About 3.5km southwest of the city centre, this hilltop basilica occupies a powerful and appropriately celestial position overlooking the teeming red-hued city below. The basilica houses a black representation of the Virgin Mary, supposedly painted by St Luke and transported from the Middle East to Bologna in the 12th century. The 18th-century sanctuary is connected to the city walls by the world's longest portico, held aloft by 666 arches, beginning at Piazza di Porta Saragozza.
The San Luca Sky Experience, a new panoramic terrace reached by a 110-step climb into the cupola, offers 180-degree city and countryside views. The most direct way to reach the basilica is on the San Luca Express, a tourist 'train' that leaves Piazza Maggiore every 30 minutes to one 1¼ hours during peak tourist season between 9.55am and 5.35pm. Alternatively, take bus 20 from the city centre to Villa Spada (catch it along Via Rizzoli towards Casalecchio during the week and from Piazza Malpighi on weekends when the centre is pedestrianised), where you can catch minibus 58 up to the sanctuary, or continue one more stop on bus 20 to the Meloncello arch and walk the remaining 2km under the arches.