Address: Piazza Libertà
Description: Portico dei Signori, or degli Orefici, was built between 1604 and 1611and lies directly opposite the Duomo. Whilst the shops that under the portico face each other have inevitably changed through time – instead of the old artisan workshops and the old stores today there are modern shops, bars and most of all banks – the plan and the architecture remain substantially untouched. The columns are especially remarkable made of "pietra di Varignana", a sort of very compact sand that was extracted from quarries that still exist today just above Castel San Pietro and used for noble buildings of which there are examples in Faenza, Imola and Bologna, with an unusual very warm colour of golden yellow.
Directions: Accessible only by foot, as it is right in front of the Duomo.
