UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA - ARCHIGINNASIO

The University of Bologna, the oldest in the West, dates back to 1088. Thus, from the beginning of the 12th century, students from all parts of Europe flocked to Bologna to study Roman and canon law. At that time, classes were given at the homes of the masters or in rented premises. In the 16th century, Pope Pius IV decided to reorganize the educational system in Bologna and proposed a unique building for pupils and teachers. This building, whose construction began in 1561, is called the Archiginnasio. It hosted the university until Napoleon's arrival in 1803. Inside you can still see the Teatro Anatomico, a seventeenth-century anatomical theatre made of cedar and fir wood, where the anatomy courses of the Faculty of Medicine were given and students were shown how to dissect corpses. In this dismountable theatre, which only served the two winter months conducive to dissection, all parts of the body were inspected without ever touching the heart, "the box of the soul". Medical studies in Bologna were very advanced for the time: in 1315 the first dissection of a human body took place under the direction of the Bolognese Mondino, author of the first Guide to Dissection, and in 1316 the first dissection of the body of a pregnant woman was performed. Today, the Archiginnasio is one of the largest libraries in the world, with, among other things, 15,000 rare editions from the 16th century.