Try a taste of Vino Novello 2011 in Bergamo

Vino Novello is on display in many shops

One of the pleasures of visiting Bergamo in the autumn is tasting the new wine, which is available after 6 November.

Light, fruity Vino Novello 2011 has gone on sale in the shops and is being served in bars and restaurants. It is enjoyable to drink and would be a bargain buy to take home with you.

According to the newspaper L’Eco di Bergamo, 20,000 bottles have been produced locally this year, considerably fewer than used to be produced ten years ago.

But il Consorzio Tutela Valcalepio, the consortium for the protection of Valcalepio, Bergamo ’s local wine, is quoted as saying the quality of Vino Novello being produced has improved. Three local wine producers, Tallarini di Gandosso, il Calepino di Castelli Calepio and Locatelli Caffi di Chiuduno have put their Vino Novello on the market this year.

The wines have been described by experts as ‘soft, round, intriguing and velvety’.

Vino Novello is similar in taste, body and colour to the French Beaujolais Nouveau, which is traditionally exported to a number of other countries after its release.

Like Beaujolais Nouveau, Italy ’s new wine should be drunk quickly after the bottle is opened. Unopened bottles should be kept for only a few months.

So if you are lucky enough to get the opportunity to taste Vino Novello while visiting Bergamo , make sure you appreciate it. Salute!

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Hotel Excelsior San Marco -- a Best of Bergamo recommended hotel

Hotel Excelsior San Marco

The handy position of the Hotel Excelsior San Marco makes it a good choice for a short break in Bergamo.

The four star hotel in Piazza Repubblica is close to the station for the funicular railway that runs back and forth between the città bassa (lower town) and the città alta (upper town). It is also near stops for the number 1 bus service that runs between the città alta and the railway station in the città bassa and Bergamo’s renamed Il Caravaggio International Airport at Orio al Serio.

But it is the unique views that make a stay at the hotel a magical experience, as I discovered during a recent visit.

Guests can linger over the generous buffet breakfast served in the first floor restaurant while looking out towards Bergamo’s 450-year-old city walls, the towers and cupolas of the città alta and the mountains in the distance. 

Whether early in the morning when the walled city was softened by mist, or late at night when Porta San Giacomo is lit up in the red, white and green of the tricolore, there was always a marvellous view from the window of my room on the sixth floor.

The Roof Garden Restaurant on the eighth floor -- accessible via a separate entrance next door to the hotel -- also boasts of panoramic views over the citta alta, although it is an expensive option for dinner that I didn't take.

The Hotel Excelsior San Marco is set back from the main street, Via Vittorio Emanuele II, at a comfortable distance from the traffic. Guests have the benefit of smart bars, restaurants and shops nearby in Piazza Repubblica, but Via Sentierone and Porta Nuova in the elegant centre of the città bassa are only a short walk away.

The hotel has 155 rooms, either standard, superior, deluxe or suites, all with satellite television and minibar. There is wi-fi internet connection and also a computer room free for the use of guests. The bar is handily located on the ground floor and there are comfortable settees in the spacious reception area. I found it convenient that the hotel has three lifts so that there was never any time wasted waiting.

The staff were all very helpful, recommending and booking a restaurant and ordering taxis for me during my enjoyable stay.

Book with Venere or http://uk.hotels.com/ho279542/hotel-excelsior-san-marco-bergamo-italy/

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Legacy of Bergamo military leader Bartolomeo Colleoni

The statue of Colleoni in Venice

Bartolomeo Colleoni, who is one of the most famous figures in Bergamo's history, died 536 years ago today.

As you walk round Bergamo you will see a chapel, a street, a bar and a restaurant named after Colleoni, a respected military leader who spent most of his life in the pay of the republic of Venice defending Bergamo against invaders.

He is remembered as one of the most honourable condottieri of his era, carrying out charitable works and agricultural improvements in Bergamo and the surrounding area when he was not involved in a military campaign.

He left money to Venice, with a request that an equestrian statue of himself be erected in Piazza San Marco. The statue was made by Andrea del Verrocchio, but as there was a rule that no monument was allowed in the Piazza San Marco, it was placed opposite the Scuola di San Marco in Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

Towards the end of his life Colleoni turned his attention to designing a building to house his own tomb in the cittá alta, which was to give Bergamo its most ornate and celebrated building, the Cappella Colleoni (Colleoni Chapel)..

He commissioned the architect Antonio Amadeo to design an impressive chapel where he could be buried with all the insignia of a captain of the Venetian republic and the sacristry of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Piazza Duomo had to be demolished to make way for this.

Amadeo designed the Cappella Colleoni to harmonise with Santa Maria Maggiore using pink and white marble to match the colours of the doorway of the basilica.

Inside the chapel he designed an elaborate two tier sarcophagus surmounted by a golden statue of Colleoni on horseback.

Colleoni died on 2 November, 1475 and his body was placed in the lower sarcophagus following his own instructions, where it remains today.


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Chestnuts are healthy as well as tasty

Chestnuts are in season
in Bergamo

It is the chestnut season now in Bergamo and the city and surrounding countryside will have a plentiful supply to be used in a variety of delicious recipes over the next few weeks.

While I was visiting Bergamo last week there was one day of rain and wind which blew a lot of chestnuts down from the trees. The sun returned the next day and dried up all the rain leaving the chestnuts to be picked up by keen connoisseurs of the fruit.

The chestnuts growing wild in the countryside round Bergamo will be harvested in November and many will be roasted on bonfires before being used to make tasty soups, tarts and cakes.

According to the October issue of il Paniere magazine, chestnuts are rich in vitamin B and C and minerals. You will see two varieties, a small sweet one known as la garavina and larger ones, which are referred to as i marroni di selva.

You can eat them raw, cooked, roasted, in cream, in cakes, as marrons glacé (with icing sugar), in foccacia and in chocolate.

If you want to be able to keep them for a while, leave them in water for three days before drying them in the sun.

While I was enjoying an authentic, Neapolitan meal in Trattoria Caprese in Via Daniele Piccinini in the Cittá Bassa last week, the waiter came round and placed a handful of roasted chestnuts on each table, a complimentary side dish reminding us that outside it was actually autumn in Lombardy.

Here is a quick and easy recipe you can make in your own home:

Roast your chestnuts on a baking tray in a hot oven.

Quickly peel them while they are still hot.

Toss them in a dry frying pan over a high heat without using any butter or oil.

Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle the chestnuts with Grappa and sugar.

Mix and then flambé them. The heated spirit will light with a match.

Eat the chestnuts as soon as the flames disappear.

For a kilo of hot, roasted chestnuts you will need about 70 mls of Grappa and three tablespoons of caster sugar.

Buon Appetito!


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Top ten sights in the Città Alta in Bergamo

People often ask what the top ten sights are in Bergamo’s Città Alta (upper town).

Colleoni Chapel

I have put together a list of ten places that visitors to Bergamo really must see. Because the Città Alta is compact and easy to walk around it should be possible to cover them all in one day.

There are so many beautiful, historic buildings in Bergamo that it has been difficult to make my choice and anyone who would like to add to the list is welcome to email me with their suggestions.

Don’t miss:

1 – Colleoni Chapel in Piazza Duomo -  a Renaissance gem that was built to house the tomb of Bartolomeo Colleoni.

2 – Palazzo Terzi in Piazza Terzi – a palace considered to be an important example of baroque architecture.

3 – Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Piazza Duomo – a beautiful church that houses the tomb of opera composer Gaetano Donizetti.

4 – Palazza Ragione in Piazza Vecchia – a 12th century stone palace with an open staircase leading to the top floor.

5 – Museo Donizettiano in Via Arena – a fascinating museum dedicated to the composer that is housed in a beautiful, old palace.

Statues at Palazzo Terzi

6 – Il Campanone in Piazza Vecchia – a 12th century tower that houses the big bell that sounds Bergamo’s nightly curfew.

7 – La Rocca -  a distinctive circular tower originally built as a fortress to protect Bergamo .

9 – Il Tempietto – a tiny church that dates back to the year 1000.

10 – Biblioteca Civica in Piazza Vecchia – a white marble palace housing Bergamo’s civic library.

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Marble palace in Piazza Vecchia

Not to be missed in Bergamo’s Città Bassa…

BIBLIOTECA CIVICA

Biblioteca Civica

The white marble Biblioteca Civica (Angelo Mai Civic Library) is the impressive building at the northern end of Piazza Vecchia. It was originally built as a town hall for Bergamo at the beginning of the 16th century, based on a design by architect Vincenzo Scamozzi.

Also sometimes referred to by the Bergamaschi as Palazzo Nuovo, the building is a striking contrast to the older, grey stone Palazzo della Ragione opposite. It became the home of a library in the 18th century, whose collection of documents, manuscripts and volumes has grown over the years to reach in excess of 500,000 items.

The Biblioteca Civica houses documents dating back to the 12th century, a 15th century copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy, handwritten scores by Gaetano Donizetti and his teacher Simone Mayr and works by Pope John XXIII, who was born Angelo Roncalli in nearby Sotto il Monte.

The facade of the building was finally completed in the 20th century, still following Scamozzi’s original design, and the library was later named after Cardinal Angelo Mai, a famous palaeographer, who was born in Schilpario north of Lago Iseo.

It now provides a tranquil place to study for writers and scholars in Bergamo and is well worth visitors going in to have a look round the interior.  

The Biblioteca’s opening hours vary according to the day of the week and the season, so check first with the Tourist Office in Via Gombito.

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Step inside to see sumptuously decorated interior

Not to be missed in Bergamo’s Città Bassa…

BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE

The basilica entrance on
Via Arena

One of the most important and beautiful churches in Bergamo is the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, which has entrances from both Piazza Duomo and Via Arena in the Città Alta (upper town).

The basilica was built in the 12th century in the shape of a Greek cross but was modified in the 14th and 16th centuries.

It has a large interior with a richly decorated cupola from the 16th century and some fine Flemish and Florentine tapestries and works of art.

At the back of the church is an elaborate white marble monument designed by Vincenzo Vela, marking the tomb of composer Gaetano Donizetti, who was born in Bergamo and returned to die in the city. Nearby there is a monument to his teacher Simon Mayr, who was maestro of the chapel in the basilica.

There is also an elaborately carved wooden confessional designed by Andrea Fantoni in 1704 and an altar rail with wood carvings following designs by Lorenzo Lotto.

The Basilica’s sacristry was demolished in the 15th century to make way for the Colleoni Chapel, which was built on the orders of Bergamo’s wealthy and influential condottiero, Bartolomeo Colleoni, to house his own tomb.

The Colleoni Chapel was designed by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo to harmonise with the architecture of the Basilica and has now come to be acknowledged as one of the finest Renaissance buildings in Italy.

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