A small window in a wall and, behind it, water flowing between the houses: it's one of the most photographed spots in Bologna. Here the city reveals its most liquid secret.
Bologna looks like a city without a river, yet under its streets runs a network of canals dug in the Middle Ages. In Via Piella, a few steps from the archway of an ancient gate-tower, a small opening in the wall of a portico looks out onto the Canale delle Moline, squeezed between façades and little balconies hanging over the water. For centuries these canals brought energy, goods and work; then, in the 20th century, almost all of them were hidden under the asphalt. Today the little window is a small city ritual: you queue, you peek, you take a photo. A local's tip? Look out from the bridges in the nearby streets too, where you can see the canal even better.
