Am kommenden Freitag, 24. Januar, spricht IEG-Direktorin Nicole Reinhardt auf der Tagung »BOLOGNA, LE FIANDRE E LA SPAGNA IN ETÀ MODERNA« in Bologna. Organisiert wird die Tagung von den Historiker:innen an der Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, am Archivio di Stato di Bologna und am Reale Collegio di Spagna in Bologna. Nicole Reinhardt wird in ihrem Beitrag Bolognas Beziehungen zu Spanien und Flandern in der Frühen Neuzeit thematisieren. Abstract: The Spanish Mirage: Camillo Vizzani’s voyage to Madrid in 1565 Much of sixteenth-century travel writing took the form of letter writing, as is evident in the widely published printed epistles that informed Europeans of the New World. While these examples have been well studied, accounts regarding travels to Spain during the same period are very rare. This presentation looks at an unusual letter with impressions of Madrid written in 1565 by the young Bolognese Camillo Vizzani (1542-66), only four years after Philip II had decided to establish the court in the city. While short, Vizzani’s letter might well be one of the earliest descriptions of the new capital by a foreign visitor, and it raises a number questions as to the context in which it emerged, the expectations and frustrations it expressed, and finally the legacy of this trip to Spain for the author and his family.