Bologna has been selected, together with other nine, as European City of Culture for the year 2000, but has always been a crossroad of intellectual, artistic and scientific progress thanks to its world's oldest University, founded in 1088.

Its medieval historical centre, one of the best preserved in Europe, is characterised by its over 40 km of ochre-coloured porticoes creating a suggestive atmosphere, by day and especially by night.
Bologna is full of museums, taverns, theatres, open-air markets, beautiful gardens, shopping centres and, above all, a famous food and wine tradition which made this town famous throughout the world as the capital of pasta.

With an efficient trade fair complex, Bologna is a primary business and service centre of Northern Italy; it's the country's main highway and railway crossroad. Its fast-growing international airport is connected with the major European cities.

Bologna offers a wide range of tourism opportunities, modern accommodation structures, convention venues and historical estates to organise events. Thanks to its proximity to other important Italian art cities and to the Adriatic Coast, it's an ideal place for thematic city breaks and incentive programmes.

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