Il bel paese
The longest portico in the world is in Italy. Can you guess where?
3,796 metres, 666 arches, one world record, and a story that makes the climb even better
In Italy, engineering and theology have always gone hand in hand. Nowhere proves this more beautifully than the Portico di San Luca, a covered walkway that stretches for nearly four uninterrupted kilometres up a hillside on the edge of Bologna, ending at a Sanctuary perched at the top of the Colle della Guardia.
At 3,796 metres and 666 arches, it is the longest portico in the world. It has held that record since 1721. Three centuries later, nobody has come close.
It was built to shelter pilgrims making the climb to venerate a Byzantine icon of the Madonna, and here is where the story gets extraordinary: it was funded arch by arch, each one numbered and sponsored by guilds, noble families and ordinary citizens pooling their resources. One of the earliest examples in history of crowdfunding, built entirely in the service of devotion.
The number 666 is not accidental either. Local tradition holds that it represents the serpent defeated by the Madonna, whose head sits symbolically at the Sanctuary above.
In 2021 UNESCO made it official. Now we are making it our recommendation: walk it. Not many walks give you a world record and a view. This one does both.
