Basilica di San Petronio

The Basilica is dedicated to Bishop Petronius (5th century), the patron saint of Bologna. Its construction was decided by the city council in 1388. The initial project for the Basilica was highly ambitious: the original Gothic Basilica, with transepts and a lantern, was to be transformed into an immense Latin cross church, crowned by a dome and flanked by four bell towers. Its final size would have even surpassed that of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Technical and economic difficulties, as well as changing political and spiritual conditions, hindered the project's completion, and the Basilica remained unfinished. Construction of the Basilica lasted over three centuries and was financed entirely with public money. San Petronio was not, in fact, created to be Bologna's cathedral, but rather a civic, state, and municipal temple.