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Bergamo, Art & Culture

Bergamo is a city of art whose name is believed to derive from the celtic words berg (mountain) and hem (home) and indeed, Berghem is what the city is still called nowadays in the local dialect.
The collection of works of art and paintings in the Accademia Carrara gallery is one of the most valuable in the world, thanks to famous artists such as Raffaello Sanzio, Tiziano Vecellio, Lorenzo Lotto, Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Mantenga and Giacomo Manzù …but the list of names could go on and on.
The Carrara gallery is, however, only part of the artistic heritage of the city and province.
Take, for example, the beautiful Donizetti Theatre or the precious Donizetti Museum which houses the personal belongings, music scores and manuscripts, and musical instruments of the great opera composer.
The diocesan Museum contains examples of sacred works of art, while the busy Modern Art Gallery in the Lower Town each year organizes important exhibitions by famous international artists.
Upper Bergamo is encircled by walls with four large entrance gates built by the Venetians at the end of the 1500s to protect the town. These walls were never actually used as military fortifications but are now a symbol of Bergamo, a jewel in the crown of the Upper Town.
In the heart of the Upper Town Piazza Vecchia, the Old Square, is overlooked by the Palazzo della Ragione, a beautiful 13th century building and opposite is the town library. A few yards away stands the Renaissance-style Cappella Colleoni, still in good condition today and one of the most interesting examples of the late 15th century architectural style of Lombardy.
On the exterior are porticos designed by Giovanni da Campione and dating from the XIV century, while inside there are valuable XVI century Florentine and Flemish tapestries, a Giotto- ispired fresco depicting the tree of life, paintings by Luca Giordano and Gian Paolo Cavagna and last but not least, the famous marquetry panels by Lorenzo Lotto.
Then there is the Cathedral, whose origins go back as far as the early Christian era. Interesting architectural features of that period have recently come to light and may be admired in the undercroft of the church.
The Upper Town and the Colle – or hill – of San Vigilio can be reached by funicular, a particular type of ‘little train’ that can travel up quite steep slopes thanks to a system of cables. The funicular railways of Bergamo were built between the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The city offers many cultural opportunities, of which the following are but a few: guided tours of historical buildings such as the residences of some of Bergamo’s most illustrious families – the Terzi, Moroni, Medolago Albani and Agliardi families – as well as tours of some parts of the town still shrouded in mystery.

There are scientific exhibitions organized by the archaeological museum, and natural science exhibitions, exhibitions illustrating the history of Bergamo held in the lovely San Francesco cloisters.

Bergamo Film Meeting is a longstanding encounter with the world of the cinema and offers films d’essai, while the International festival of Art Films includes artistic contributions of all kinds. The aim of Bergamo Scienza is to bring science to the notice of the public in general, while Notti di Luce is a series of musical and cultural events held in various historical and atmospheric venues around the town.
The list of events includes also Bergamo Jazz, the Benedetti Michelangeli International Piano Festival and the Bergamo Music Festival.
Moving upwards through the valleys, with their lovely rivers and mountains, in Valle Seriana you come to Alzano Lombardo, and the Church of San Martino- St Martin’s. The furnishings of the vestries were sculpted and inlaid in the workshop of the Fantonis from Rovetta and are real masterpieces of woodworking.
The main town in the upper part of Valle Seriana is Clusone, with its old frescoed streets and famous Clusone Jazz Festival.
Between Valle Brembana and Valle Imagna you can discover Romanesque treasures such as the circular church of San Tomè, which over the centuries has undergone very few changes. A little further on in Clanezzo is a lovely Romanesque bridge.
In Valle Brembana you shouldn’t miss a visit to Cornello del Tasso with its Via Mercatorum, a road which in the Middle Ages provided a link to the Canton dei Grigioni. Famous for its mineral water, San Pellegrino offers a spa and a casino, as well as a wonderful example of Art Nouveau architecture – The Grand Hotel.
Travelling towards the lakes, you encounter Trescore Balneario with its own architectural jewel: the Villa Suardi Chapel with its wonderful frescoes by Lorenzo Lotto, the Renaissance genius.
The lakes entrance visitors with the beauty of their historical town centres and the harmonic effect of the villages on their shores. Lovere, on Lake Iseo, boasts an important artistic heritage in its Tadini art gallery, housing works by a variety of artists, from Bellini to Parmigianino, from Tiepolo to Hayez and Longaretti.

If we continue across the plains, once the realm of farmhouses and fields of maize, in an environment which still recalls the past, we come across the castles of Romano di Lombardia and Pagazzano, the Rocca – or Fortress- of Urgnano and in Cavernago the Castle of Malpaga, parts of which date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. This castle was owned by the great military commander Bartolomeo Colleoni who received there as guests princes and dukes, and King Christian of Denmark with his entire court.

On the plains, where the Rivers Adda and Bembo meet, stands Crespi d’Adda, a masterpiece of urban planning, with its large factory premises and workmen’s village, as well as its Art Nouveau buildings whose contruction began at the end of the 1800s. A small garden town it is now a Unesco heritage site. Not far off and still in working order is the ferry designed by Leonardo da Vinci and which crosses the river at Villa d’Adda.

The Bergamo area has a wealth of great and small treasures, all waiting to be discovered.

Le immagini, i testi e i marchi sono tratti dal sito www.turismo.bergamo.it a cura di Turismo Bergamo.