Hotel Excelsior San Marco
Bergamo - Piazzale della Repubblica 6
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Perfect for a weekend getaway or as a stop on a journey through Lombardy, Bergamo is a town that has preserved a splendid historical and architectural heritage. The city is also known as the “City of the Thousand” for the large number of Bergamese citizens who enlisted in the famous Expedition of the Thousand undertaken by Giuseppe Garibaldi.
The city’s origins are ancient, but it was the Romans who first shaped its historic centre through the construction of an urban nucleus that followed the typical layout of towns with their cardo and decumano axes. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was plundered and then conquered first by the Lombards and later by the Franks. In the 15th century, Bergamo became part of the territories of the Venetian Republic and the old town was not only reorganised but also surrounded by a powerful defensive wall.
The city’s history is then linked to that of northern Italy, which saw the alternation of Austrian rule with French rule until these territories became part of the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom. It was during these years that the Austrians identified Bergamo as the ideal location for the first textile factories that would be protagonists in the city’s first phase of industrialisation.
Today Bergamo presents itself as a fascinating town composed of two different parts: the “Lower City” and the “Upper City”, which are divided by the Venetian walls, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.
The most interesting sites and significant monuments are found in the so-called “Upper Bergamo”, which occupies an elevated position. “Lower Bergamo”, on the other hand, is the part of the city that currently hosts the town hall, the Prefecture and the headquarters of the Province. This is a more recent area of the city and all the buildings here are located in the central district created in the 20th century by Marcello Piacentini.
The two zones of the city are connected via a series of stairways known as “the scorlazzini” or by a truly panoramic funicular railway. The main street in Bergamo, instead, is the famous “Sentierone”, a boulevard that was once a station for horse-drawn carriages. Here you will now find the Gaetano Donizetti Theatre, several churches and numerous shops.
The heart of Upper Bergamo is Piazza Vecchia, which hosts the Contarini Fountain, the Palazzo della Ragione, the Civic Tower, the Palazzo Nuovo where the Angelo Mai civic library is located, and the porticos featuring numerous cafés. Hermann Hesse, who visited Bergamo in 1913, described Piazza Vecchia as “the most beautiful corner of Italy.”
The Contarini Fountain, in particular, was commissioned in the 18th century by Alvise Contarini, Venetian podestà, who wanted not only to beautify the square but also to provide the Bergamese with a means to bring water up to the Upper City. The fountain was built in Zandobbio marble and has an octagonal shape with sphinxes and four lions, symbols of Venice.
The Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo was built towards the end of the 12th century and is therefore considered the oldest municipal palace in Italy. Around the 15th century, during Venetian rule, the building changed from a municipal seat to a place where justice was administered, hence the name “Palazzo della Ragione” (Palace of Reason). The palace was destroyed several times and owes its current appearance to reconstruction work carried out in the 16th century. The ground floor is open on three sides and boasts a portico with a loggia where there is a small “square” that divides Piazza Vecchia, symbol of political power, from Piazza del Duomo, emblem of religious power.
Also not to be missed is the “gnomone”, or a sundial built over 200 years ago by abbot Giovanni Albrici. Here the sun’s rays strike a meridian line engraved on the floor that still accurately marks local noon and the date. Under the palace’s portico, moreover, you will find access to an archaeological area that allows you to learn more about the various stages of the history of these territories from the early Christian period onwards.
The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the most famous religious monument in the city of Bergamo. In the 12th century, the plague was raging throughout Europe and the Bergamese decided to make a vow to the Madonna: if they were preserved from the plague, they would build a church as an offering of thanks to Mary. So, because the city was saved, in 1137 the citizens kept their vow and began the construction of the church.
A very particular detail lies in the absence of a central entrance, as all the entrance doors are lateral. The church appears externally in Romanesque style, whilst inside it boasts elegant baroque decorations and a Romanesque layout in the form of a Greek cross with three naves divided by pillars. Inside Santa Maria Maggiore, you can admire a marvellous ceiling decorated in gold, numerous frescoes and the funeral monument to Gaetano Donizetti, a famous composer originally from Bergamo.
The Civic Tower (also known as the Campanone) was originally built between the 11th and 12th centuries as a residence of the Suardi family, one of the most important noble families belonging to the Ghibelline faction. The building underwent various expansion and restructuring works so that from its initial 37 metres it reached a height of 59 metres.
From the Tower you can currently admire a magnificent panorama of the entire city and the surrounding plain. The nickname “Campanone” derives from the fact that the Tower houses three bells inside it, and the largest of these is known as the Campanone because of its enormous size. Next to the tower you will find the Palazzo del Podestà, which currently houses a multimedia museum about the city’s history.
Near the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore stands the Colleoni Chapel, one of the most majestic buildings in Bergamo, which was built between 1470 and 1476 by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo. The façade is considered a masterpiece of Italian Renaissance and is decorated with red and white marble.
Inside, instead, you will find the sarcophagus and the gilded wooden equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, along with the funeral monument of Medea, Colleoni’s daughter. Bartolomeo Colleoni was one of the most important condottieri who fought mainly in the service of the Venetian Republic.
Tiepolo painted not only the base of the cupola with scenes of the martyrdom of John the Baptist but also the lunettes of the altar and the pendentives with allegories of Justice, Charity, Faith and Wisdom.
The Cathedral of Bergamo is also known as the Cathedral of Sant’Alessandro Martire. The religious building stands right next to the Palazzo della Ragione and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. In the 15th century, Bishop Giovanni Barozzi decided to demolish the previous church and build a new large religious building here. The work was entrusted to Florentine architect Filarete, who built a church with a Latin cross layout and a single nave that opens onto side chapels, three on each side. The exterior of the Cathedral is characterised by a 19th-century façade in white Botticino marble.
Inside are housed elements of great value such as paintings by Giovan Battista Moroni, Andrea Previtali, Giambattista Tiepolo and works in inlaid wood and marble by Andrea Fantoni. However, the most famous element is the tiara of Pope John XXIII, now a Saint, who was originally from the village of Sotto il Monte in the province of Bergamo. In an urn on the main altar, instead, are the remains of Sant’Alessandro martyr, patron saint of Bergamo.
The Venetian Walls of Bergamo were built from the mid-16th century onwards by the Venetian Republic to protect the city from possible enemy attacks. Fortunately, the city was never besieged and so the walls have come down to us almost intact. The walls extend for approximately 6 km and consist of 14 bastions, 4 gates, numerous gun emplacements, 2 powder magazines and an extensive underground world of tunnels and galleries.
The walkway along the walls of Bergamo is a must-do stop during a visit to the city, and one of the best times to walk it is certainly at sunset. The walls of Bergamo are considered UNESCO World Heritage within the site “Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Stato da Mar Occidentale”.
In the Lower Bergamo area you will find the Carrara Academy, which is considered one of the main art galleries in Italy. The academy was founded in Bergamo in 1796 by Count Giacomo Carrara, and over the years its collection of artworks has been enriched thanks to numerous bequests from private individuals. Inside the Carrara, it is possible to follow a journey of discovery through the history of Italian art from the Renaissance to the modern period.
Here, in fact, are housed over 1,500 paintings, 132 sculptures, various drawings, prints, porcelain and small bronzes. Among the most famous works we can mention the Madonna and Child by Mantegna, Raphael’s St Sebastian and The Memory of a Sorrow by Pellizza da Volpedo.
In the following map you can see the location of the main places of interest mentioned in this article.
The Upper City is certainly one of the best areas to stay in Bergamo as this is where the main points of interest are located and the area is easily explored on foot. However, there are not many accommodation options here and prices can be high.
Staying in the Lower City is instead a good compromise between price and location. Lower Bergamo can also be the right solution for those arriving by car or train, as the station area is one of the richest in facilities and allows you to easily reach Upper Bergamo.
Another alternative could be to stay near Bergamo airport, which is located about 5 km from the city and is a convenient area to stay if you need to catch an early morning flight or arrive late in the evening.
Bergamo is easily accessible both by car and by public transport, thanks to the presence of the motorway network and rail connections. By car, those coming from the north-east should take the A4 motorway towards Turin until the Bergamo exit. Those coming from the north-west should also travel on the A4, but in the direction of Venice, until the Bergamo toll booth. From Bologna, the city can be reached by first taking the A14/E45 towards Milan/Florence and then the A22 and A4 until Bergamo.
Bergamo has a railway station with connections via regional trains to cities such as Milan, Lecco and Brescia. The city also has connections via high-speed rail lines to Venice, Turin, Milan and other locations in northern Italy. Local bus companies connect Bergamo to nearby towns.
In Bergamo you will also find the Orio al Serio airport, which is just 5 km from the city and is served by several national and international airlines. From the airport you can reach the city by ATB bus line 1, which departs from the airport arrivals area.
What's the weather at Bergamo? Below are the temperatures and the weather forecast at Bergamo for the next few days.
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