni 33, can be found on the ground floor of Palazzo Poggi, in the wing to the back of the statue of Hercules.

It was the branch for History of Arte for a long time  (1931-1982), then became known as Department of Visual Arts (1982-2006) and then it became part of the Department od Oriental and Linguistic Studies (2006-2012).

The setting and decoration in the Library and one of the classrooms conserves fine examples of work from Enrico De Angeli (1900-1979), a Bolognese architect with a well known artistic nature: De Angeli along with his collegues Leone Pancaldi e Vittorio Savi, merit the praise for the refined wooden shelved walkways, containing drawers destined for keeping index cards; De Angeli was also the architect for the decorating and setting of the original classroom (classroom II), it had the structure of a small theatre ( a small platea with a stage): it also had an image projection system useful for the lessons of history of art which saw - amongst others- the well known Masters Roberto Longhi and Rodolfo Pallucchini.

What you can find

In Via Zamboni 33 you will find:

• Classrooms I e II
• The "Giorgio R. Franci" Oriental studies and Anthropology Library: Specialist books and manuals (including also a rich collection of periodicals) for studying and researching information from all areas of Oriental studies, Anthropology, Religous History. The section dedicated to the Indian civilization is worth noting, other worthwhile collections are those dedicated to the oriental literatures (specifically Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Arabic and Armenian), to Asian history of arte and the preocolombian civilizations.

How to reach us

The building is in the centre and can be easily reached by bus from the train station (Bologna Centrale), using TPER lines.