Bologna (IPA: [boˈloːɲːa]; Bulåggna [buˈlʌɲːa]] in the Bolognese dialect). The city, whose origins go back at least a millennium before Christ, has always been an important urban centre, first under the Etruscans (Velzna/Felsina) and the Celts (Bona), then under the Romans (Bononia) and again in Medieval times, as a free municipality (for a century it was the fifth European city by population).

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