Bergamo Tourist Attractions
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SituationThe provincial capital of Bergamo lies northeast of Milan at the foot of the Bergamo Alps. It consists of an old town of narrow winding streets on a hill, defended by bastions erected in the 16th century, and a lower town extending out on to the Po plain with modern buildings and busy industries (textiles, cement, printing).HistoryOriginally a Gallic settlement and recorded in 200 B.C. as the Roman Municipium Bergomum, the town achieved no great importance until the Lombard period. In 1167 it became a member of the Lombard league of towns; then in 1264 it passed under the control of Milan and from 1427 it belonged to Venice. From 1814 Bergamo was controlled by Austria until it was liberated by Garibaldi in 1859. In the 16th century the theater form known as the "commedia dell'arte" came to the fore in Bergamo.
Lower Town
Piazza Matteotti
The center of the Lower Town of Bergamo (Città Bassa; 249m/822ft) is the Piazza Matteotti, with beautiful gardens, parks and monuments, adjoining which on the northwest is the imposing Piazza Vittoria Veneto, with the Torre dei Caduti, a war memorial.
Porta Nuova
On the southeast side of Piazza Matteotti are the twin Neo-Classical gatehouses of the Porta Nuova (view of the upper town), from which the wide Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII runs south to the station. This street and the Viale Vittoria Emanuele II, which leads from the Piazza Vittorio Veneto to the upper town, form Bergamo's principal traffic artery.
Teatro Donizetti
East of Piazza Matteotti, in the busy avenue called the Sentierone, stands the Teatro Donizetti and in the east side of the Piazza Cavour is a monument to the Bergamo-born composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848).
San Bartolomeo
At the northeast end of the Sentierone in Bergamo is the church of San Bartolomeo (17th century; facade 1901). Inside there are fine choir-stalls and behind the high altar Lorenzo Lotto's "Madonna with Child and Saints", one of his chief works.
Santo Spirito
From San Bartolomeo Via Torquato Tasso runs to the church of the Santo Spirito, which has another "Madonna" by Lotto (1521) and a painting by Previtali which depicts John the Baptist and other saints.
San Bernardino in Pignolo
A short distance north of Santo Spirito, in the steep Via Pignolo, is the little church of San Bernardino in Pignolo, with a "Madonna Enthroned" by Lotto (1521) in the choir. Higher up are a number of palaces with beautiful Early Renaissance courtyards.
Art Gallery of the Accademia Carrara
In Via San Tommaso in Bergamo, which goes off Via Pignolo on the right, is a palace, housing the Accademia Carrara, with a picture gallery with fine works by Lorenzo Lotto, Palma il Vecchio, Giovanni Battista Moroni, Vittore Carpaccio, Jacopo and Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Mantegna, Girolamo Romani Romanino, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Titian, Paolo Veronese, Raffael Santi, Sandro Botticelli, Luca Signorelli and Carlo Crivelli as well as works by Albrecht Dürer and Anton van Dyck. From here a stepped lane leads up to the Porta Sant'Agostino.
Upper Town
Porta Sant'Agostino
From Piazza Vittorio Veneto the Viale Vittorio Emanuele II runs past the lower station of the funicular and through the Porta Sant'Agostino into the Upper Town (Città Alta, 325-365m/1,073- 1,205ft).
Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe
From the Porta Sant'Agostino we keep straight ahead, past the church of Sant'Agostino on the right, and then bear left and continue steeply uphill on the Via di Porta Dipinta, past the beautiful churches of San Michele al Pozzo Bianco and Sant'Andrea (inside the latter is a "Madonna Enthroned with Saints" by Moretto), to the Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe, with the upper station of the funicular on the left.
Rocca Museum
From the Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe Via alla Rocca, to the right, ascends to the Rocca (14th century), an old bastion, with the Museo del Risorgimento e della Resistenza (documents of Italy's recent history). From the castle keep and the adjoining Parco della Rimembranza there are very fine views.
Piazza Vecchia
From the Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe in Bergamo, the narrow Via Gombito, in which is a patrician tower-house, the Torre di Gombito (c. 1100), leads to the Piazza Vecchia, which together with the neighboring Piazza del Duomo (cathedral square) forms the architecturally impressive center of the upper town.
Palazzo della Ragione
In the Upper Town of Bergamo is the Palazzo della Ragione (late 12th century; largely rebuilt 1538-54), with an open colonnade. Adjoining is the tall Torre del Comune (lift). On the north side of the Piazza Vecchia is the Palazzo Nuovo (Municipal Library), a Late Renaissance building.
Basilica of St Mary Major
In the Piazza del Duomo in Bergamo the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, begun in 1137 as a Romanesque basilica, has a stepped-back tower over the crossing and a picturesque choir. On the south and north sides are doorways guarded by lions, with beautiful Gothic canopies (1353 and 1360). Inside there are fine choir-stalls in Renaissance style, Baroque stucco-work and tapestries on the walls of the side-aisles and choir. The church also contains the tomb of the composer Donizetti.
Capella Colleoni
Adjoining Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo is the Capella Colleoni in early Lombard Renaissance style, with a lavishly decorated marble facade, built 1470-76 to house the tomb of the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni. Inside are the tombs of Colleoni and his daughter Medea (d. 1470), both by Amadeo; ceiling paintings by Tiepolo (1732) and fine choir-stalls.
Baptistery
To the right of the Capella Colleoni in Bergamo is the Baptistery (1340), an octagonal building, originally in Santa Maria Maggiore, which was re-erected here in 1898.
Cathedral of Sant'Alessandro
Opposite the Bapistry in Bergamo is the cathedral of Sant'Alessandro (1459; choir 1560; dome and facade modern), with fine pictures by Tiepolo, Previtali and Moroni and beautiful Baroque choir-stalls.
Archeological Museum
From the Piazza Vecchia in Bergamo the narrow Via Colleoni runs northwest to the Citadel, which houses a museum of natural science and archeology (Museo di Scienze Naturali e Museo Archeologico).
Viale delle Mura
Beyond the Archeological Museum in Bergamo is the Porta Sant'Alessandro, from which Viale delle Mura (nearby, on the left, is the Donizetti Museum) leads round the walls (fine views) to the Porta San Giacomo, the most handsome of the town gates, and so back to the Porta Sant'Agostino, the starting point for the walk through the upper town.
Surroundings
San Pellegrino Terme
In the Bergamo Alps is the spa of San Pellegrino Terme (358m/1,181ft), which also atttracts visitors because of its beautiful situation in the wooded Brembo valley and its equable climate. Its widely renowned alkaline mineral water (recommended for gout and stomach, liver and urinary disorders) comes from three springs (26 °C/79 °F) on the right bank of the Brembo (pump room, Kursaal, theater). From the Kursaal a funicular runs up in 10 minutes to San Pellegrino Vetta (653m/2,155ft; restaurant).
