1. -”BERGAMO”-
-(MY SECOND HOME -TOWN WHERE I MOVED FROM VENICE AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN)-
***Bergamo is a city in Lombardy, Italy. It is situated about 40km (25 mi) northeast of Milan
and 30km (19 mi) from the lakes Como. The foothills of the Bergamo Alps begin immediately
north of the town.
Bergamo is very well connected to the most important cities in Europe and the Mediterranean
through Caravaggio International Airport, the third-busiest airport in Italy with 10.5 million
passengers in 2015, and the motorway stretching on the axis between Milan,Verona, and Venice.
As of 2015, Bergamo is the second most visited city in Lombardy after Milan.
>Antiquity
Bergamo occupies the site of the ancient town of Bergomum, founded as a settlement of
the Celtic tribe of Cenomani. In 49 BC it became a Roman municipality, containing c. 10,000
inhabitants at its peak,was an important hub on the military roads.
>Middle Ages
Rule of the Dukes,Kingdom of the Lombards and List of kings of the Lombards
From the 6th century Bergamo was the seat of one of the most important Lombard duchies
of northern Italy :
The first Lombard duke was Wallaris. After the conquest of the Lombard Kingdom by Carlo
Magno, it became the seat of a county under one Auteramus(d. 816). An important
Lombardic hoard dating from the 6th to 7th centuries AD was found in the vicinity of the city
in the nineteenth century and is now in the British Museum.
>Early modern
After a short conquest by the Malatesta in 1407, in 1428 it fell under the control of the
Venetian Republic, remaining part of it until 1797. Between 1797 and 1815, Bergamo and its
territory were included in the political entities born in North Italy during the French and
Napoleonic dominion.
Notably, the Venetians fortified the higher portion of the town .
>Late modern and contemporary
In 1815, it was assigned to the Austrian Empire
Giuseppe Garibaldi freed it in 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence, when
Bergamo became part of the Kingdom of Italy.
***For its contribution to "Il Risorgimento" the city is also known as "Città dei Mille" ("City
of the Thousand"). During the 20th century Bergamo became one of Italy's most
industrialized cities. It is also one of the few Italian cities that did not suffer major

2. destruction during World War II.
-THE MEDIEVEL TOWN-
-That the city of Bergamo is composed of two parts can be easily appreciated. There is the Città Alta
(Upper Town), built up on the hills, which is the "city" by definition, and the Città Bassa (Lower Town),
which is a lively financial, industrial and administrative centre of national importance. The two parts are
separated, both physically and symbolically, by the powerful Venetian Walls, which were built by the
Serenissima Republic of Venice in the second half of the 16th century to defend the city, which was the
farthermost centre on the Mainland, close to the border with Milan's territory.
Bergamo (from berg-heim, i.e. the hill-town) was probably founded by Celtic populations, which settled
on the hills looking onto the plan at the outlet of the pre-Alpine valleys of the Brembo and Serio rivers,
two tributaries of the Adda river.
-The first historical evidence dates back to the year 223 b.C., when it is certain that Roman military
forces were present in this area. In 49 b.C., Julius Caesar granted the status of Municipium to the town,
which started its slow Romanisation process.
-Bergomum, which is the Latin name of Bergamo, was provided with major public buildings, which are
currently no longer visible even though some remains often surface up on the occasion of excavations
and diggings. Walls were also built up, parts of which are still extant; they were re-used for the new,
larger Medieval fortifications with some enlargements and restorations. Indeed, the fortifications had
remained relatively intact after the fall of Rome, so much so that Bergamo had been referred to as
"operibus munitae" [surrounded by walls] by the historians reporting on the Gothic war in the mid-6th
century.
-The Roman town plan can also be appreciated, at least in part, in the Città Alta - as shown by the
Gombito and Colleoni streets, which follow the route of the ancient decumanus. The Gombito Tower,
built in the 12th century at the main crossroads in the town, was named exactly after its location
-compitum being the Latin word for bifurcation or crossroads.
-The Roman urban settlement was not limited to the area on the hills surrounded by the walls; several
Authors actually mention the suburbia that had developed along the streets leading to the Città Alta,
which have basically remained unchanged up to this very day.
This hierarchical structure of the urban area, including a walled civitas [city] and the suburbia on the
plan underneath, remained basically unchanged in time and was actually "officialised" by the Lombards,
who subdivided the urban territory into two royal boroughs. The key role played by the Città Alta was
thereby strengthened, being the seat of the Bishopric, and the vici located on the streets leading out of
the civitas could also develop.
-With the creation of an autonomous Commune and the extension of the jus burgense, the legal status
of town was also applied to the vici, which were turned into "burgi"; all economic and manufacturing
activities were ultimately moved to the burgi, whilst the Città Alta town further confirmed its role as a
political and religious centre after the Communal Palace and the great urban church of S. Maria

3. Maggiore - the most prestigious monument in the city - were built. The basilica was built starting in 1157
on the site of an older, smaller church bearing the same name; its architectural frame is quite complex
and articulated, rich in major sculptures such as, in particular, two beautiful porches by Giovanni da
Campione (1350).
-Inside, it was sumptuously renovated during the Baroque age and contains several outstanding works
such as the cycle of wonderful wood carvings by Lorenzo Lotto. On the other hand, the fortified
mansions, almost always flaunting towers, bear testimony to the extraordinary economic growth of the
Communal age; they were built at strategic, especially prestigious locations in the Città Alta and are
responsible for the typical structure of the town which still marks it as a Medieval town.
A milestone in the history of Bergamo was its incorporation into the Venetian State in 1428, which
lasted for over three centuries and a half. The interventions brought about in this period produced a
major impact on the town's plan. Re-building of the Communal Palace (currently named Palazzo della
Ragione) was started in order to reverse its orientation towards the Piazza Vecchia, which was created
by pulling down an old quarter.
-A new Cathedral started being built, on a design put forward by Filarete. Among the new works,
reference should be made to the Colleoni Chapel, which was built by G.A. Amadeo as a burial
monument for the well-known Venetian mercenary; the Renaissance structure and design of the
centrally-oriented chapel are almost wholly effaced by the gorgeous sculptures and multi-coloured
decorations. The solutions devised for the Chapel provide a significant example of the merger of styles
resulting from application of the classical principles followed by Tuscan architects to the decorative
tradition of typically Lombard nature.
-The most important, daunting and expensive work of this period was undoubtedly the building of the
Venetian Walls with their ramparts (1560-1623), which still mark the urban skyline with their imposing,
intact structure. When the first walls, called "muraìne", had been built by including both the Città Alta
and most of the settlements on the plan, the unity of the urban area had been re-affirmed; conversely,
the new imposing fortifications turned the bi-polar development of the city into a permanent feature.
Indeed, the new walls brought about a veritable break-up in the urban settlement; partly because of the
major demolitions that were performed to build up the huge walls, the Città Alta was ultimately severed
from the surrounding suburban areas and became increasingly a sort of showcase for the powerful - as
shown by the rapidity with which the landed gentry built up their palaces therein. The Città Bassa
further pursued its manufacturing vocation; in particular, the area where the Fair used to be held came
to play an even more central role, as marked by the creation of the "Sentierone", i.e. a new, large, tree-
lined street that connected the western and eastern suburbia crossing the area of the Fair, thereby
giving rise to a new kind of urban geometry.
-This trend towards bi-polarism was enhanced in the 18th century, when the Città Bassa experienced a
major growth and renovation process; long ranges of narrow-front houses were built to accommodate
workers and artisans - which conferred the ultimate features on S. Leonardo's quarter - and the "stone
Fair" was built, meaning the large permanent structure the merchants decided to build in order to
replace the shanties that were set up annually on the occasion of the Fair.
The area where the Fair was held became the de-facto city centre, and after World War I, despite the

4. decline caused by the deep-ranging economic changes that had started in the 19th century, it was
totally re-styled by Marcello Piacentini; he built the "Modern Centre", a unified example of all-round
project-designing, including interesting examples of contemporary architecture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombards