Renaissance jewel in Bergamo's crown

Not to be missed in Bergamo's Città Alta...

COLLEONI CHAPEL (La Cappella Colleoni)

Colleoni Chapel

Considered to be the jewel in Bergamo’s crown, the Colleoni Chapel has been acclaimed as one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Italy.

The chapel in Piazza Duomo was built by order of military leader Bartolomeo Colleoni to be a fitting home for his own tomb.

There is a story that the wealthy condottiero asked for his tomb to be positioned so that the sun illuminated it when it shone through the circular window.

The chapel was designed by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo and has been likened to a jewel box because of its ornate pink and white marble façade decorated with pillars and statues.

It was built between 1472 and 1476 and designed to harmonise with the architecture of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which stands next to it. Colleoni was so powerful at the time that he had been able to order the demolition of the sacristry of the basilica to make way for his chapel.

Bartolomeo Colleoni was born in Solza, just outside Bergamo in 1400 and began his military career at the age of 15. After Bergamo came under the control of Venice, he was entrusted by the republic with commanding the armies deployed to defend it.

The Chapel glimpsed from
the Piazza Vecchia

In 1456 he acquired a castle at Malpaga to the south of Bergamo and settled down to live peacefully with his wife and eight children and carry out works to benefit the area.

He commissioned the architect Amadeo to design a chapel where he could be buried with the insignia of a captain of the Venetian republic. He died on 2 November 1475 and his body was placed in the sarcophagus inside the chapel where it still lies.

He left money to Venice with a request that a statue of himself be erected in Piazza San Marco. As there was a rule that no monuments were allowed in the Piazza, the statue was placed opposite the Scuola di San Marco in Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

INSIDE THE CHAPEL:

On the right hand side, Colleoni’s body rests in the larger marble sarcophagus, which is decorated with scenes from the life of Christ.

The smaller sarcophagus above was designed for the body of his wife, Thisbe, but it is believed she was not buried there.

Above is a gilded wooden statue representing Colleoni on horseback.

On the back wall is a tomb containing the body of Colleoni’s favourite daughter Medea. This was added much later and her body was reburied there.

There are frescoes above the tombs by Giambattista Tiepolo.

Opening hours: Tues – Sun 9.00 – 12.30/14.00-16.30 (till 18.00 after March). Closed Mondays. Tel +39 035 210061.

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Flights to Bergamo Orio al Serio from the Czech Republic

Visitors can fly to Bergamo from more than 30 departure points around Europe and North Africa.  Bergamo's Orio al Serio airport, the fourth busiest in Italy, is a popular arrival point for visitors to Milan and the Italian Lakes as well as the city of Bergamo itself.

The airport is situated only six kilometres from the centre of Bergamo. A bus service connects the airport terminal with Bergamo's Città Bassa (lower town) and Città Alta (upper town). The journey takes about 15 minutes to Città Bassa, 25 minutes to Città Alta.

Here is Best of Bergamo’s updated schedule guide for services from the Czech Republic, from which Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com) flies four times a week out of Prague and Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) three times a week from Brno.

Flight schedule:

CZECH REPUBLIC

From Prague (Wizz Air)
Until March 23, 2012 -- Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday: 10:50 (No flight December 25).
Flight time: 1hr 25mins.

From Brno (Ryanair)
Until October 28 -- Monday: 15:05; Wednesday: 14:05; Friday 18:25.
From October 31 -- Monday: 10:35; Wednesday: 17:15; Saturday: 19:20 (No flights December 24, 26, 31).
Flight time: 1hr 40mins.

Return to Flights Guide

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Did Shakespeare ever visit Bergamo?

What would Shakespeare have made of Bergamo's walls?

Towards the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream, a play is performed to entertain an important character, the Duke, by a group of craftsmen.

After this play, which is performed within the main play, one of the actors, Bottom the Weaver, asks the Duke: ‘Will it please you to see the epilogue, or to hear a Bergamask dance between two of our company?’

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is believed to have been written by William Shakespeare between 1590 and 1596.

Academics believe Shakespeare never travelled abroad. No records exist of him travelling abroad, no friend ever wrote about travelling with him and no foreigner ever wrote about seeing him abroad.

Some scholars believe he could have obtained all his knowledge about Italy from reading, but others say he must have been to Italy since his geographical knowledge is so good.

Shakespeare obviously knew all about Bergamo’s traditional dance because in the stage directions he writes: ‘Here a dance of CLOWNS.’ He must have known the bergamask dance was associated with clowning or buffoonery.

In his writing Shakespeare also refers to sailmaking in Bergamo . Although it seems unlikely as Bergamo is an inland city, it was apparently correct at the time.

Shakespeare obviously had a fascination with Italy as he chose to set many of his plays there. He knew a lot about the geography and politics of Italy, particularly in the areas around Venice and Verona.

I am sure that he would have been impressed with the Città Alta and its imposing walls, which would have been completed when he was a young man.

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Bergamo airport now dedicated to Caravaggio

Portrait of Caravaggio

Bergamo airport at Orio al Serio has changed its name to the Caravaggio International Airport Bergamo - Orio al Serio.

ENAC (the Italian civil aviation board) has approved the decision by SACBO (the management company of Bergamo airport) to dedicate the airport to the painter Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio.

Bergamo airport, which is often known as Milan Bergamo, is now the fourth busiest airport in Italy and you can fly to it from around 30 different countries.

Michelangelo Merisi became known as Caravaggio because he spent the early years of his life living in the small town of that name just south of Bergamo .

The painter is believed to have been born in Milan in 1571 but his family moved to Caravaggio because of an outbreak of plague.

He returned to train as a painter in Milan but went on to work in Rome , Naples , Malta and Sicily until his death at Porto Ercole in Tuscany in 1610.

Caravaggio became famous for his paintings of churches and palaces that combine a realistic observation of the physical and emotional state of human beings with a dramatic use of lighting. This was a formative influence for the baroque school of painting.

Despite his many artistic successes he had a turbulent personal life. He was thrown into jail on several occasions, once vandalised his own apartment and had a death warrant issued for him by the Pope.

Some of his major works, such as The Calling of St Matthew, The Crucifixion of St Peter and Deposition, can be found in churches in Rome, but his work is also well represented in the Uffizi gallery in Florence.

The town of Caravaggio is also worth visiting to see the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Caravaggio, which was built in the 16th century on the spot where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a humble peasant woman.

The Sanctuary was later rebuilt and completed in the 18th century and is now a grand building visited by pilgrims from all over the world.

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New flight to Bergamo from Manchester in 2012

Orio al Serio is Bergamo's airport

Budget airline Jet2.com is to introduce a new flight to Bergamo from Manchester next year.

Jet2.com, which already operates a service from Leeds-Bradford to Bergamo’s Orio al Serio airport, will add the Manchester route in May.   Initially, plans are to fly to Bergamo once per week.

Ian Doubtfire, managing director of Jet2.com, said: “We are delighted to announce more new routes for our customers in the north west.

“Bergamo gives people easy access to the beautiful Italian Lakes, including the stunning Lake Garda.“

Jet2.com currently flies to 35 destinations from Manchester and carried more than a million passengers in 2010, an increase of 20 per cent on 2009.   The airline is predicting similar growth in 2011 to 1.2m passengers.

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Perfect pizza at Trattoria Bernabò

Trattoria Bernabò

A good place for pizza in the Città Alta in Bergamo is the Trattoria Bernabò in Piazza Mascheroni.

This smart restaurant is on the corner of the square where it joins the top of Via Colleoni and is a handy place to stop for either lunch or dinner.

The restaurant offers a list of 18 different pizze with prices starting from €6.50.

We called in towards the end of the lunch period and just ordered pizza as we did not want a big meal, but we were made very welcome and were served with complimentary antipasti while our excellent pizze were cooked to order.

We ate in style in the panelled dining room and ordered a bottle of Valcalepio Bianco from the extensive wine list.

On a return visit we will definitely try the menu alla carta, which offers some unusual antipasti, primi piatti, fish and meat dishes as well as Bergamo specialities.

To look at the menu or for more information visit www.ristorantebernabo.it

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Fly to Bergamo from the Canary Islands

Bergamo's Orio al Serio airport

Visitors can fly to Bergamo from more than 30 departure points around Europe and North Africa.  Bergamo's Orio al Serio airport, the fourth busiest in Italy, is a popular arrival point for visitors to Milan and the Italian Lakes as well as the city of Bergamo itself.

The airport is situated only six kilometres from the centre of Bergamo. A bus service connects the airport terminal with Bergamo's Città Bassa (lower town) and Città Alta (upper town). The journey takes about 15 minutes to Città Bassa, 25 minutes to Città Alta.

Here is Best of Bergamo’s updated schedule guide for services from the Canary Islands, operated by Ryanair (www.ryanair.com), who fly from Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife.

Flight schedule:

CANARY ISLANDS

Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) operates twice-weekly services from Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife Sud.

From Fuerteventura
Until October 29 -- Tuesday: 18:15; Thursday (August 4-25): 11:25; Saturday: 11:15.
Flight time: 4hrs 5mins.

From Gran Canaria
Until October 27 -- Monday: 07:10; Thursday: 06:10.
Flight time: 4hrs 15mins.

From Lanzarote
Until October 26 -- Sunday: 16:55; Wednesday: 17:35.
Flight time: 4hrs 25mins.

From Tenerife Sud
Until October 29 -- Monday: 18:25; Saturday: 10:50.
Flight time: 4hrs 30mins.

(return to Flights Guide)

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