Bergamo and its Città Alta

Not to be missed

What to see in Bergamo

1. 1

   The funicular and the Venetian walls

   The funicular has linked Città Bassa and Città Alta since the late 19th century. At the top you can walk along the Venetian walls, more than five kilometres of bastions and monumental gates: they have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017. At sunset, the view over the plain is the finest in the city.

2. 2

   Piazza Vecchia

   One of the most harmonious squares in Italy: Le Corbusier loved it. In the middle stands the Fontana Contarini, a gift from a Venetian podestà (governor); around it, the Palazzo della Ragione, the Palazzo Nuovo with the Biblioteca Angelo Mai, and the Palazzo del Podestà.

   Città Alta

3. 3

   The Palazzo della Ragione and the meridian

   One of the oldest town halls in Italy. Under its arcade, set into the ground, is a large 18th-century meridian: at solar noon a ray of light passes through a hole in the vault and marks the time of year on the marble line.

   Città Alta

4. 4

   The Campanone

   The civic tower, more than fifty metres high, can be climbed for a view over the whole city. Every evening at ten it strikes a hundred times, as it did when it announced the closing of the gates in the walls.

   Città Alta

5. 5

   Santa Maria Maggiore and the Cappella Colleoni

   The Romanesque basilica, founded in the 12th century, is a Baroque riot inside: don't miss the wooden inlays of the choir designed by Lorenzo Lotto and the tomb of Gaetano Donizetti, a native of Bergamo. Next door is the Cappella Colleoni, a masterpiece of the Lombard Renaissance in white and red marble, built by the condottiero Bartolomeo Colleoni as his mausoleum, with frescoes by Tiepolo.

   Piazza Duomo, Città Alta

6. 6

   The Accademia Carrara

   In Città Bassa, at the foot of the hill, one of the finest art galleries in Italy: Raphael, Mantegna, Bellini, Botticelli, Titian, Lotto and the great portraits of Giovan Battista Moroni.

   Piazza Carrara

7. 7

   San Vigilio

   A second funicular climbs from Città Alta to the hill of San Vigilio, with the remains of the castle and an even wider view, as far as the Prealps.

8. 8

   Crespi d'Adda

   Outside the city, on the River Adda, the village built in the late 19th century by the Crespi family around their cotton mill: workers' houses with vegetable gardens, the church, the school, the managers' villas. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the best-preserved examples of a company town.

   Capriate San Gervasio