10 Things to Do and See in Bergamo

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Take the funicular that departs from Lower City and climb up to Upper City, the historical and perfectly preserved heart of Bergamo. In just a few minutes of travel, your view expands slowly to the Alps while the ancient walls get closer as you pass through.

Step into Upper City, the historical heart of Bergamo, in Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe. The name tells you what the function of this place was. Just a few steps away, you reach Piazza Vecchia, one of the most harmonious and beautiful squares in Italy. Here, you'll find almost everything worth visiting: the Palazzo della Ragione with its sundial and the Museum of Frescoes.

Also overlooking the square is another historic palace, the Podestà Palace, and the Campanone, the symbol tower of Bergamo. A few more steps will take you to the religious heart of Bergamo: Piazza del Duomo with the Basilica of Santa Maria and the Colleoni Chapel.

If you have time, take the other funicular in Bergamo (San Vigilio), which goes from Upper City to San Vigilio. From here, the view is breathtaking. Before ascending to Upper City or after descending, don't forget to visit the small but wonderful museum of the Carrara Academy. This is Bergamo, a small gem that more and more Italians are discovering.

There's also an extraordinary cuisine that satisfies the appetite with substance and simplicity, as you will discover in the section on what to eat. In this page, we invite you to discover the 10 things to do and see absolutely in Bergamo during a weekend or a vacation.

1

The heart of Upper Bergamo is Piazza Vecchia which the great architect and urban planner Le Corbusier considered one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. "You can't touch a stone, it would be a crime", he wrote in 1949, although he complained about the presence of cars in Upper City.

The mayor at the time followed his advice by prohibiting parking in the square and then, progressively, all his successors extended the ban to most of Upper City.

For this reason today this square and its surroundings are a place of beauty and tranquility: the peace is interrupted only by the strolls of tourists and citizens who come here to meet or sit at the tables of the numerous restaurants and cafes.

Piazza Vecchia is divided from Piazza Duomo by the portico of the Palazzo della Ragione. In the center of the square is the Contarini Fountain with its sphinxes, and all around it are the Palazzo della Ragione (point 2), the Campanone, the Podestà Palace, and the Angelo Mai Library with its 600 ancient volumes. The fountain was gifted by the Podestà of Venice, Alvise Contarini, when he left his post in Bergamo in 1780.

It was a way to beautify the square, but above all, to bring water to the center of Upper City and make it available to all.

The sphinxes with the fountain have four lions at their sides, symbols of Venice. For just a few years, the fountain was replaced with a statue of Garibaldi, only to be restored to its historic location while the hero found a place in Lower City!

2

The Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo is the oldest municipal palace in Italy. It was built after the Peace of Constance, when the Italian communes discovered autonomy and began to establish their own administrative structures.

With the arrival of the Venetians, it was transformed into a court (hence the name). Destroyed and rebuilt several times, it owes its current shape to modifications made around 1540.

The portico on which it was built serves as a sort of "little square" dividing Piazza Vecchia from the adjacent Piazza del Duomo.

Don't miss the sundial from 1798 created by Abbot Giovanni Albrici on the floor. The sun, passing through a hole in a disk placed 7 meters high, illuminates the slabs on the portico floor indicating solar noon (not what your watch says!) and the zodiac sign we are in (thus the month and season).

To observe the phenomenon, one must go to the Palazzo della Ragione at 12:00, although a little delay is allowed due to differences between real times and our watches, but that's another story! On the first floor of the palace is the splendid Sala delle Capriate with windows and a balcony overlooking Piazza Vecchia.

Here is the Museum of Frescoes which houses about 100 frescoes recovered from the city and the province of Bergamo. The highlight of the collection are the frescoes by Bramante that adorned the facade of the Podestà palace. The frescoes depicted seven wise men holding sheets with excerpts from the works of Seneca.

Today only the fresco depicting Chilone (actually a self-portrait of Bramante) holding an open book with his knee and the phrase Jupiter humbles the proud and exalts the humble is visible.

Opening Hours and Ticket Price

The Palazzo is open daily. Free entrance if no exhibitions are present.

3

The other major feature of Piazza Vecchia is the "Campanone", which is actually called the Civic Tower. At 53 meters high, it is one of the tallest in Europe and a symbol of Bergamo. Under the shadow of the Campanone, the city's life has unfolded for 1000 years: the tower's bells have tolled for the arrival, departure, weddings, and deaths of emperors.

They also rang for the arrival of Garibaldi and, in 1797, for the end of Venetian rule. But every night at 10:00, the tower bells perform their secular function: ringing 100 chimes to warn of the closing of the gates of the Upper City.

And even though the gates are no longer closed, the tradition is still alive and must not be missed. Originally built as a tower house for the noble Suardi-Colleoni family, it was initially 37.7 meters high.

In 1374 it was purchased by the municipality, which housed the municipal prisons, then in the 1500s its height was increased, adding a new belfry for the bells and the current clock, reaching the present 53 meters.

From up there, the view of Bergamo is magnificent and you have two options to get there: 230 steps on foot or a comfortable elevator! Next to the tower is the Podestà Palace, which belonged to the same family and has undergone fires, devastation, and plundering over the centuries, often changing use.

Today it houses a multimedia museum about the history of the city. On the facade of the palace facing Piazza Vecchia, Bramante painted his 7 philosophers, of which only fragments remain preserved in the Sala delle Capriate in the Palazzo della Ragione.

Opening Hours and Ticket Price for the Civic Tower and the Podestà Palace

From November to March
Tue-Fri: 9:30-13:00 / 14:30-18:00
Sat and Holidays: 9:30-18:00

From April to October
Tue-Fri: 10:00-18:00
Sat and Holidays: 10:00-20:00

Ticket Price: Palazzo del Podestà + Campanone €5

Closed on Monday (except all Mondays in August), December 25, and January 1.

4

Passing through the portico of the Palazzo della Ragione, you arrive at Piazza Duomo, the other important square in Bergamo. If Piazza Vecchia has always been the symbol of administrative power, this is the square of religious power.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the most important building in the Square (and Bergamo) and its construction was due to a vow against the plague made by the inhabitants in 1133.

In reality, the true cathedral is that of Sant'Alessandro, which is attached to the Palazzo della Ragione, but the locals are more attached to Santa Maria.

Built in 1137, it is characterized by the absence of a front entrance on the central facade, compensated, however, by four beautiful lateral access doors.

To the left opens the door with red lion tympanum and to the left of this, against the apse, the secondary entrance. One curiosity: Piazza Duomo has always been a marketplace; therefore, between the two doors, the ancient measures of Bergamo are still visible on the wall: the Capitium Comunis Pergami (cavezzo - 2.63 meters) and the Brachium (arm - 53.1 cm) which the textile merchants of the square had to adhere strictly to for measurements.

The other two doors are those of the white lions with a tympanum by Giovanni da Campione and the Fountain Door next to the Fontana di Antescolis. Inside, a beautiful crucifixion by Ludwig van Schoor and the Crossing of the Red Sea by Luca Giordano. At the back is the funeral monument of Gaetano Donizetti and that of Simone Mayr, his teacher. Do not miss the inlays of the choir of Santa Maria Maggiore, made between 1524 and 1532 by Giovanni Francesco Capoferri and designed by Lorenzo Lotto.

Opening Hours and Ticket Price for the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

Monday - Saturday
9:00 - 12:30 and 14:30 - 17:00
Sunday
9:00 - 13:00 and 15:00 - 18:00
(from November 1 to March 31)

Monday - Saturday
9:00 - 12:30
14:30 - 18:00
Sunday
9:00 - 13:00
15:00 - 18:00
(from April 1 to October 31)

5

To the right of the facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the Colleoni Chapel where Bartolomeo Colleoni, a mercenary captain who worked mainly for Venice, rests. Before his death, he wanted this chapel as his tomb.

In fact, the church of Bergamo was not much in favor of having him next door for eternity, right near the two main churches of Bergamo.

But like a good mercenary, Colleoni resolved the matter by demolishing the old sacristy and making space for his mausoleum.

Built between 1470 and 1476 by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, it is one of the most beautiful examples of Renaissance architecture in Italy and is dedicated to Saints Bartolomeo, Marco, and Giovanni Battista.

An entrance staircase guarded by a wrought iron gate protects a triumph of red and white marble columns surrounded by symbols and biblical stories. Inside stands the Sarcophagus of Colleoni with a gilded equestrian statue of the captain.

On the left wall is the funeral monument of Colleoni's beloved daughter, Medea, who died on March 6, 1470. On the sarcophagus, there is a statue of Medea between Saint Clare and Saint Catherine.

The frescoes of the pendants, lunettes, and the dome are by Giambattista Tiepolo. The attentive visitor will not fail to notice that all this beauty is interrupted by 3 testicles found on the opposite wall.

Nothing scandalous: they were the name and symbol of the captain's family of which he was very proud. It seems that he also fueled the whole thing with a legend according to which the captain was endowed with three! The symbol is present not only inside but also on the entrance gate, and according to legend, touching them brings good luck. You decide!

Opening Hours and Ticket Price for Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo

March - October:
9:00 - 12:30 and 14:00 - 18:30;
November - February:
9:00 - 12:30 and 14:00 - 16:30
Closed on Monday

Ticket Price: free

6

The Accademia Carrara is one of the most beautiful museums in Italy, although it might be unknown to many. It is located in Lower Bergamo, in an area rich in history, shops, and social activity.

It houses 1793 paintings from the Venetian, Lombard, and Tuscan schools from the Renaissance to the late 1800s. Some names might do justice to this magnificent collection: Gozzoli, Crivelli, Tura, Mantegna, Pinturicchio, Ghirlandaio, Bellini, Raphael, Titian, Lotto, Rubens, Tiepolo, Canaletto, Hayez, and many more.

Among the masterpieces, remember the Madonna and Child by Mantegna and that by Titian, the San Sebastiano by Raphael, The Remembrance of a Pain by Pellizza da Volpedo.

But the entire collection of paintings deserves several hours of your visit, along with that of the sculptures featuring works by Bernini and the prints with works by Mantegna, Dürer, Piranesi, and Canaletto.

Opening Hours and Ticket Price for the Accademia Carrara

Address: Piazza Giacomo Carrara, 82.
Open daily from 9 am to 7 pm**
Close day:** Tuesday and December 25

Ticket Price
Full: €12
Reduced: €10

7

The Venetian walls are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 6 km that circle Upper City represent an extraordinary defense system built by the Venetians in 1561 (on ancient Roman walls) to defend against external attacks. To build them, the Venetians tore down 250 houses and two churches, earning themselves 8 excommunications from the church, which, however, did not stop the work.

Fortunately, the walls have never suffered a siege, so they are perfectly preserved. From here, you can admire sunrises, sunsets, take romantic walks, or seek a bit of solitude.

Even though a bit strenuous, they are an itinerary not to be missed during a visit to Bergamo.

Along the walls, there are 4 entrance gates to the Upper City and 14 bastions, 2 platforms, 100 openings for firing weapons. The cannons were stored in two gun emplacements: those of San Giovanni and San Michele, which can still be visited near their respective bastions.

8

It is truly worth making a small detour to go to the Crespi D'Adda industrial village, 20 minutes from Bergamo. Built starting in 1878, the village is protected by UNESCO as the best-preserved example of a workers' village in the world.

In 1878, Cristoforo Benigno Crespi bought 85 hectares of land from the municipalities of Capriate San Gervasio and Canonica d'Adda to establish his textile factory, but he did not stop there.

Following the example of villages (especially English ones), he decided to build around the factory a true town that could offer all the services needed to workers, employees, and managers.

Of course, everything is strictly rational and hierarchical: the modest houses with gardens and vegetable patches for the working families are separated from the more luxurious villas of the managers and, only at the far end, sits the Crespi family villa (the castle).

There were also a church, a hospital, fire services, a school, but also all the activities for leisure such as the sports field and theater. Looming over everything are the two smokestacks and the large factory, reminding everyone why this was all constructed. The town's history lasted only 50 years, which is why it is still perfectly preserved today: UNESCO protection then avoided any speculation and today it is an example to discover another society and other utopias. Do not overlook the natural context of the village: at the confluence of the Adda and Brembo rivers, it is a protected area ideal for long walks.

How to Get There

Milan-Bergamo Highway, exit Capriate and then 2.5 km towards Crespi.

9

The Vegetable Cathedral is not located within the classic tourist circuit of downtown Bergamo and perhaps it is not the "cathedral" you might expect to see. You need to reach it specifically in the territory of Oltre Il Colle on Pizzo Arera in the Orobic Alps, and since public transport is not practical and frequent, it is advisable to get there by car.

From the city center, it takes about an hour to travel. What you will find is the contemporary land art installation created by artist Giuliano Mari in 2008, which essentially appears as a gigantic scaffold made of intertwined chestnut branches and "hollow" wooden "columns" - representing the support columns of a Gothic cathedral.

The peculiarity is that inside each of these columns, a beech tree has been planted.

Initially, there were 42 columns, but due to a violent storm, most of them were destroyed, and today only what remains of the complex can be admired. In the meantime, nature will continue its course: the beeches will grow in the coming years and the wooden scaffolding will break apart.

In at least 20 years, the result will be a one-of-a-kind cathedral born from the symbiosis of architecture, religion, and nature.

Perhaps in its current state, the Vegetable Cathedral does not justify the trip to get there, but it could be a good idea to combine a visit with a trek on the hiking trail network of the area, which is ideal for pleasant excursions. We particularly signal the Flower Trail with its native floral species that offer a unique spectacle.

Ticket Price
The Vegetable Cathedral of Bergamo is located outdoors, so it is free to visit.

How to Get There
By car: From Bergamo, proceed towards Zambla Alta and then towards Plassa. Park your car and continue on foot along the trail that leads to the Cathedral.

10

The cuisine of Bergamo is rich, hearty, and requires a good appetite: before sitting at the table, therefore, prepare for the encounter! Let's start with polenta: a survival dish from the peasant culture, which had lost favor in recent decades but, fortunately, has been rediscovered by chefs and families.

This corn-based dish pairs well with practically everything: rabbit, braised meats, game (polenta e osei), cheese (taragna), but also herring and anchovies.

Bergamo also means casoncelli, fresh pasta filled with beef and pork, amaretti, sultana raisins, and lemon zest.

Cured meats and cheeses are not lacking at the table with 9 DOP (Formai de mut, Strachitund Val Taleggio, Taleggio, Gongorzola, Bitto, Grana Padano, Provolone Valpadana, Quartirolo Lombardo, Salva Cremasco).

Among the wines, we must remember the white and red from the Terre dei Colleoni. Among desserts, the polenta e osei (same name but different) is made with sponge cake, butter, chocolate, rum, and hazelnuts and the Torta Donizetti, which was born here.

A curiosity: the stracciatella was born in Bergamo at the pastry shop La Marianna in Upper City.

Also thanks to the nearby low-cost airport of Orio al Serio, Bergamo is experiencing a new tourist spring. If until now it was a jewel appreciated by those who knew its beauties, more and more tourists are discovering the wonders of this beautiful city of art. Spring and long weekends are the busiest times to book in advance, while the other months of the year are quieter. Rooms in a 3-star hotel start from €60 in the lower part of the city, where there is also greater availability. Fewer structures and higher costs (from €90) in Upper City. If you want to save money or get more for the same price, the advice is to stay in Lower Bergamo. Upper City with its monuments can be reached in just a few minutes by funicular.

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MONZA (40 KM)

MILAN (50 KM)

LAKE COMO (40 KM)