The Vivaro and Casa Pepoli Bentivoglio
The mediaeval Castralasina tower once cast its shadow over today’s Via de’ Pepoli but was later demolished together with its numerous sister structures scattered through the heart of Bologna. This picturesque alley, connecting Piazza Santo Stefano with Strada Castiglione, is a place of great interest and ancient origins. It was formerly called Vivaro (Vivarium), as the land belonged to the Abbey of Santo Stefano and was intended as a place for tanks or containers for fish, which were much consumed by the Benedictine monks whose rule prohibited them from eating meat.
The existence of these tanks, probably interspersed with cultivated vegetable orchards, appears to be confirmed by the fact that the area crossed by the road has an open space in its centre that stands at a lower level than Via Castiglione and Santo Stefano. According to ancient legends, this hollow was created by Saint Petronius (the city’s patron saint), who is said to have removed earth from mthere to provide an elevation for the church of San Giovanni in Monte. As time passed, the area of the old Vivaro of the Benedictine monks saw the building of several, houses that formed a small neighbourhood documented as early as the first half of the 12 th century.
The street was then referred to as both Vivaro dei Pepoli due to its proximity to the old palazzo mbegun in 1344 by Taddeo Pepoli, and Stalle or Scuderie dei Pepoli because part of the buildings, probably used as stables, had been purchased by members of this Bolognese noble family. Abovem the entrance of our palazzo, one’s eye is caught by the grand coat of arms crowned by the heraldic mchequerboard of the Pepoli, recalling their union with the Bentivoglio. To put behind them the old discords that had bloodied the city, in May 1438 Annibale I Bentivoglio, son of Anton Galeazzo, gave his sister Isabella’s hand in marriage to Romeo Pepoli, who had supported him after his return ,to Bologna.
Formerly numbered 1326, the splendid Casa Bentivoglio Pepoli then belonged to Aldrovandino della Fondazza, and on 26 August 1503 it wasm purchased for 2,000 lire by the Casali family, who merged it with his palace in the corner area between the Strade Castiglione and the current Via Farini. As documented in a topographical sketch of that city block by Giuseppe Guidicini (drawn after a description of 1517), the ground floor contained an oratory bordering on the right with the Pepoli stables and on the left with the old Palazzo Casali. On the opposite side of the street stands the house where the famous natural scientist Ulisse Aldrovandi was born in 1522 and where, over two centuries later, the celebrated composer Gaetano Donizetti lived for some time.
