Random Italy Photo: Portico di San Luca, Bologna

Most of my posts lately have been either from Sounders FC matches or my Project 365. So to mix things up a bit, I’m starting a new travel series.

Yesterday, in celebration of Ferragosto, I posted an old photo from Italy to my Facebook Page. I had to dive deep into my archives because it’s been almost 5 years since my last visit. (That’s just far too long!)

Today, I got to thinking…I have a bunch of photographs from several Italy trips that I haven’t really looked at in a long time or done anything with on my blog (aside from this one). So I’ve decided it’s time to institute a new series of blog posts – Random Italy Photos.

This first entry is from the Portico di San Luca in one of my favorite not-so-touristy towns in Italy – Bologna. This portico starts at the bottom of the Colle della Guardia (Hill of the Guards) and over the course of about 2 miles, climbs around 1000 feet to the top where the Santuario Madonna di San Luca (Sanctuary of Madonna of San Luca) sits.

There are exactly 666 arches that make up the entire portico. This was apparently not by accident. It’s meant to represent both the shape of the portico which is somewhat serpentine as it climbs the hill, as well as to symbolize the snake under the Madonna’s heel. Now, I “fell” from Catholicism many years ago, but I do still love the imagery and symbolism that permeates through its art and architecture.

I don’t know how often I’m going to make these posts. But maybe this will inspire me to plan another trip back there! We’ll see. Until then, I’ll just have revisit Italy through the images I captured years ago.

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