The Water Tour - Bologna's hidden canals

The Jewish Ghetto and Museum

An arch with a mask on Via Zamboni marks the former ghetto, where the Aposa flows below the street. Bologna's ghetto was created in 1556, with gates on Via Zamboni and around Via dei Giudei, Via Oberdan and Vicolo Tubertini; the Jewish population was expelled in 1593. The narrow streets, covered passages and Via dell'Inferno retain the shape of the medieval quarter. In Palazzo Pannolini at Via Valdonica 1/5, the Jewish Museum has a library and documentation centre, with a permanent section devoted to Jewish identity and two rooms on the history of Jewish communities in Bologna and Emilia-Romagna from the Middle Ages to the present.

Aposa Creek and the underground route

A street-level hatch in Piazza San Martino hides the steps to the Aposa riverbed, which runs beneath the city towards Piazza Minghetti. The underground section can be visited with a guided tour; contact the IAT office for arrangements. Above ground, San Martino in Aposa preserves paintings by Paolo Uccello, Amico Aspertini and Girolamo da Sermoneta. The creek entered the city through the surviving grada after its course was diverted in 1070.

Tip: The route is a guided underground visit, not an unguided descent. Ask about access, meeting point and seasonal availability before setting out.

Moline Canal, the Bend of the Drowned and the finestretta

At Via delle Moline and Via Capo di Lucca, the canal drop preserves the sound and energy once used by grain mills. Via Oberdan leads to the Bend of the Drowned, then Via Bertiera and Via Piella reach Porta Govese and the small window overlooking the Moline. Additional views are available from Via Malcontenti and Via Oberdan. The old mill Leone Aposa at Capodiluca, Via Capo di Lucca 12/A, offers another view by arrangement at [email protected].

The churches on the water

Santa Maria della Pioggia recalls a 1561 drought, when a procession was held before the Madonna and rain followed. Santa Maria della Visitazione was built on the Lame Bridge after the plague of 1527, when neighbours prayed before a Madonna painted on a tabernacle. Santa Maria della Carità follows the old Reno Canal, while Santa Maria and San Valentino della Grada stands where the canal entered the city through a metal grate. The surviving grada is on Viale Enrico Panzacchi at Via Rubbiani; it could be lowered at night to stop enemies entering through the water.

The old port, Salara and Manifattura delle Arti

From the end of the 12th century an artificial canal brought Reno water into the city. The port developed in the mid-16th century around the Cavaticcio and Navile canals, carrying people and goods. The Salara, a salt store built between 1783 and 1785, is the surviving original building of the port area. Today the Manifattura delle Arti occupies the regenerated industrial district, with the Cineteca, university departments, parks and MAMbo in the former bread oven. The Cavaticcio Garden follows the old harbour basin.

MAMbo - Museum of Modern Art of Bologna

MAMbo opened in 2007 inside the former bread oven of the old port. Its permanent collection follows modern and contemporary art from the 1950s to today through areas such as art and ideology, 1977 art and action, Arte Povera and new acquisitions. The Sala delle Ciminiere retains the old bakery chimneys for temporary exhibitions. MAMbo also houses the Morandi Museum, whose thematic displays follow Giorgio Morandi's landscapes, still lifes, flowers, vessels, shells and prints, including his last painted still life from 1964.

Industrial Heritage Museum

The museum occupies the former Fornace Galotti, a brick furnace built beside the Navile in 1887 and used until 1966. Its Hoffman kiln, drying rooms and industrial materials remain part of the building. The collections trace Bologna's production from the Middle Ages to today: silk, mortadella, chocolate, machinery, motorcycles, cars, consumer goods and electronics. Working models include the Bologna silk mill, the water-and-mills theatre, automatic packaging machines and a functioning scale model of the silk mill driven by a water wheel. The story explains why Bologna once had 119 mills and an internationally important silk trade.

Thermal Bologna

The Water Tour also points towards Bologna's spa tradition. The mineral-rich water known as the Devil's Well was once blamed for killing crops; it is drawn through a nearly two-kilometre duct and used by the Circuito della Salute Più. Roman bath traces survive around Via Saragozza and Via Galliera, while more recent thermal traditions developed at Corticella and Casaglia. The wider province adds Porretta Terme, Castel San Pietro Terme and Monterenzio, each associated with different mineral waters.

Tip: The listed information site for the thermal circuit is [Mare della Salute](http://www.maredellasalute.it).