Another amazing example comes from their collection of anatomical wax models, which the University of Bologna pioneered the use of as medical teaching tools in the 18th century. There were artists dedicated to creating these wax models of body parts on which students could better understand human anatomy, practice procedures, and medical anomalies. Many of these wax models consist of wax applied to real human bones.
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| Museum of Palazzo Poggi |
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| Museum of Palazzo Poggi |
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| Museum of Palazzo Poggi |
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| Museum of the Anatomy Institute |
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| Museum of the Anatomy Institute |
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| Museum of the Anatomy Institute |
And everyone's favorite, the albino mullet:
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| Museum of the Anatomy Institute |
We can take a break from the gruesome for a moment and see some sights of the beautiful city. Here are the Two Towers, which are also known as the Kissing Towers since they lean towards each other.
You can climb up to the top of the tall one (Asinelli Tower), which we did and got some great views of the city:
And here's part of the stairway up:
Bologna used to have several canals, but with the automobile most were built over or covered up, but there are still a few that you can discover. This one is the most famous and can be viewed through a window from the street:
And here's the same canal the next day, all dried up:
Bologna is also famous for its porticos, many of which were built to create extra housing for its growing student population. They attached these covered walkways to the front of buildings and and them were wide enough for a horse and cart to fit through, and then built that student housing above it. Now they are beautiful covered sidewalks.
And here is Bologna's famous (and surprisingly erotic) statue of Neptune:
We also saw a fair amount of amazing churches. The Basilica of Santo Stefano consists of seven different churches in one - the oldest church was built in the the 8th century and the other six were attached over the next several centuries.
But the most amazing experience came on our last day. One of the things I wanted to see most in Bologna was the 500 year old mummified relic of a nun turned saint, Saint Catherine. Her mummified remains sit upright on a golden throne and in full nun garb behind a closed door in a Bologna church. We tried to go one day but the hours we read online were incorrect and the viewing of the saint was closed. So on our last day we woke up early to visit this mummified nun before we caught our bus out of town. You enter the church and then to the left there is a locked door with a doorbell. You ring the doorbell and a nun hidden from view has to buzz you into the room with Saint Catherine. So we ring the bell, get let in and there are 7 or 8 old Italian woman glaring at us, but there she was: the mummified Saint Catherine! I can't explain it, but holy holy! What a sight! JJ didn't feel this, but for me it was one of the most memorable things I've seen. For being 500 years old, dead, buried, and then dug out of the ground Saint Catherine was looking pretty good. So good that we were skeptical that it was actually legit, but the internet tells us that it is! Supposedly her mummified skin was turned black by the centuries of candle, which is said to make her extra holy and certainly adds to her grace and aura. I wanted to take a picture so bad, but didn't dare. It would have been a shitty thing to do with all of those woman glaring/praying, but lucky there are plenty of pictures online:
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| [from jakyl32] |
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| [from Debra Kolkka] |
The room was small and full of people that are actually praying, so we spend a few minutes admiring the Saint, the room, and its relics and then go to leave. But the door is locked. We are trapped. We turn back into the room where one of the women whispers something in Italian to me, which I didn't catch any of, but like an idiot I nod and then just stand there waiting for something to happen. The thought that us two sinners are being punished crosses my mind a few times until we glimmer some hope of escaping when one of the glaring/praying women gets up to leave. More Italian is spoken, which neither of us catch any of (usually we [ie Janet] can catch some of it because it's so similar to Spanish). We stand in anticipation, looking towards Saint Catherine for help. Eventually the woman bangs on the window and a few minutes later a nun buzzes her out and we quickly follow.
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Bologna pics on our flick
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