Bologna and its industrial history

Located in the northern part of Italy, the city of Bologna is famous not only for its architecture and its gastronomy.

Site of the first university in the Western world, Bologna remains today a destination for many students, making it a centre of culture, new ideas and alternative thinking – an enviable environment of cultural growth.

The prosperity of the Bolognese economy goes back to the middle ages, thanks in part to a system of artificial waterways which characterized the city and its surroundings. Despite its distance from the sea, Bologna could count on several shipping canals. These provided not only for the transport of goods, but provided the power for several silk mills, the city’s first factory system.

The technological professions were strengthened in the 19th century by the establishment of the Aldini-Valeriani Institute of Arts and Professions. Technicians trained at this Institute reinforced the development of the Bolognese economy and became the businessmen of the newly-born industrial age. Since that period, the field of mechanics has been the most important one. Still today, Bolognese industries are the world leaders in automatic packaging machines, forming the so-called “packaging valley”.

As evidence of the Bolognese cultural tradition, the Industrial Heritage Museum, located inside a former brickworks, stands today as an important institution, not only for documenting the industrial history of Bologna, but also as an instrument for the diffusion of technical culture and innovation.