The Architectural History of the Illyrian-Hungarian College in Bologna

Abstract

In 1556, a house in Bologna, in via Centotrecento, was bought by the members of the Illyrian-Hungarian College to serve as permanent seat of the institution founded in 1553. After a series of lesser interventions, this building was considerably enlarged and thoroughly remodelled from 1690 to 1701. The author of this project was Bolognese architect Giovanni Battista Torri, who based the design on the model of the famous Collegio di Spagna, built in the same university town more than three centuries earlier (1365-1367). This article is the first to investigate the architectural history of the Illyrian-Hungarian College by drawing on a large body of archival documents.

Keywords

• Bologna
• Collegiate buildings
• University Colleges
• Giovanni Battista Torri
• Illyrian-Hungarian College