Bologna, the covered Square

The "Sala Borsa" is a fascinating place, I would say unique. It rises on the remains of the ancient Etruscan Felsina and the subsequent Roman Bononia born in 189 b.C..
. The crystal floor of 400 square meters, although it is currently a bit ruined, allows to see archaeological excavations. In Roman times this was the center of gravity of the Bologna city's public life, so it was true that a pedestrian zone was also planned.
The history of the Sala Borsa is interesting. In this place, in 1568 Ulysses Aldrovandi created a botanical garden on the model of the Garden of the Semplici in Padua with a large cistern and four tanks (visible remains) and medicinal herbs and aquatic plants are grown. In 1765 the botanical garden was transferred, the area underwent various modifications as long as the town-dwellers demanded the construction of a building for trading in stock exchanges, and in 1883-86 the cast iron and glass structure was built the Paris Bourse room design and the liberty style. In the early 1900s, following the fall in trade, the Bourse room was closed and the spaces were used by a credit institution and Enit. In the 1920s the second and third balconies were built and in 1926 it was solemnly inaugurated. In 1930 the underground cistern was transformed into an armored room (downstairs you can see the safe door). In the following years, the Borsa Hall will host basketball matches and boxing matches during office closure. Following the 1999 recovery operations, the Borsa Hall became a cultural site and in 2001 the multimedia library was inaugurated and titled at Umberto Eco
Do not miss the opportunity to visit the excavations on the lower floor (free offer). You can see the remains of the walls of the Roman basilica and of an ancient Augustan road, the walls of a 13th century building a.C. partially collapsed at the point where the Roman sewerage system and the 16th century cisterns stood A.D. (Anno Domini)