The Archiginnasio Palace was built between 1562 and 1563 at the behest of Cardinal Carlo Borromeo. The project was realised by the Bolognese architect Antonio Morandi, called “Terribilia”. The aim of the operation, realised in the cultural climate of the Council of Trent, was to concentrate in a single location the university teaching which, until that time, had been dispersed in various places of the city.
The outside of the building is characterized by a long portico consisting of thirty arches and it is organised on two floors around a central courtyard with a double order of loggias. Two large staircases lead to the upper floor, where there are ten classrooms (which are not open to the public today) and two large halls (aule magne) placed at the ends of the building, one for the Artists (now the Reading Room of the Library) and the other one for the Legisti (later called Stabat Mater Hall).
The Ticket allows you the entrance to the Anathomical Theatre, historically used to host lectures and demonstrations of Anathomy classes, and the Stabat Mater (unless university lectures are held)
