Palazzo Maccaferri, home of I Portici Hotel
I Portici Hotel is housed within Palazzo Maccaferri, a captivating historic palazzo in Bologna and a refined expression of the city’s Art Nouveau heritage. Built in the late 19th century and located between Via Indipendenza, Scalinata del Pincio and Parco della Montagnola, the palazzo was conceived from the beginning as a place open to life and to the city: a private residence, but also a restaurant, a space for leisure and gathering, and, above all, a cafe-chantant. After decades of transformation, a meticulous restoration brought its Liberty frescoes, decorations and paintings back to light, now in dialogue with essential, refined and contemporary design. This is where the I Portici experience takes shape.
The story of Palazzo Maccaferri
Before becoming home to I Portici Hotel, Palazzo Maccaferri passed through different eras, functions and transformations. Every chapter left a mark that now engages with the palazzo’s contemporary soul and helps define its distinctive identity.
The site’s oldest roots trace back to the Rocca di Galliera, the papal residence commissioned by Pope John XXII. From that era remains La Ghiacciaia, originally created to store food and ice.
On April 6, 1896, between Via Indipendenza, Scalinata del Pincio and Parco della Montagnola, the first stone of the palazzo was laid. Commissioned by engineer Giuseppe Maccaferri and designed by Attilio Muggia, the building emerged from a synthesis of technology and aesthetics, where structural rigor, architectural creativity and innovative materials, such as reinforced concrete, came together with the new modern Bologna.
On January 1, 1899, Teatro Eden-Kursaal, one of Bologna’s first and most celebrated cafe-chantant, opened. For years it was the social heart of Bologna’s Belle Époque, frequented by the biassanòt, the city’s affluent night owls and international stars such as La Bella Otero and Ettore Petrolini.
With the rise of cinema, theatrical programming at Eden-Kursaal came to an end in 1923. The spaces changed function, first becoming a dining venue and then a dance hall, while preserving the worldly charm and memory of city life that had made the palazzo famous.
After World War II, Palazzo Maccaferri was sold and became the regional headquarter of an electric company, beginning a long phase tied to administrative and operational functions.
After a meticulous restoration, Palazzo Maccaferri reopened as I Portici Hotel. More than 1,500 square meters of Liberty frescoes, decorative details and paintings were brought back to light in the salons and on the ceilings of the building’s five floors, now in dialogue with essential, refined and contemporary design.
Today, Palazzo Maccaferri is home to rooms and suites, Ristorante I Portici, Cucina Portici, Caffè Eden, Pasticceria Eden, Terrazza Lounge, the 14th-century La Ghiacciaia, meeting and event spaces and Portici Shop: a place where stories continue to take shape.
A visionary project
Palazzo Maccaferri was born at the end of the 19th century, in a decisive moment in Bologna’s urban transformation. The new Via Indipendenza, inaugurated in 1888, became the axis linking Piazza Maggiore with the Central Station. It was precisely here, between the historic city, the greenery of Parco della Montagnola and the new city, that Giuseppe Maccaferri envisioned a building capable of representing the Bologna of the future. The project was entrusted to Attilio Muggia, one of the most forward-thinking figures in Italian engineering and architecture of the time.
In the palazzo, structural and design rigor came together with architectural quality, creativity and the use of innovative technologies such as reinforced concrete. The result was a building conceived as a synthesis of technology and aesthetics, a private residence and a place open to the city, a restaurant salon, gaming rooms on the piano nobile, and a grand ground-floor hall used as a Cafe Chantant.
From a historic palazzo in Bologna to a Contemporary Heritage Hotel
Palazzo Maccaferri is one of the most refined expressions of Bolognese Art Nouveau. After decades of transformation, a careful restoration brought back to light more than 1,500 square meters of Liberty frescoes, decorative details and paintings across the salons and ceilings of the building’s five floors.
In dialogue with this precious heritage there is an essential, refined, contemporary design, conceived not to compete with it, but to enhance it with style and elegance. This is how stories continue to take shape within the I Portici experience.
When experience becomes a visual story
Where the I Portici experience begins
More than a place, I Portici Hotel is the backdrop against which every traveler becomes the protagonist. An experience that begins in the room, unfolds in the palazzo’s iconic spaces, and takes shape through the services that accompany the stay.
