Tourist attraction
Scalinata del Pincio
Monumental stairway to a hilltop park, guarding a fountain nymph locals nicknamed the Giant's wife.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Scalinata del Pincio in Bologna starts at the small fountain carved into the base of the grand staircase, where a nymph has been caught struggling with an octopus for over a century. It follows how Bolognese storytellers gave her a name and a husband almost as soon as sculptor Diego Sarti finished her in 1896, tying her to Neptune, the bronze god of the fountain across town, and how a poet and a local playwright each turned the joke into verse and stage comedy. Look closely at her face, caught between the coils, before you hear why an entire city decided she needed a love story.
This audio guide was created using AI.