A view from the top: Bergamo
Bergamo is a city that everyone always recommends whenever you are looking to do a bit of travel around Northern Italy, but I feel it is also over-looked for some of the more famous destinations of the Lombardy region like Milan and all of the beautiful lake areas of Lombardy like Como Lake and Garda lake and Iseo. It’s the 4th largest city of the region and if I am not mistaken one of the oldest. I have always wanted to go but honestly there were so many other cities I thought about first and Bergamo wasn’t always the top of my list. I have since changed my mind though. Bergamo is indeed a wonderful place, beautiful, cobbled streets, lovely little shops lining the roads, a beautiful view from the top of the hills and the north of the city leads to the alps. Finally, I had the opportunity to travel to Bergamo and see this place for myself.
Bergamo is unique because it was formed by a Celtic tribe and became a city under the Roman empire. Since the 16th century part of the city became surrounded by Venetian walls which you can still see today. Furthermore, the city itself is divided into two parts. The more modern lower city known as the Citta Bassa which dates back to the 19th century and the ancient Citta Alta (high city) which is surrounded by the aforementioned Venetian walls. In order to get to the top of the Citta Alta there are a number of foothills and pathways you can take but there is also a sort of cable car system which connects the two parts of the city making the experience truly special.
Bergamo Duomo (Cathedral) is also a lovely site to see. It was built in the 17th century and as ornate as you would expect it to be. It is in the heart of the high city so by the time we got there we were a little tired from our long walk to the top of the Citta Alta. What helped us to get our energy back though, was the beauty and tranquillity of the Duomo.
The main square is Piazza Vecchia which just means Old Square in English and it is a classic Italian city centre main square with plenty of places to sit around and enjoy a glass of wine in the afternoon. If you are looking for an alternative thing to try in Bergamo, I would suggest that you grab a gelato. One of the most famous Italian ice cream flavours, Stracciatella was invented in Bergamo in 1961 by a patisserie named La Marianna. It is said to resemble a classic Italian egg drop soup by adding chocolate shavings into the frozen ice cream. Now we have chocolate chip, but the original Stracciatella ice cream is unparalleled. And while there are so many artisanal gelaterias now in Bergamo, La Marianna still exists today and offers impeccable service and even better ice cream. I tried some of their other in-house flavours which include Cedro and rose petal flavour, all served in bowls to eat at their tables outside looking out on the street in a true Italian fashion.
We only spent a day in Bergamo, but it was a day well spent and I’m definitely keen to go again. I’ll definitely be telling people to bump this city up to the top of their destination lists from now own so they don’t leave it too long before coming here and experiencing the magic for themselves.
