Bologna San Luigi College
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San Luigi College Photos
About San Luigi College
This grand palazzo was erected by the architect Francesco Guerra in 1588. The façade was richly decorated in 1766 by Fancelli and Tesi but now sadly almost disappeared.
At the time of its birth it was founded as the Collegio Montalto under the direction of the Jesuit Order and only established for young students from Marche, an area south of this region..
In 1654 the Jesuits changed its name to Collegio San Luigi after the saint and it continued to teach students until the order was suppressed in 1773 by Pope Clement XIV. This huge complex was then rented out to the Barnabite Order who continued educating students but by this stage the doors were thrown open to include a wider audience. In 1810 the college was again suppressed but under Napoleon. Life soon returned to normal once again in 1816.
On the first floor is this library named after P. Mazenta and dating back to the original construction. The art collection is antique. The paintings date from the 1500s towards the end of the 1800s and belonged to the Barnabites.
The library is quite small but it too has a varied collection of books and materials relating from the 16th century onwards. Of particular interest are 11 books from the 1600s, 49 from the 1700s and 162 dating to the 1800s. The rest, which are said to be of a modern era since they date from 1900s include books, newspapers, audio records and multimedia material.
Outside in the hall are more paintings and antique furniture. There are several displays of models of ancient ships. It’s not indicated of what significance they hold here although it’s true they have a long connection with this college since in the theatre adjacent to here is also a motif of a ship on a wall.
One of the highlights here is this theatre which can clearly be noted for its historic value on first impression. It’s named after Alessandro Guardassoni but erected in honour of Pope Sisto V who was a native of Montalto the town. It’s thought that this may have been an elegant room for ball-room dancing for which the balcony would have been used by the orchestra.
The actual design of today only took place around the end of the 1800s. Guardassoni painted it with ornate decorations and paintings along with Guglielmo Minelli. The paintings along the left hand side wall depict Mosses and the King David both by unknown 17th century artists. In 1919 this room was partially damaged by a fire caused by a faulty machine but later restored. The mosaic floor was completed by Costantino Diana.
The college presently uses this room for didactics and class related exercises, theatrical performances, in particular for fund-raising events for the college. The balcony is no longer in use due to its fragile condition.
Finally, there’s this last room called the Natural Science Museum in honour of Fr. Pietro Rosati. It’s a narrow claustrophobic room packed full of exhibits. Fr. Rosati was passionate about ornithology, mineralogy and botany. This collection was organised between 1894 and 1904. There are over 90 birds, 180 other exhibits made up of fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Minerals and fossils are also on display in the center of the room. Further donations were made over the years. The oldest one though is a beautiful example of a white-fronted goose dating to 1888.
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