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Miniguide |
Key guide - Lower Bergamo
Porta Nuova is the hub of Città Bassa (lower Bergamo) just as piazza Vecchia is heart of Città Alta (upper Bergamo). This wide gateway, flanked by two neoclassical buildings, the Propylaea, was built in the nineteenth century in the medieval town walls (demolished in 1901) to facilitate access to the ancient Sant’Alessandro Fair, which was held each year in August.The new centre of Bergamo, completed in 1927,was built on this vast area. The broad thoroughfare of the new centre is the Sentierone, a popular promenade for Bergamo’s inhabitants, which extends to the east along Via Tasso and to the west along Via XX Settembre, the fashionable shopping street.
Some well-kept public buildings built in the nineteenth century stand on Via Tasso including the Provincial Authority Building (where numerous works by the Bergamask sculptor Giacomo Manzù are displayed), the Prefecture and the Church of Santo Spirito, with paintings by Lotto and Borgognone.The Sentierone is overlooked by both the Church of San Bartolomeo (housing a famous altar-piece by Lorenzo Lotto dating back to 1516) and the Donizetti Theatre, flanked by a monument to the great musician.
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Modern Bergamo developed around this new centre, and some of the old villages that were established along the principal roads leading to Città Alta from the plains and valleys have been preserved.
These places are just as alive today as they ever were, with shops and craft studios, and numerous restaurants, bars and trattorias.
Along via San Tommaso, one of the roads that climb towards Città Alta, stands the nineteenth-century building housing the Accademia Carrara and Art Gallery with over two thousand masterpieces from the principal Italian and European schools.
Opposite the Accademia is the Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery hosting important shows as well as being the seat of permanent exhibitions. The Bernareggi Museum of Sacred Art is situated in the nearby Pignolo quarter.
Another itinerary in discovery of Bergamo’s history unites the various museums: the Rocca (fortress) museum, the City museum in the former monastery of San Francesco and the Archaeological and Natural History Museum in the complex of the Visconti Cittadella.
Key guide - Upper Bergamo
Piazza Vecchia, for centuries the political and administrative heart of Bergamo, is the first place to visit on a tour of Città Alta, the historical city of upper Bergamo that developed high on the hilltop. We recommend you begin your tour of Città Alta by taking the funicular railway, built 120 years ago, which connects the upper and lower towns.
The funicular arrives directly in Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe and on leaving the station you are immediately enveloped in the magical atmosphere of the town.
Città Alta alternates narrow medieval alleyways with bright open spaces, and the route along via Gombito - via Colleoni, the main thoroughfare running from east to west, is typically medieval.
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Via Gombito leads to Piazza Vecchia, a beautiful square built in the fifteenth century along the line of this road axis. There are many elements of great interest in this wonderful square including the fountain donated by the Venetian podestà Alvise Contarini; the civic tower built in the XII century; the municipal library building with its white marble façade (built in the seventeenth century as a new town hall), and the Palazzo della Ragione, dating back to the second half of the XII century.
Beyond the loggia of the municipal building is another square, Piazza del Duomo, overlooked by the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Chapel where the famous condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni is entombed, and the Romanesque Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, whose ornate Baroque interior houses a great number of works of art including fourteenth century frescoes, extraordinary marquetry panels created from drawings by Lorenzo Lotto, Flemish and Florentine tapestries and the tomb of Gaetano Donizetti. The tomb of this great musician is the start of an itinerary in discovery of Donizetti, which leads through hidden corners of the old town to his birthplace in the Canale quarter.
Another itinerary in discovery of Bergamo’s history unites the various museums: the Rocca (fortress) museum, the City museum in the former monastery of San Francesco and the Archaeological and Natural History Museum in the complex of the Visconti Cittadella.
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