Pilgrimage

Overlooking Bologna from the south west is a small hill with a big church on top it is the Basilica di San Luca. This church was founded in the 1200s but not finished until much later. It holds a painting of the Madonna and child which is said to have been painted by St Luke the Evangelist and originally hung in the Temple of Saint Sophia in Constantinople.

To get to the Basilica there is a long covered walkway called the Portico San Luca which was built in the 1600s to provide protection for people making the pilgrimage to the church.

So today we ticked off going on a pilgrimage from our bucket list.

The walk is about 3.8kms and the first bit is nice and flat but the hill and associated steps soon arrive. We started early so it was nice and cool and it took us about an hour all up.

The view was pretty good. It is popular with the locals with lots of people running, walking, or cycling up the road to get to the church.

After looking around and viewing the painting we headed back through the old city gate called Porta Saragozza and along the street via Saragozza to the centre of town. The weekend is obviously when the locals get out and about as some of the main streets are closed and people everywhere.

We wandered around for a bit before stopping at a restaurant on Piazza Maggiore for a couple of drinks and some lunch - pizza! Really good.

After a bit of a rest at the hotel (going on a pilgrimage is tiring) we went out to a cafe for another drink and some lasagne.Read more