Our own private pilgrimage, pepped up with pizza.

Sunday 7 October.  After our dinner of spaghetti Bolognese (but of course – we are in Bologna!), washed down with a local red wine, we had a bit of a sleep in this morning.  This apartment is so quiet, despite being near the centre of town.  We set off and made our way back to the true centre, the Piazza Maggiore, and found that the surrounding streets were still blocked off to motorised traffic.  We came across a one-man band (plus what sounded like a full symphony orchestra on tape accompanying his guitar, and his motorbike as a backdrop), then some sort of military band which marched and then ran across the square into the courtyard of a palace.  We followed it in (as did a hundred or so others) and found ourselves in the middle of a wedding, which the band honoured by playing Happy Birthday to the bride and groom. Most bizarre, but most entertaining.  Our target was the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, a basilica complex perched high up on a mountain overlooking Bologna.  Its history dates back to 1190 when Angelica, a young girl born of wealthy parents, decided to lead a hermit’s life on a plot of land her parents had given her.  The idea apparently caught on; within a few years a community sprang up alongside her and in 1194 the Bishop of Bologna, by order of Pope Celestino III, started work on a church on the hill.  (So much for the hermit’s life.)  Since about 1700 the basilica has been connected to one of the western gates of Bologna, the Porta Saragozza, by the longest covered portico in the world.  It measures 3,796 metres in length and has 441 steps spread along the steep path.  We caught a bus from the centre of town to Villa Spada, which is where the steep ascent starts, and walked the remaining two kilometres to the top.  When we eventually reached our destination we were rewarded with spectacular views over Bologna, a beautiful basilica built on simple Greek lines but with wonderful art work by some of Italy’s leading eighteenth century artists, and a delicious prosciutto, artichoke and mozzarella pizza at the local trattoria.  We then made the long trek back down, completing the entire 3.8 kilometre length, with another kilometre or so back to our apartment. We were wrecked, but it was worth it; this is an annual pilgrimage, dating back to 1433, that young and old participate in during Ascension in order to carry the Byzantine Madonna and Child from the basilica to the cathedral in town, so it was worth the effort to traverse such a historic and symbolic route.

Tomorrow: train to Milan, then our flight to Istanbul (so no blog tomorrow).