Photo spot in Bologna
The porticoes of Via Zamboni
The university quarter's covered walkways — painted vaults, ochre columns and a corridor of light and shade running for blocks.
About The porticoes of Via Zamboni
Get directionsBologna has close to forty kilometres of portico, and the stretch along Via Zamboni is the most photogenic run of it: high vaulted ceilings, columns in ochre and dried-blood red, and every few metres a shaft of light where a side street cuts through.
The repetition is what to use. Stand a dozen columns down and the arches stack into a receding frame; step into one of the light shafts and everything else falls away into shade. Both work at any hour, which is why this is Bologna's all-weather location.
This is also the student quarter, so the porticoes are full of bicycles, posters and people between lectures. That is either texture or clutter depending on the shot — early morning and Sunday are the quiet windows.
Everything here is public street. Piazza Verdi in the middle is the noisiest point and the one place worth avoiding in the evening; the stretches either side of it stay calm.
Best time to shoot
Any hour — the porticoes are shaded, so this is the wet-weather location
Tips
Expose for the light shaft, not the vault. Shooting straight down the colonnade needs a longer lens than feels natural — 85mm stacks the arches, 24mm scatters them.
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Other spots in Bologna
Piazza Maggiore and San Petronio
The city's main square, with the half-finished marble and brick front of a vast Gothic basilica holding one whole side.
The Two Towers
Asinelli and Garisenda, two leaning brick towers from the twelfth century, standing where five old streets meet.
Arco del Meloncello and the San Luca portico
The double-ramped arch where the covered walk to San Luca begins, then 666 arches climbing the hill to the sanctuary.
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Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The porticoes of Via Zamboni — free of charge.
