Beautiful Bergamo city. This is how a Venetian traveller in the seventeenth century described the city as he crossed Lombardy.
He had probably already returned to Venice when he put down his thoughts, but still had an image of the city in his mind, as well as his heart, high on the hilltop as he approached from the plain, slowly making out the details among the wonderful profile of spires and bell towers.
This is the same image that today welcomes tourists, even if they have less opportunities than the traveller to stop and admire the view, which is often obstructed by new buildings. But once through the main gate in the walls, dedicated to Sant’Agostino, the city on the hill is just the same as it was four centuries ago. A drinking fountain of white marble and grey sandstone gushing a jet of fresh spring water greeted the tired traveller
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