Bergamo

Bergamo is an Italian town of 119 476 inhabitants, the capital of the province of the same name in Lombardy. The town of Bergamo is divided into two distinct parts, the "Lower City" and the "Upper City"; the latter is located at a higher altitude and hosts the majority of the most significant monuments, while the Lower Town - although it is also of ancient origin and retains its historic nuclei - has been partly made more modern by some urbanization interventions . The two portions of the town are separated by the Venetian walls, which have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017.

Bergamo is nicknamed "the city of the Thousand" because of the large number of volunteers from Bergamo - about 180 - who took part in the expedition of the Thousand led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, a crucial episode of the Risorgimento.

 

How to orient yourself

Bergamo Alta (also called "Città Alta", as opposed to the lower "villages") is a medieval city, surrounded by ramparts erected in the 16th century, during the Venetian domination, which were added to the pre-existing fortifications in order to make it an impregnable fortress.

The best known and most popular part of Upper Bergamo is Piazza Vecchia, with the Contarini fountain, the Palazzo della Ragione, the civic tower (called the Campanone), and other buildings that surround it on all sides. Imposing, on the opposite side of the Palazzo della Ragione, is the large white building of the Palazzo Nuovo, which houses the Angelo Mai civic library.

You can go up to the Upper Town on foot through the scorlazzini (stairways), by car (although it is forbidden during the summer weekends and all year round on Sunday afternoons), by funicular or by bus. For further information, contact the tourist offices in Bergamo.
I.A.T. Lower Bergamo, Piazzale Marconi, ☎ +39 035 210204, turismo1@comune.bg.it.
I.A.T. Upper Bergamo, Via Gombito 13, ☎ +39 035 242226, turismo@comune.bg.it.

A tourist map of the city is available on the Bergamo tourism website.

 

Neighborhoods

Borgo Santa Caterina. It has been included among the most beautiful villages in Italy since 2019.

 

How to get here

By plane
The closest airport to Bergamo is:
Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport (IATA: BGY) – Located in the municipality of Orio al Serio, many low-cost flights operated by the Irish airline Ryanair are available from this airport.
Milan-Malpensa (IATA: MXP) — About 50 km north of Milan, in the province of Varese and near the city of Gallarate. It is the second Italian hub after Rome Fiumicino.
Milan-Linate (IATA: LIN) — About 5 km east of the city center. It is 4th in the Italian ranking in terms of traffic.

By car
Bergamo has an exit from the A4 motorway. This exit connects the motorway with Orio Al Serio Airport, approximately 2 km from the A4 exit.

Parking lots
Piazza Libertà car park, ☎ +39 035 230648.
Centro car park, Via Borfuro 4, ☎ +39 035 219716.

On the train
Bergamo station, Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 7, ☎ +39 035 247950. From here it is possible to reach Milan, Lecco and Brescia. For information on timetables and prices, consult the Trenitalia website. To the left of the station exit is the luggage storage.
Bergamo Hospital Station.

By bus
Bus station, Piazzale Marconi (100 meters from the train station).
For information on lines passing through Bergamo, consult the website moving in Lombardy.

Alternatively, with Flixbus you can find coaches with departures from all over Italy to Bergamo Center and the Bergamo-Orio al Serio international airport.

 

Transport

It is possible to reach the Upper Town on foot via the "scorlazzini" (stairways that connect it to the lower part of the city from several points), by car (although it is prohibited during the summer weekends and all year round on Sunday afternoons), by funicular, taxis or by bus, perhaps the best way ever. To reach the hill of San Vigilio it is possible to take the second line of the city funicular which from Porta Sant'Alessandro leads to the ancient medieval castle. The fare to visit the Upper and Lower Towns is €1.30 (Zone A-Centre). ATB tickets are easily available at newsstands, funicular stations and tobacconists. To move around the Lower Town, the most useful means is always the bus, since its terminus is the TEB railway and tram station. To reach the valleys, you can opt for the latter option by taking the T1 tramway line that connects Bergamo to Albino, in the middle of the Seriana Valley, with a journey of 12 km, covered in half an hour.

Lower town funicular (Fun. line "c").
San Vigilio funicular (fsv line).

Taxi
taxi Radiotaxi Bergamo, ☎ +39 0350 4519090.

By bike
La BiGi bike sharing cycle path (register on the Nextbike website and download the nextbike app). 1 euro for the first 30 minutes of use, 1 euro for the following 30 minutes and 4 euro for the time after this first hour.

On a scooter
Reby, parked throughout the city in free floating (Download the Reby app in the Appstore or Playstore). €0.95 to unlock, €0.14 per minute when traveling and €0.05 when pausing. Scooter and bike rental. Service prohibited on the streets of the historic center of Città Alta.

 

Sights

The historic center of Bergamo, still entirely surrounded by the Venetian walls, looks like a medieval city. There are numerous monuments of that era, among which the Civic Tower, the Palazzo della Ragione and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore stand out, a splendid example of late Lombard Romanesque architecture. There are also notable testimonies of later periods: the Gothic baptistery by Giovanni da Campione, the Renaissance Cathedral of Bergamo and above all the fifteenth-century Colleoni Chapel, by the architect Giovanni Antonio Amadeo. The numerous historical-artistic testimonies combined with a scarcely altered urban layout make Bergamo one of the main Lombard cities of art.

To visit Borgo Santa Caterina, district of the city, among the most beautiful villages in Italy since 2019.

 

High City

Bergamo Alta is a medieval city, surrounded by ramparts erected in the 16th century, during the Venetian domination, which were added to the pre-existing fortifications in order to make it an impregnable fortress. The Upper Town is part of the Third District of the Municipality of Bergamo. The Third Circumscription, of which this quarter also belongs, includes the quartie

 

Venetian walls

Porta Sant'Agostino - It is an entrance gate to the city; it is located just after the top of a stairway that begins near the Accademia Carrara. It is portrayed by a Lion holding the Gospel of San Marco in his hand: it is a symbol that refers to the period of Venetian domination.
Porta Sant'Alessandro - It is one of the four gates that access the upper part of the city of Bergamo, and faces west; it took its name from the basilica of Sant'Alessandro, destroyed for the construction of the Venetian walls in 1561.
Porta San Giacomo - Another gateway to the city, also depicted by the Lion of St. Mark.
Porta San Lorenzo - In ancient times called "Porta San Lorenzo", it was made out to Garibaldi, who entered the city through this very gate.

 

Old square

The big bell (civic tower). April-October Saturdays and holidays 9.30-21.30, Tue-Ver 9.30-19, rest of the year Saturdays and holidays 9.30-16.30. Which still today at 10 pm strikes 100 shots - the ones that in the past announced the night closing of the gates of the Venetian walls.
Contarini Fountain. It was built by the podestà Alvise Contarini in 1780 to decorate Piazza Vecchia, which is located between the Palazzo della Ragione and the Palazzo Nuovo. It is in Zandobbio marble, has an octagonal base and is surrounded by figures such as sphinxes, snakes and lions.
Duomo (Cathedral of Sant'Alessandro). It is one of two surviving cathedrals that once existed in the city, dedicated to St. Alexander of Bergamo. This cathedral was originally dedicated to St. Vincent, but once the Venetians demolished the original St. Alexander Cathedral, the dioceses united under the name of St. Alexander. The cathedral has a classic Latin cross plan and has undergone numerous renovations and renovations, the latest of which is the addition of the 19th-century neoclassical facade.
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Piazza Duomo. Remembered for its beautiful north and south side portals by Giovanni da Campione. Also noteworthy are the inlays depicting biblical scenes made of wood of various colors, whose designs are attributed to Lorenzo Lotto, and an imposing Baroque confessional sculpted by Andrea Fantoni. The church houses the tomb of the famous Bergamo composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848).
Colleoni Chapel, Piazza del Duomo. Free Entrance. March-October: 9.30-12.30 and 14.00-18.00. November-February: 9.30-12.30 and 14.00-16.30. Closed on Mondays. Designed by the architect Giovanni Antonio Amadeo in the Renaissance period, it contains the funeral monuments and the remains of the leader Bartolomeo Colleoni and his daughter Medea, who died at the age of 14 in 1470.
Palace of Reason. On the floor of the portico it is possible to admire a marble sundial from 1798, which marked the time based on the lighting.
Baptistery, Piazza Duomo. Built by Giovanni da Campione in the 14th century.
Teatro Sociale, Via Colleoni 4. Inaugurated on 26 December 1808 with the name of Teatro della Società, it is the venue for important cultural events.
New Palace. Which houses the vast Angelo Mai Library, which collects, in addition to modern texts, several incunabula, sixteenth-century books and scores.
Sala Alfredo Piatti, Via S. Salvatore 11. It is a room named after the famous cello virtuoso and composer from Bergamo, Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901). It, full of frescoes on the ceiling, is the place of various musical events.

 

Citadel Square

Civic Archaeological Museum, Piazza Cittadella, 9. The museum was founded in 1561 and housed in the loggia under the Palazzo della Ragione. It consists of several sections: prehistoric, Egyptian, Roman, early Christian and Lombard.
"Enrico Caffi" Museum of Natural Sciences, Piazza Cittadella, 10. Admission free. It is a museum with interactive sections, full of stuffed animals, fossil remains and much more. Shortly after the entrance it is possible to observe the imposing reconstruction of a mammoth.

 

Other general places of interest

Via Colleoni. Also known as Corsaröla, it connects Piazza Vecchia to Piazza della Cittadella and is the heart of the upper town.
Fontana del Lantro, Via Boccola, at the church of San Lorenzo, ☎ +39 035 242226. open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 to 12:30, and from 14:30 to 18:30. It is also necessary to wear special non-slip footwear. Dating back to around the year 1000, it consists of two tanks: the smaller one in an elevated position, and the main one with a square base and a capacity of 400 cubic metres.
Conservatorio di Studi Musicali Gaetano Donizetti, Via Don Luigi Palazzolo, 88. It is the conservatory of Bergamo, founded in the early years by the German musician Giovanni Simone Mayr (1763-1845), to give charitable lessons. It was there that Donizetti received his musical instruction from Mayr.
Church of San Michele al Pozzo Bianco. It preserves the frescoes with Scenes from the life of Maria by Lorenzo Lotto (1525).
Lorenzo Rota botanical garden, via Colle Aperto. It is a peaceful corner surrounded by greenery where you can go for walks. It is embellished by a pond with water lilies.
Church of Sant'Alessandro in Colonna, via S. Alessandro, 50. It was built in very ancient times in the popular district of San Leonardo; in the early eighteenth century it took on the form it has today. Tradition has it that it was built near the place where the martyrdom took place. It has a bell tower 80 meters high, built in recent times. Inside there are numerous works of art, including a "Lamentation" by Lorenzo Lotto, and a fine Serassi organ from the late eighteenth century, with 3800 pipes.
Birthplace of Gaetano Donizetti, via Borgo Canale, 14. admission free. Concerts are occasionally held on the top floor.
Sculpture Park, Via Torquato Tasso, 8. Located in the garden of the Palazzo della Provincia, it houses modern-style statues by the Bergamo sculptor Giacomo Manzù (1908-1991) and other local artists.
Monument to the Partisan, Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII° - Piazza Matteotti. Work by Giacomo Manzù from 1977 which represents a woman mourning the corpse of a partisan, hanging upside down. Its sublimity leads us to reflect on the meaning of war.
Obelisk to Napoleon, Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Initially dedicated to Alvise Contarini, after the passage of the Napoleonic troops it was made out to Napoleon.
Tower of the Fallen. It was built by Piacentini in 1924, in homage to those from Bergamo who died in the First World War.
Church of San Bartolomeo (church of Saints Bartolomeo and Stefano), Largo Bortolo Belotti. Inside it has the famous Pala Martinengo by Lorenzo Lotto from around 1513, with the curious rebus painted in the upper part, which the tourist is invited to decipher.

 

Other museums

Accademia Carrara, Piazza Giacomo Carrara, 82. The Accademia Carrara preserves a rich heritage of works of art, especially paintings from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century.
GAMeC (Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art), Via San Tomaso, 53, ☎ +39 035 270272. The museum collects sculptures, paintings and drawings by Italian and foreign artists of the twentieth century.
Adriano Bernareggi Museum (Museo Diocesano Adriano Bernareggi), Via Pignolo, 76, ☎ +39 035 278151. The museum houses works of art from the Bernareggi collection and from the diocesan heritage. Inside are the Trinity by Lorenzo Lotto and the Baptism of Christ by Giovanni Battista Moroni.

 

Events and parties

Bergamo film meeting, Via Borgo Santa Caterina, 19, ☎ +39 035 363087, info@bergamofilmmeeting.it. In March. Film festival with works in competition and numerous collateral events.
BergamoScienza, Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII 57, ☎ +39 035 19911516, info@bergamoscienza.it. in October of each year. Scientific festival.

 

What to do

Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia (Gewiss Stadium), Viale Giulio Cesare, 18. Since 1928, the stadium has hosted Atalanta's home matches.
Tourist trains for Lake Iseo. For railway enthusiasts, there are a few steam train rides that depart from Bergamo station.
Parco dei Colli di Bergamo, Via Valmarina 25, ☎ +39 035 4530401. Excursions on foot and by mountain bike in the third regional park after those of Ticino and Groane.

 

Shopping

Via Gombito. It is located in the old city. A cozy street full of shops selling cakes, sweets and souvenirs.
Via Colleoni. In the upper town, shops with excellent Italian wines and cheeses.
Porta Nuova, Largo Porta Nuova. A large commercial area in Bergamo with internationally renowned shops.

 

How to have fun

Shows
Teatro Gaetano Donizetti, Piazza Cavour, 15. Inaugurated on 24 August 1791, it is dedicated to the great master from Bergamo.
Teatro Sociale, Via Colleoni 4. Inaugurated in 1808, after decades of neglect, the theater was renovated in 2009 and reopened to the public.

Night clubs
Beer Garage, Via Borgo Santa Caterina 36, ☎ +39 349 7921314. Small pub dedicated to craft and quality beers.

 

Where to eat

Typical dishes of Bergamo cuisine: Polenta taragna, margottini, casoncelli, foiade from Bergamo, scarpinocc, cassoeula, pork knuckle, Taleggio cheese, Donizetti cake, polenta e osei (sweet).

Average prices
In the Upper Town
1 Da Franco pizzeria restaurant, Via Bartolomeo Colleoni, 8, ☎ +39 035 238565. Pleasant place, with well-made traditional dishes from Bergamo; well-kept and quiet environment, in the center of the upper city. Excellent value for money.
2 La Tana Restaurant, Via San Lorenzo 25, ☎ +39 035 213137. Traditional restaurant with a selected cellar.
3 Toasteria with kitchen Al Gombito, Via Gombito, 8, ☎ +39 035 060 3672. Fast service, normal prices. Homemade beers.
4 Trattoria Da Ornella, Via Gombito, 15, ☎ +39 035 232736. Typical Bergamo products including polenta and casoncelli.
5 Al Donizetti, Via Gombito, 17a, ☎ +39 035 242661. Tables located under a large open-air kiosk in the historic centre. Good cuisine and excellent wines.
6 Sant'Ambroeus, Piazza Vecchia, 2, ☎ +39 035 220545. Classic dishes from Northern Italy and tasting menus of traditional dishes from Bergamo.
7 Il Circolino, Vicolo S. Angata 19, ☎ +39 035 218568. Historic restaurant located in an ancient convent. Restaurant and pizzeria.
8 Da Mimmo, Via Colleoni 17, ☎ +39 035 218535. More than just a pizzeria. Worth a visit for the quality of food and service.

In the Lower Town
9 Osteria Tre Gobbi, Via Broseta 20c (in the pedestrian area), ☎ +39 035 243405. Excellent food and good service.
10 ARTI, Via A. Previtali 5/7, ☎ +39 035252020, info@ristorantearti.com. Family-run restaurant with regional meat and fish dishes, impressive wine list.

 

Where stay

Modest prices
1 Bergamo Camper Area, Via Corridoni, 123, ☎ +39 035 342468, info@areacamperbergamo.it. Rest area equipped with services to accommodate campers.
2 B&B Fragolino, Via B. Bono 25, ☎ +39 334 9038874. Modern and comfortable rooms, courtyard, Wi-Fi, flat screen and Playstation.

Average prices
3 Il Sole Hotel Restaurant, Via Colleoni 1 (in Città Alta, on the corner of Piazza Vecchia and Via Colleoni), ☏ +39 035 218238, info@ilsolebergamo.com. Excellent value for money.
4 TaiObe Romantic Chalet Relax, Via Belvedere 24 (20 minutes from Orio al Serio), ☎ +39 335 5372827, info@taiobe.it. 40/70€. Check-in: 16:00-23:00, check-out: 8:00-12:00. Comfortable independent rustic two-room apartment, completely renovated, immersed in a fairy-tale farmhouse hill, where silence and relaxation reign undisturbed. Excellent on-site restaurant, close to renowned spa.
5 Casa Marianna, via Donizetti 21, ☎ +39 035 225375. Clean and cared for by the owners.

High prices
6 Best Western Cappello D'Oro, Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII 12, ☎ +39 035 4222711, fax: +39 035 248241. Located in an excellent position. Good quality of services.
7 Mercure Palazzo Dolci, Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII 100 (next to the station), ☎ +39 035 227411. Very welcoming hotel near the station. Good international breakfast and large, clean rooms.

 

Safety

Fourth least safe city in Lombardy, below the national average (4,699 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants). Pay attention to the station area or in via Quarenghi.

Single European emergency number, ☎ 112.
carabinieri 14 Carabinieri Città Alta, Piazza della Cittadella 2, ☎ +39 035 225669.
State Police, Via Noli 26, ☎ +39 035 276111.
Local Police, Via Coghetti 10, ☎ + 39 035 399559.
Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital, Piazza OMS 1, ☎ +35 035 267111.
Piazzoli Pharmacy, Via Gombito 10 (In the Upper Town), ☎ +39 035 210261.
Guidetti Pharmacy, Via S. Giacomo, 2 (In the Upper Town), ☎ +39 035 237220.

 

How to keep in touch

Post
Post Office Bergamo Centro, Via Locatelli 11, ☎ +39 035 4532302, fax: +39 035 4532206.

Telephony
Since June 2022 Bergamo has the 5G of all Italian operators.

Internet
Bergamo Wi-Fi. With 62 access points in the city.

Stay informed
If you want to keep yourself informed about events in Bergamo and its surroundings, you can consult this portal: Bergamo Events.
To be informed about news in Bergamo and its surroundings: Eco di Bergamo or Prima Bergamo.
You can also follow local radios via streaming such as Radio Bergamo or Radio Alta.

 

Around

Val Brembana - Alpine valley famous for the beauty of its landscapes and for San Pellegrino Terme, a liberty-style town famous for the production of the homonymous mineral water.
Val Vertova - It is considered one of the most evocative and naturalistically significant places in the entire Province of Bergamo.
Pontida
Endine lake.
Lake Iseo.
Crespi d'Adda, UNESCO heritage.

 

Itineraries

Bergamo is part of the Strada del Vino e dei Sapori della Valcalepio, a route of food and wine tourism promotion, about 100 kilometers long and recognized by the Lombardy Region, which winds through the province of Bergamo over an area of 94 municipalities, touching among these: Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII, Capriate San Gervasio, Pontida, Almenno San Salvatore, Alzano Lombardo, Trescore Balneario, San Paolo d'Argon, Grumello del Monte, Castelli Calepio and Sarnico.
Via Carolingia — European itinerary that crosses the places traveled by the court of Charlemagne between the eighth and ninth centuries to go from Aachen to Rome, where Pope Leo III crowned the Carolingian sovereign emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on Christmas night in the 19th century .
Foliage in Lombardy — In autumn, in search of the dazzling and spectacular phenomenon of "foliage".
Via delle Sorelle — To further enhance the cultural and naturalistic heritage of the territory and the provinces of Brescia and Bergamo.

 

Etymology of the toponym

In classical Latin the toponym is attested as Bergomum, while in late Latin Bergame. The toponym in the local Bergamo dialect of the Lombard language is instead Bèrghem. There are various hypotheses put forward to trace the origin of the name of the city.

The Bergamo historian and politician Bortolo Belotti compared the toponym to previous Celtic and pre-Celtic names, from which Bèrghem would derive, of which Bergomum would then only be the Latinisation; the word berg in Celtic means a protection, fortification or abode. In the writings of the Latinisation period under Roman rule, the toponym Bergomum is explicitly associated with Bergimus, the Celtic god of mountains or dwellings. The linguist and historian from Bergamo Antonio Tiraboschi has instead supported a derivation of the toponym from the Germanic. It should be noted that the Bergamo toponym is similar to toponyms in various Germanic-speaking countries, such as various localities called Berghem or Berchem in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, numerous localities called Bergheim in Germany, Austria and Great East of France, and various Berg (h)em in Scandinavia; in modern German Berg means "mountain", and Heim means "dwelling", as well as in Swedish berg+hem, in English berg(obsolete)+home, and so on in other Germanic languages. However, the hypothesis of a Germanic derivation of "Bergamo" (which would therefore derive from the Germanic *berga(z) "mount" and *haima(z), i.e. "dwelling", "village" or "world") clashes with the 'absence of documents regarding Germanic settlements in the area prior to the settlement of the Lombards who settled in the northern part of the Italian peninsula after the collapse of the Roman empire.

A more general but always Indo-European origin of the name has also been proposed, comparing the toponym to the Greek Πέργαμον (Pérgamon) "citadel, fortress" (in reference to fortresses on top of a hill), but also to ancient Ligurian names such as Bergima, localities in the surroundings of Marseilles, always however deriving from a common Indo-European root *bherg, "high".

 

Physical geography

Bergamo is located in the foothills, where the high plain gives way to the last hills of the Bergamo pre-Alps, halfway between the Brembo and Serio rivers. The ancient core of the city was founded right on the hills. The seismic classification of the city is zone 3 (low seismicity).

 

Hydrography

The main waterway of the city is the Morla stream which flows with a sinusoidal trend and for long stretches buried under roads and parking lots, following the imposing overbuilding work to which the city was subjected in the second half of the 20th century. century. Among its tributaries there is the Tremana, also almost totally canalized, which arises from the Maresana and swells with water only occasionally after heavy rains.

In addition, the city is crossed longitudinally by a system of canals that carry the waters of the river Serio for irrigation purposes and, once upon a time, to operate mills and spinning wheels. Among the main ones are the Roggia Serio and the Roggia Morlana, but noteworthy are the Roggia Guidana, the Roggia Nuova, the Roggia Curna and the Roggia Colleonesca.

 

Terrain

The Canto Alto is the first mountain of the Bergamasque Prealps that rises close to the city; it is located in the Sorisole area, and was a safe haven for the population during the world wars.

The Upper Town also rests on a system of seven hills, extreme offshoots of the Orobie pre-Alps themselves before the plain: Colle Aperto, Colle San Giovanni, Colle San Salvatore, Colle di Rosate, Colle di Gromo, Colle Santa Eufemia and Colle San Michele del Pozzo .

 

Climate

Bergamo, according to the classification of the Köppen climates, enjoys a typically temperate climate of the middle latitudes (Cfa), rainy or generally humid in all seasons with very hot summers and severe winters typical of the areas at the foot of the mountains. Its proximity to Lake Iseo significantly affects winter temperatures which are decidedly higher than the average of the Po Valley; these factors also make it possible to avoid the persistent winter fog and summer heat phenomena that characterize nearby Milan. The favorable and rather mild climate has also positively influenced the production of wine and oil, and the diffusion of some species typical of the Mediterranean climate.

Average annual rainfall is higher than 1 165 mm, distributed on average over 97 days and has a summer and autumn peak and a relative minimum in winter. They are concentrated in the periods between March and May and between October and late November.

Winter is generally between mid-November and mid-March, and is characterized by a very low percentage of rainfall compared to the Italian average, while summer is from the end of May to mid-September, and is characterized by storm phenomena especially towards the end of season.

The presence of snow is very discontinuous, generally arriving every winter but in discrete quantities. The causes are of various types such as the minimum too low or too high and rainfall that is usually concentrated further north-west of the city.

On the basis of the thirty-year average of reference 1981-2010, the average temperature of the coldest month, January, is +3.1 ° C; that of the hottest month, July, is +23.8 ° C.

 

History

The first occupation is that of the Ligurians and the Celts (Gauls), more precisely the Orobi, followed by that of the Cenomani and Senoni. In Latin it is the city known as Bergomum. Gallia Transpadana was then annexed to the expanding Roman Republic, and from 49 B.C. Bergomum also becomes a Roman municipality. The Romans rebuilt the center according to the cardo-decumanus axes.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Bergomum was repeatedly sacked, until the arrival of the Lombards in 569, who established a duchy there. Overthrown in 774 by the Franks with the incorporation of the Lombard Kingdom into the Carolingian Empire, the city was governed by a series of bishops-counts. In this period the following powerful Lombard families flourished in Bergamo: Suardi, Colleoni, Crotti, Rivola, Mozzi, Martinengo. In 904 King Arnolfo gave Bishop Adalberto full political and civil jurisdiction over the city, and these were years of improvements and renovations, but in 1098 the bishop's jurisdiction was deposed after a controversy over the investitures. Since 1098 Bergamo has been a free municipality, and after a couple of wars against Brescia it joined the Lombard League against the emperor Federico Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire of the Germans. Starting from the 13th century, in the context of the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, Bergamo fell under the influence of the Visconti of Milan, who fortified the Citadel.

From 1428 Bergamo became part of the domains of the Republic of Venice. The Venetians rebuild the old city, erecting mighty defensive walls. The Venetian dominion continued until the Napoleonic era when, after the brief experience of the Bergamo Republic, the Cisalpine Republic and the Kingdom of Italy, with the Restoration Bergamo fell into the Austrian sphere under the Lombardo-Veneto Kingdom. The Austrians are the proponents of the first industrialization of the Bergamo area, with the establishment of textile factories. Bergamo takes part in the Risorgimento providing a good part of the Thousand. Giuseppe Garibaldi himself enters the city, with his Cacciatori delle Alpi, on 8 June 1859. Since 1860 Bergamo has been part of the Kingdom, and then of the Italian Republic.

The city was spared from devastation during the Second World War; it was lucky not to suffer any bombing (except in the nearby industrial area of Dalmine).

In 1958 Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, born in Sotto il Monte, was elected to the papal throne assuming the name of Pope John XXIII.

Since 9 July 2017, the Venetian walls of Bergamo have become part of UNESCO, as a World Heritage Site, in the transnational serial site "Venetian defense works between the 16th and 17th centuries: State from Earth-Western Sea State". In October of the same year, the 43rd G7 summit on agriculture was held in Bergamo as part of the larger international meeting organized in Taormina. The "Bergamo Charter", an international commitment signed during the summit, aims to reduce world hunger by 2030, strengthen cooperation for agricultural development in Africa and ensure price transparency.

In 2020, during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Bergamo and its province sadly attracted the attention of the world news as one of the Italian and European territories epicenter of the contagion. Images of the long line of Army trucks carrying the coffins of COVID-19 victims out of the city received worldwide exposure.