One of the three famous names for Bologna is “the Learned.” Easy to guess why! Founded around 1088, Bologna is home to the oldest university in the Western world. Its history is one of great thinkers in the sciences and the humanities, making it an indispensable point of reference in the panorama of European culture. Noteworthy students present at the university in centuries past included Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Thomas Becket, Pope Nicholas V, Erasmus of Rotterdam, and Copernicus. With its five campuses in five cities of Emilia Romagna (Bologna, Rimini, Forlì, Cesena and Ravenna), UniBo today counts close to 100,000 students. Its 23 faculties, 68 departments and 93 libraries offer E.C.Co. students an extraordinarily rich and varied academic experience.