The Villa Aldini sits on the Osservanza hill south of the centre. Built in 1811 by Antonio Aldini, a Bolognese politician who served Napoleon, the villa fuses fragments of a much older medieval church into a strict neoclassical body — an eccentric and theatrical structure best seen from below.
The villa is rarely open to visitors but the terrace and the path beside it offer one of the finest free panoramic views of Bologna: the red roofs in the foreground, the basilica of San Petronio in the middle distance, and the Apennines beyond. The walk up from Porta San Mamolo through the Parco di San Michele in Bosco takes about half an hour.