Walk around the City of Silk with Glennis Virgo

Submitted: 14th May 2025

Walk around the City of Silk – Bologna

1575: Justice in Bologna is like the fine silk which the city produces: something only the rich and powerful can afford.

Over to you Glennis….

Map of locations in City of Silk

city of silk

Map of locations in City of Silk

I first fell in love with Bologna on a short city break several years ago but kept returning, lured not so much by its food (for which it is famous!) but by its history. My novel City of Silk is set there in 1575 when it was an industrial hub, criss-crossed by canals which were lined with mills churning out paper, flour and, above all, fine silk. In those days, the whole city was enclosed by its solid walls, and outside grew hectares and hectares of mulberry trees to feed the silkworms. Some people grew very rich thanks to these industries but, as always, they relied upon the toil of thousands of others whose lives were under their control.

San Petronio church

Map of locations in City of Silk

We can even now experience so much of 16th century Bologna: for example, the huge church of San Petronio and other monumental public buildings surrounding the main square; the mesh of little alleys nearby, still bearing the names of the crafts practised in each; and even some original wooden porticoes which protected its citizens from both sun and rain.

Map of locations in City of Silk

Most of the canals are now gone, their water diverted underground, but a few remain and you can catch the occasional glimpse of one through a gap in a wall. Part of my research was to walk the streets at all hours of the day and night to discover how my protagonist (Elena, a young seamstress) would feel as she tramped back and forth across the city. I came to realise that the experience would not be an entirely comfortable one for her, given her age, gender and class.

Santa Maria del Baraccano orphanage

Remaining frontage of the Baraccano orphange (c) Glennis Virgo

Map of locations in City of Silk

Elena was brought up in an orphanage called the Santa Maria del Baraccano and you can to this day see the building’s looping arches fronting onto Via Santo Stefano. It was a truly ghastly place – one of many in Bologna and other large cities of the period – where children were overworked and ill-treated before being despatched at the age of about sixteen to labour in a household or one of the city’s industries. My book is about power and the lack of it. Elena and her friends appear powerless but eventually find a way to challenge those who have subjugated them for so long. The Baraccano building now houses a theatre and is close to a beautiful park just outside the city walls. I think Elena would like that!

The Museum of the History of Bologna

Map of locations in City of Silk

My research included visits to practically every museum in the city but there is one to which I returned again and again. The Museum of the History of Bologna covers the city’s entire history in such an immersive way that you might believe you were there. Great for kids! I also trawled online for contemporary documents and one especially exciting find was a map of the city of exactly the right date. The original is huge and covers a whole wall in the Vatican but my small copy of it became covered in annotations so that I could imagine where each character lived and worked in their tightly enclosed world.

Tailor’s workshop (c) Glennis Virgo

Map of locations in City of Silk

Since Bologna retains so much of its history within its streets and buildings, I recommend a leisurely stroll around the city with a street map – and comfortable shoes! You too can walk with Elena from the tailor’s workshop in Via Drapperie where she becomes an apprentice, past the hospital in Via Clavature where she finds a doctor willing to help her friend, or to Easter worship at San Petronio. You can imagine her feeling bolts of fabric for quality at the market situated in Piazza di Porta Ravegnana or having a revealing conversation in a corner of The Sun tavern.