Stroll along Bergamo's ‘street of the walls’

The Città Alta's imposing walls

Viale delle Mura -- the street of the walls -- is a beautiful tree-lined avenue that runs along the sides of Bergamo’s fortified Città Alta (upper town).

It is interesting to walk around the entire span of the walls that separate the Città Alta from the Città Bassa (lower town) if you have the time.

And as you go along Viale delle Mura you can occasionally pause to sit on one of the benches and enjoy the stunning views over the Città Bassa.

You can join Viale delle Mura after going through Porta Sant’Agostino to enter the Città Alta and walk along the first section enjoying the spectacular views.

If you leave Viale delle Mura and go into the Città Alta at Porta San Giacomo, you can walk up to Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe and then up Via Gombito to Piazza Vecchia.

Or, if you continue to walk along the rest of Viale delle Mura you will reach an area of open space called Colle Aperto near Porta Sant’Alessandro.

From there you can go through Piazza Cittadella and walk down Via Colleoni to reach Piazza Vecchia.

A walk along Viale delle Mura also gives you the opportunity to examine the magnificent 16th century walls at close quarters.

You can’t help but admire the complexity of the construction, which was a monumental achievement by the Venetian occupiers and rulers of Bergamo .

Benches offer a chance to enjoy the views

But records show that many people’s houses were demolished to make way for the walls and dramatic scenes must have taken place while they were being built.

Bergamo already had protective walls that dated back to Roman times, which had been rebuilt and repaired over the centuries. In medieval times the walls were extended and during Venice’s first conquest in the 15th century they were improved still further.

But it was the walls that were built from 1561 onwards and still stand today that visitors marvel at because of their size and grandeur.

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Visitors to Best of Bergamo more than trebled

Best of Bergamo is two years old today. Since we started to collect statistical information the site has had 17,105 visits from 12,309 unique visitors, who have clocked up more than 37,000 page views.
This is more than three times the number of visits and unique visitors recorded at the end of Best of Bergamo's first year.

Bergamo's Piazza Vecchia

Many visitors have emailed the site to express their appreciation for the tourist and travel advice or to ask for supplementary information about Bergamo.

Extracts from Best of Bergamo have been featured on other travel websites, a wine website and a health website and we have had enquiries from people about to relocate to Bergamo as well as from those planning holidays.

There have been visitors from 120 countries and the site has been viewed in many different languages.

A feature by Best of Bergamo Editor Val Culley about how to spend 48 hours in Bergamo has been published in ITALIA!, the UK's top selling magazine on Italy.

Best of Bergamo continues to provide a comprehensive Flights Guide, showing visitors to the website which airlines operate from which country, with flight times and links to individual airline websites.

There isn’t a more comprehensive guide to flights to the renamed Bergamo Caravaggio airport anywhere else on line. For more information visit our Fly to Bergamo page.

Our dedicated Hotel Booking pages continue to give you the low down on the best hotels in Bergamo and the surrounding area. If we have personal experience of staying in a hotel it is badged *Best of Bergamo recommended*.

You can book a hotel anywhere in Bergamo, the rest of Italy or elsewhere through our partner organisations, including Venere.com, and Laterooms.com. You can go straight from our hotel page to the websites of our partner organisations. Either click on Book a Hotel in Bergamo or click on a hotel booking advert anywhere on Best of Bergamo.

We will continue to provide you with up to date information on hotels, restaurants, transport and things to see and do in Bergamo, as well as throughout Lombardia.

Thank you for all your support and we look forward to another exciting year with Best of Bergamo.

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Castle keeps watch over countryside round Bergamo

Not to be missed in Bergamo’s Citta Alta….

CASTELLO SAN VIGILIO

Castello San Vigilio offers spectacular views

Towering above Bergamo, the Castello at San Vigilio symbolises the military importance of the city over the centuries.

Bergamo’s second funicular railway in Largo di Porta Sant’Alessandro will take you up to San Vigilio, from where there are spectacular views over the Città Alta (upper town) and the surrounding hills, which are dotted with old villas and farmhouses.

From the funicular station, turn right and it is a short walk to the Castello, which was built as a defensive fortress with thick walls and four cylindrical towers, from which soldiers could keep watch over the surrounding countryside.

Parts of the Castello date back to
the sixth century

The Castello is thought to date back to the sixth century at least, but it is known to have been reinforced in the 14th and 15th centuries.

From the Castello, there are wonderful views over the surrounding countryside and Bergamo’s Città Alta and Città Bassa below. It is well worth the two and a half minute funicular ride up to San Vigilio for the photographic opportunities alone.

Castello San Vigilio in Via al Castello is open from 09.00 to 20.00 during the summer and from 10.00 to 16.00 during the winter. Tel: +39 035 236284.

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Ornate palace built after Italy became a kingdom

Not to be missed in Bergamo’s Città Bassa…

PALAZZO DELLA PROVINCIA

Palazzo della Provincia

One of the most impressive 19th century buildings in Bergamo’s Città Bassa (lower town) is the Palazzo della Provincia (provincial government building) in Via Torquato Tasso.

If you walk to the end of Via Sentierone and cross Largo Bortolo Belotti, Via Torquato Tasso continues in a straight line until it reaches Piazzetta Santo Spirito.

Bergamo’s seat of provincial government is on the right hand side of Via Tasso at number eight.

The palace was built between 1864 and 1871, the first public work to be carried out in Bergamo after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy.

The offices for the provincial government had previously been in the Città Alta (upper town) in Bernabo Visconti’s castle in Piazza Cittadella.

The new building was designed on a grand scale to house both the offices of the provincial administration and the prefecture of police. On the facade you will notice five carvings depicting significant events and personalities in Bergamo’s history. The final cost of the project was 640,000 lire.

While you are in Bergamo, look out for details of events and exhibitions taking place in Sala Manzù, an exhibition area that has been created inside the palace, named after Bergamo sculptor Giacomo Manzù.

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Largest Lotto masterpiece rises above the altar

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

LA CHIESA DEI SANTI BARTOLOMEO E STEFANO

Church of San Bartolomeo

The Church of the Saints Bartolomeo and Stefano stands at the corner of Via Torquato Tasso and Largo Bortolo Belotti, providing an ornate backdrop to Via Sentierone in the Città Bassa (lower town).

The Church, usually referred to as just San Bartolomeo, was built in the first half of the 17th century on the site of the 13th century convent of the ‘umiliati’. The imposing baroque-style façade was added in 1897.

Inside there are some beautiful 18th century frescoes, but it is difficult not to be drawn straight to the magnificent altarpiece, Madonna with Child and Saints painted in 1513 by Lorenzo Lotto.

The painting is also sometimes referred to as Pala Martinengo as it was commissioned by Alessandro Martinengo Colleoni, the nephew and adopted ‘son’ of the famous condottiero Bartolomeo Colleoni for another church that was later demolished. It had two further homes before being brought to the Church of San Bartolomeo .

The full title of the magnificent work is ‘l’Incoronazione della beata Vergine e la gloria dei Santi’.

Mary is depicted sitting on a throne wearing a red dress with a rich, blue outer garment. She is holding the baby Jesus and is surrounded by ten saints.

Lorenzo Lotto's legacy to Bergamo

Artist Lorenzo Lotto spent 12 of his most creative years living and working in Bergamo and many churches contain altar pieces and paintings of religious subjects produced by him in that period between 1513 and 1525.

The church of Santo Spirito in Piazza di Santo Spirito has an altarpiece by Lotto in one of the chapels featuring the Virgin Mary with child and saints. In the small church of San Bernardino in Via Pignolo there is also an altarpiece depicting the Virgin Mary with child and saints.

Church of Sant'Alessandro in Colonna

If you carry on walking up Via Pignolo towards the Città Alta (upper town) you will come to the area where Lotto lived during his time in Bergamo . His local church, San Michele al Pozzo Bianco (Saint Michael at the white well), is home to another of his most important works, Vita di Maria (history of Mary’s life), which decorates an entire chapel to the left of the altar.

The church of Sant’Alessandro in Colonna in Via Sant’Alessandro houses two works by Lotto, Deposition from the Cross and Virgin Mary and Child.

Lorenzo Lotto did not receive widespread recognition for his brilliance until the middle of the last century but his works are now displayed in galleries in New York and Washington as well as the Uffizi in Florence and the Borghese gallery in Rome.

Born in Venice, Lotto worked in Treviso, Le Marche and Rome before going to live in Bergamo.

He returned to Venice in 1525 where he concentrated mainly on painting portraits, but by 1544 he had become elderly and poor. He went to live in Loreto, where he lived by painting canvases for the Basilica there until he died in 1556.

It is thought that the happiest period of Lotto’s life was spent in Bergamo and his legacy to the city is some of his best works of art, accessible in the churches to be viewed free of charge by visitors.

San Bartolomeo is open daily 08.30 – 12.00; 15.30 – 18.30.

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Historic setting for Hotel Santa Caterina

The small, three star Hotel Santa Caterina is in a good location for walking to either the Città Alta (upper town) or Città Bassa (lower town).

The hotel is in Via Alberico da Rosciate, a small street in the ancient district of Borgo Santa Caterina. It is a short walk from Piazza Carrarra and the famous Accademia Carrarra with its magnificent art collection. From there it is a little further to walk uphill to Porta Sant’Agostino, one of the gates into the Città Alta.

A slightly longer walk downhill would take you to the end of Via Sentierone, which is at the hub of the Città Bassa and a good area for finding restaurants and bars.

Hotel Santa Caterina is smartly furnished in modern style and rooms are painted in bright pastel shades.

A traditional buffet breakfast and wifi internet access are included in the daily room rate.

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Are you thinking of paying a visit to Bergamo, for a weekend break or perhaps a longer stay?

Busy airport makes Bergamo an accessible destination

Apart from its attractions as an Italian city destination, offering the historical appeal of the beautiful medieval Città Alta and the elegantly modern Città Bassa, Bergamo has the advantage of easy access via its thriving airport, situated less than 20 minutes from the city centre.
Bergamo’s recently renamed Caravaggio airport at Orio al Serio has grown to be the fourth busiest airport in Italy, just behind Milan Linate and ahead of Marco Polo airport in Venice. More than seven and a half million passengers use the airport each year.
You can fly directly to Caravaggio -- usually listed in airline schedules as Milan Bergamo -- from 30 countries around Europe and North Africa. Ryanair has developed Bergamo as one of its major hubs and the majority of flights to the airport are operated by the Irish budget carrier.
Visitors to Bergamo from the United Kingdom can fly with Ryanair from Bristol, East Midlands, Liverpool, London Stansted and Manchester.

Fly to Bergamo from 30 countries

In addition to the UK, countries offering direct flights to Bergamo are Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Canary Islands, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.
To help you plan, Best of Bergamo’s Flights Guide -- newly updated -- provides a comprehensive, country-by-country guide to where and when to catch a flight to Bergamo.
Details of flight times were accurate when the guide was being compiled but are subject to change, so remember to check with the airline before making plans. Best of Bergamo's flight booking partner Skyscanner offers a free search and price comparison service.

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