in the Bolognese dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River.It is the seventh largest city in terms of population and it is the heart of a metropolitan area (officially recognized by the Italian government as a metropolitan city) of about 1,000,000 inhabitants. The urban sprawl of Bologna – Modena, whose metropolises are adjoining, is continuously expanding. Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna hosts numerous students who enrich the social and cultural life of the city. Famous for its towers and lengthy porticoes, it has a well-preserved historical downtown (one of the largest in Italy) thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s, on the heels of serious damage done by the urban demolition at the end of the 19th century as well as that caused by wars. The city, the first settlements of which date back to at least one millennium before Christ, has always been an important urban center, first under the Etruscans (Velzna/Felsina) and the Celts (Bona), then under the Romans (Bononia), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality (for one century it was the fifth largest European city based on population). - Source: Wikipedia
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