The Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca and the Portico Walk

A church on the hill, and the walkway that reaches it

From almost anywhere high in Bologna you can see it: a pink-brick basilica with a green dome on the wooded hill southwest of town, Colle della Guardia, about 300 metres up. That is the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. It holds an icon of the Virgin that Bologna has carried down into the city in procession every year since 1433.

The church you see now dates from the eighteenth century, designed by Carlo Francesco Dotti. What makes the trip different from any other church visit is the way there. A single covered portico runs from the city gate at Porta Saragozza all the way to the top, 666 arches by the usual count and about 3.8 km long, begun in 1674 so that pilgrims and the procession could make the climb in the dry.

The Comune di Bologna’s own portico site says the true number of arches is slightly lower than 666 and puts the length nearer 3.6 km. Sources disagree on how to count. Nobody disagrees that it is long.

Walking the Portico di San Luca

This is the main reason to come, and it splits neatly into two halves.

The first stretch runs flat along Via Saragozza from the old city gate, about 1.5 km of city portico. At the Arco del Meloncello the second half begins: about 2.3 km uphill to the sanctuary. Fifteen pilgrimage stations line the route, which gives you something to count.

The climb is steady rather than brutal, and you are in shade the whole time. In July and August it is still hard work. Bring water, and start early in the day if you can.

The porticoes of Bologna went on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2021, and this one is the showpiece. For a shorter taste of the city’s covered streets without the hill, the porticoes on Strada Maggiore and around Santo Stefano are ten minutes from the square.

How to get there from Piazza Maggiore

On foot it is 4.7 km from the square to the sanctuary door, by the sanctuary’s own reckoning. Head southwest across the old center to Porta Saragozza, where the portico begins, and follow it the rest of the way. A flat walking pace puts the whole route at about an hour. Expect longer, because the last third is uphill.

San Luca Express. A small tourist train leaves from Piazza Galvani, the square behind San Petronio next to the Archiginnasio, drives up beside the portico and brings you back. Bologna Welcome sells tickets at €15 full, €8 reduced and €3 for under-fives as of October 2026. Your ticket covers the first free departure on the day you pick, and some returns run later than you might expect, so allow at least two hours in total.

Bus. Bus 20 runs out along Via Saragozza to the Villa Spada stop, where bus 58 climbs to the sanctuary. One ticket covers both if you validate it on each. Line 58 is not frequent, so check the timetable on tper.it before relying on it.

A popular compromise is the train up and the portico down. Downhill is kinder on the lungs, though not on the knees.

Inside the sanctuary

The church is free and open daily from 07:00 to 18:00. Masses run several times each morning, and Bologna Welcome notes that tourist visits can be limited during services, so a mid-morning or early-afternoon arrival on a weekday is the quietest.

The icon sits above the high altar. You can climb up behind the altar to see it closer, except on weekdays between 12:30 and 14:30, when that stair is closed. Tradition holds that a hermit brought the painting from Constantinople, and it has long been attributed to Saint Luke the Evangelist, which is where the sanctuary gets its name.

San Luca Sky Experience. Since 2017 a walkway around the base of the dome, about 42 metres up, has opened to visitors, with a 180-degree view over the city. It runs Monday to Saturday 10:30 to 13:30 and 14:30 to 18:30, and Sundays from 12:00, with the last entry 15 minutes before closing. You start at the desk by the church entrance. It is ticketed, and we could not confirm the current price on an official page in October 2026, so ask at the desk.

When to go

Any clear day works, and the walk up is cooler before noon.

The icon comes down to Bologna’s cathedral, San Pietro, for about a week around Ascension, and in 2026 the San Luca fair ran from 9 to 17 May while it was in the city. During that week the icon is not in the sanctuary.

Tips

• Wear proper shoes. It is a long walk on hard paving, and the second half is all uphill.
• Pair the trip with lunch in the Quadrilatero market streets when you get back. The train stop at Piazza Galvani is a few minutes’ walk away.
• If the climb is not for you, a guided route such as the secret walking tour to San Luca uses woodland paths instead of the portico.
• Staying more than one night makes this easy to fit in. Our guide to where to stay in Bologna compares the areas.

Back in town, everything else on this site starts at Piazza Maggiore.