Bologna is the Italian city home to the University of Bologna, founded in 1088 and widely regarded as the world’s oldest university still in operation.
The institution developed from organized communities of students and teachers in medieval Bologna. It became especially famous for the study of Roman and canon law, attracting scholars from across Europe. Unlike some earlier centers of learning, it evolved into a university in the institutional tradition that continued through later centuries.
The University of Oxford is also medieval and is first documented as teaching by 1096, but it is generally considered younger than Bologna. The University of Al Quaraouiyine in Fez dates to 859 and is often described as the oldest existing educational institution, though classifications of “university” vary. Bologna’s 1088 date is the conventional benchmark for the oldest continuously operating university.