The World Heritage Committee,
- Having examined Documents WHC/21/44.COM/8B and WHC/21/44.COM/INF.8B1,
- Inscribes The Porticoes of Bologna, Italy, on the World Heritage List on the basis of criterion (iv);
- Takes noteof the following provisional Statement of Outstanding Universal Value:
Brief synthesis
The serial property of The porticoes of Bologna is the one with the most representative porticoed system in the world. It is a catalogue representing all the historical and consequently architectural phases that have taken place, of which the selected 12 components are the most notable and prestigious outcomes.
These components, selected from the 62 km of Bolognese porticoes located in both central and peripheral areas, according to a criterion of representativeness, summarize the whole system. They compose a representative set of typologies, architectural features and urban and social functions in a very large chronological time frame. So in summary the attributes that convey the property’s OUV are the 5 just listed: long span of time, permeating element, functional variety, typological variety, social urban use.
The public portico, as a model of a particularly active social life at any time and in any climatic condition, is a very ancient model typology of global interest, an element adopted for centuries throughout the world. It finds in Bologna an exceptional and complete representation from the chronological, typological and functional point of view.
It is an architectural model but also a social one, a place of integration and exchange, in which the main protagonists of the city (citizens, migrants and students) live and share time and ideas, relationships and thoughts. It is a reference point for a sustainable urban lifestyle, where civil and religious spaces and residences of all social classes are perfectly integrated: a place of continuous interchange of human values that permeates and shapes city life.
This is the reason for which people who passed by Bologna over the centuries have appreciated and praised the portico, which is why the porticoed model were continuously exported elsewhere in Italy and Europe.
Furthermore, in Bologna the porticoes are the exceptional result of an urban planning rules’ system. It has favoured the creation of an architectural typology that has been declined in a different way in the city of Bologna over the course of nine centuries. The maintenance of the legislation regulates the use, management and construction of the porticoes in the current body of legislation and the willingness to propose the portico model even where the modern expansion of the city does not imply the respect of the thirteenth-century Statute.
Finally, the social and community aspect is what distinguishes these covered spaces that were born as, and still remain, private property for public use. For these reasons, the community, but also the visitors, have always recognized and still recognize today the porticoed element as an identifying element of the city.
Criterion (iv): The series of Bologna’s porticoes, selected in the context of the porticoed system that permeates the old historical city and it is a significant presence in the contemporary one, represents in an exemplary manner an architectural typology of ancient origin and wide diffusion, never abandoned until today, but in continuous change through precise historical periods of the town’s transformation.
The series exemplarily represents, in the various chronological, typological, technological and functional declinations, a variety of porticoed building typologies, widespread among the houses of the working class and the aristocratic residences, the public and religious buildings, which were developed in the centuries from the 12th to the contemporary era. A wide range of materials and styles were employed, and still are today as a result of the city’s expansion and mutations over time.
Integrity
The 12 components that compose the serial property, as a whole, guarantee a complete representation of the property, including all the attributes and features necessary to support its Outstanding Universal Value.
The component parts succeed in fully representing the different social functions related with the implementation tools that characterize the design criteria, the building materials, the architectural techniques.
The chronological integrity is represented by the series that integrally restores the chronological arc that characterized the continuity of construction and maintenance of the portico in the city of Bologna (from the 12th to the 21st century).
The functional integrity of all the urban roles associated with the porticoes have been maintained even considering the transformations and developments of the city over the centuries.
The structural integrity is also verified, both from the urban and architectural point of view. The urban structure as a whole has maintained its original layout and is easily found even in the selected porticoes: the original construction characteristics are identifiable, although they have undergone restoration or reconstruction over the centuries. In general, the set of existing legislation in Italy, made up of national, regional and local protection laws, contributes to the correct conservation and enhancement of the porticoes, sometimes as separate elements, sometimes as a portion of a of a larger whole, also contributing to the maintenance of the visual integrity.
There is no evidence of pressure that damages the integrity.
Authenticity
Each component of the serial property is illustrated by historical iconography, paintings, engravings, design drawings, as well as many vintage photographs that increase the knowledge of form and design, construction techniques, materials, sometimes even the identity of the designers. The vast documentary heritage illustrates how Bologna has always had new porticoed areas, according to the new urban transformations that have changed the city over time. The extraordinary correspondence between the past collaborates to affirm the role of the components in the system and how these things, with their features, contribute to the universal value of the property.
The urban development of the porticoed system in its 12 components is perfectly legible, as the original layout of each component. The on-property material evidence still corresponds faithfully to the stages of the city development. Moreover, the current porticoes are faithful to the original project and maintain the same characteristics; it allows to keep their authenticity even where restoration work have been necessary.
The skilful use of durable materials, primarily stone, has allowed the constructive preservation during the centuries. This approach has ensured an extraordinary state of conservation of most of the selected porticoes. However, as Bologna was one of the most bombed Italian cities during the Second World War, it has undergone quite extensive restoration work, which has always been aimed at maintaining its original authenticity.
Functional authenticity has always been maintained; thanks to the legal Statute of 1288, the portico element has been maintained from the end of the 13th century until today. The public function of the covered porticoed area is in fact a constant over the centuries, even though it is privately owned.
The porticoes are architectural objects that relate both to the surrounding public space and with the building they are part of. The public-private management system (private property, public use) has been maintained and implemented over the centuries.
This characteristic is reflected in the authenticity of the "spirit and feeling" by the significance that the porticoes had and still have today for the community as a place of excellence for social life, relationships and exchanges.
Protection and management requirements
The property is completely protected by a set of measures deriving from laws and from planning at different levels.
At national level, the Code for Cultural Heritage and Landscape regulates the protection of many of the building in the property as public heritage which benefit of the highest level in protection established by the national legislation. This measure essentially entails an essential duty of conservation and, as a safeguard measure, it is obligatory that all activities on the building be authorized by the competent Superintendence territorial office of the Ministry for the cultural heritage and activities and for tourism. Some of the other porticoes belonging to the selected components have been identified by the Code as areas of “notable public interest" from the landscape point of view.
The Regional Law no. 24/2017 governs the historic centre in accordance with some main principles: not to modify the road system, the historical building, the maintenance of the uses, not to build in areas, collective spaces and historical settlements.
Locally, the level of protection is very high, thanks to planning and protection measures at municipal level. It has ancient origins, when the portico has begun to appear predominantly within the urban fabric. In fact, it is a collective rule in Bologna to build and protect the porticoes from 1288, when a municipality notice established that all new houses should be built with the portico and it should be. Their maintenance and management remain under the responsibility of the individual proprietors of the porticoed buildings, while the City set the rules of construction, usage and decoration to protect the urban quality and the collective usability of these spaces.
The property's governance system is covered by a "Steering Committee", coordinated by the Municipality of Bologna, in which the main bodies and parties responsible for management, protection and enhancement of the property, signatories of a specific Memorandum of Understanding, the "Steering Committee" participated in the preparation of the property management plan and is responsible for its implementation, monitoring and updating.
The Municipality of Bologna has also set up a dedicated office which, from the technical-operative point of view, deals with the issues closely related to porticoes and management, enhancement, protection of the property, in coordination with the contacts of the Steering Committee.
The Municipality has prepared guidelines “Porticoes. Instruction for care and use" that regulate the usage of any accessory elements of the portico, therefore maintaining its visual integrity.
- Requests the State Party to:
- Further research and document the role that the Municipal Statutes of 1288 had on the relationship between public and private spaces in the medieval city, marking one of the decisive moments in the history of the capacity of the public authorities to assert their power and political control over the administration of a city,
- Revise the boundaries to reflect the interconnections of the portico system, by incorporating the functional links between the covered walkways within the perimeter of the property, in particular in order to include the entirety of some streets (Santa Caterina, Baraccano, Santo Stefano) and the landscape surrounding the portico and the Basilica of San Luca,
- Ensure that all component parts that constitute the property will have the highest level of protection available,
- Further strengthen the management and monitoring system,
- Consider inviting an advisory mission to the property to assist in the implementation of the above recommendations;
- Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, a report on the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendations for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session.