Covered staircase leads to salone

The Palazzo's covered staircase

An interesting architectural feature in the Piazza Vecchia in Bergamo’s Città Alta (upper town) is the covered staircase at the side of the Palazzo della Ragione. 
As was typical in Renaissance Italy, the staircase was built to enable visitors to access the salone superiore (main top floor room) of the palazzo from ground floor level. These days the salone is open to the public for exhibitions and other cultural events.

The staircase and the stone bridge that connects it to the palazzo were added to the original 12th century building in 1453.

Look out for the doorway under the staircase, which gives access to a small shop selling guidebooks, pictures and antiques.

A distinctive feature on the wall to the right, before you turn to walk up the stairs, is a set of stone gargoyles (pictured left) that were taken from a funeral monument in the former San Francesco convent.




Home