Bologna - Basilica dei SS. Vitale e Agricola

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 "Church of the Saints Vitale and Agricola" is just as the Basilica di Santo Stefano part of "Sette Chiese" (= "Seven Churches") or "Santa Gerusalemme" (= "Holy Jerusalem"). It comprises a complex of interconnected religious buildings built between the 5th and 13th centuries.

According to tradition, St. Petronius, a bishop in the 5th century, built the first basilica. He wanted a building reminiscent of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Two interesting capitals flank this portal. A woman with a lion at her side trying to bite her and a praying man surrounded by strange apparitions. The woman is clinging to a palm tree.

The right capital shows three figures: an angel, a mermaid and a raven. The crow and the siren could represent the passions associated with lust. In front of these passions is the angel who shows the way to heaven to the faithful.

The inscription reads "Vis Caesaris II inchoavit", but I do not know, who Caesar II was.