Bergamo

Bergamo
Comune
Città di Bergamo
Top: View of sunrise over the skyline of Bergamo Alta area, with the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Second row, left: Palazzo della Ragione in Duomo. Second row, right: Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Third row, left: asymptote architecture built in Azzano San Paolo. Third row, center: Contarini Fountain in Piazza Vecchia. Third row, right:Biblioteca Angelo Mai. Bottom row, left: Bergamo tramway station. Bottom row, right: Sentierone.
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Città dei Mille ("City of the Thousand")
Bergamo Location of Bergamo in Italy
Coordinates: 45°42′N 9°40′E / 45.700°N 9.667°E / 45.700; 9.667Coordinates: 45°42′N 9°40′E / 45.700°N 9.667°E / 45.700; 9.667
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province	Bergamo (BG)
Government
• Mayor	Giorgio Gori (PD)
Area
• Total	39.6 km2 (15.3 sq mi)
Elevation	249 m (817 ft)
Population (31 December 2011)
• Total	121,316
• Density	3,100/km2 (7,900/sq mi)
Demonym	Bergamascan or Bergamasque Bergamàsch (ber) Bergamaschi (it)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	24100
Dialing code	(+39) 035
Patron saint	Saint Alexander
Saint day	26 August
Website	www.comune.bergamo.it

Bergamo^[1] (Bergamasque: Bèrghem,  listen ; Latin: Bergomum) is a city and commune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Milan and 30 km (19 mi) from the lakes Como and Iseo. The foothills of the Alps begin immediately north of the town.

With a population of around 120,000, it is the fourth largest city in the region. The urban area of Bergamo extends beyond the administrative city limits and has a population of 486,958.^[2] The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Bergamo, one of the largest in Italy, with over 1.1 million inhabitants, which is part of Milan metropolitan area, home to over 8 million people.^[3][4][5] The city and its province are served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the metropolitan area of Milan.

As of 2012, Bergamo is the second most visited city in Lombardy after Milan.^[6]

History

Early years

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. An important hub on the military road between Friuli and Raetia, it was destroyed by Attila in the 5th century.

Middle Ages

From the 6th century Bergamo was the seat of one of the most important Lombard duchies of northern Italy, together with Brescia, Trento, and Cividale del Friuli: its first Lombard duke was Wallaris. After the conquest of the Lombard Kingdom by Charlemagne, 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.^[7]

From the 11th century onwards, Bergamo was an independent commune, taking part in the Lombard League which defeated Frederick I Barbarossa in 1165. The local Guelph and Ghibelline factions were the Colleoni and Suardi, respectively. Feuding between the two initially caused the family of Omodeo Tasso to flee north c. 1250, but he returned to Bergamo in the later 13th century to organize the city's couriers: this would eventually lead to the Imperial Thurn und Taxis dynasty generally credited with organizing the first modern postal service. From 1264, Bergamo was intermittently under the rule of Milan. In 1331, it gave itself to John of Bohemia, but the Milanese Visconti reconquered it.

Renaissance and modern era

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 (see Main sights section).

19th and 20th century

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 destruction during World War II.

Music

Bergamo has a prominent place in music history. The large Romanesque church of Santa Maria Maggiore, begun in 1137, had a continuous and well-documented tradition of music teaching and singing for more than eight hundred years. When the town was under Venetian control, the musical style of the Venetians was imported as well; in particular, a large instrumental ensemble grew up to support the choral singing. Composers such as Gasparo Alberti produced music with polyphony using two organs, brass and viols, a style usually associated with Venice, but which flourished in the fine acoustic environment of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The city lent its name to a style of folk dance known as bergamask peculiar to the peoples of that region. Known as bergomasci and renowned for their buffoonery, the fool Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night's Dream refers to their Bergomask dance. This unconventional form gave Debussy a vehicle for the dissonances and irregular intervals of his "Suite bergamasque".

Prominent musicians born in Bergamo include Gaetano Donizetti, Pietro Locatelli, Antonio Lolli, Gianluigi Trovesi, Roby Facchinetti, Alfredo Piatti, Fabrizio Frigeni and Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Alessandro Grandi, one of the most progressive composers of the early 17th century after Monteverdi, was maestro di cappella there until his death in the plague of 1630; Tarquinio Merula, an even more progressive composer, and one of the founders of the early sonata, took over his post.

Notable natives

Bergamo was the hometown and last resting place of Enrico Rastelli, a highly technical and world famous juggler who lived in the town and, in 1931, died there at the early age of 34. There is a life-sized statue to Rastelli within his mausoleum. A number of painters were active in the town as well; among these were Giovanni Paolo Cavagna, Francesco Zucco, and Enea Salmeggia, each of whom painted works for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Sculptor Giacomo Manzù and the bass-baritone opera singer Alex Esposito^[8] were born in Bergamo. The famous American electrical engineer and professor Andrew Viterbi, inventor of the important Viterbi's algorithm, was born in Bergamo, before migrating in USA during the fascism because of his Jewish origin.

Main sights

The town has two centres: "Città alta" (upper city), a hilltop medieval town, surrounded by 16th-century cyclopic defensive walls, and the "Città bassa" (lower city). The two parts of the town are connected by funicular/cable car, roads, and foot-paths (the most convenient being immediately adjacent to the funicular station). Parking spaces are very limited in the upper city.

Città alta

The upper city, surrounded by Venetian walls built in the 16th century, forms the historic centre of Bergamo.^[9] Città Alta is an extremely expensive place to live in, with properties being sold for five to twelve thousand euro per square meter. This has numerous places of interest including:

• Cittadella (Citadel), built by the Visconti in the mid-14th century.
• Piazza Vecchia (old square)
• Palazzo della Ragione. This was the seat of the administration of the city in the age of the communes. Currently it houses a selection of paintings from the Accademia Carrara. Erected in the 12th century, it was rebuilt in the late 16th century by Pietro Isabello. The façade has the lion of St. Mark over a mullioned window, testifying to the long period of Venetian dominance. The atrium has a well-preserved 18th-century sundial.
• Palazzo Nuovo (Biblioteca Angelo Mai). It was designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi in the early 17th century but only completed in 1928.
• Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major). It was built from 1137 on the site of a previous religious edifice of the 7th century. Construction continued until the 15th century. Of this first building the external Romanesque structure and the Greek cross plan remain. The interior was extensively modified in the 16th and 17th centuries. The dome has frescoes by Giovanbattista Tiepolo. Noteworthy are the great Crucifix and the tomb of Gaetano Donizetti.
• Cappella Colleoni (Colleoni chapel), annexed to Santa Maria Maggiore, is a masterwork of Renaissance architecture and decorative art. It contains the tomb of the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni.
• The Battistero (Baptistry), an elegant octagonal building dating from 1340.
• Bergamo Cathedral (Duomo). This was built in the late 17th century with later modifications.
• Rocca (Castle). It was begun in 1331 on the hill of Sant'Eufemia by William of Castelbarco, vicar of John of Bohemia, and later completed by Azzone Visconti. A wider citadel was added, but is now partly lost. The Venetians built a large tower in the Rocca, as well as a line of walls (Mura Veneziane) 6,200 metres long.
• San Michele al Pozzo Bianco. Built in the 12th century, this church contains a wealth of frescos from the 12th to the 16th centuries, including paintings by Lorenzo Lotto.
• Museo Civico Archeologico (Archaeological Civic Museum) This is housed in the Cittadella.
• Museo di Scienze Naturali Enrico Caffi (Caffi Natural Science Museum) This is also housed in the Cittadella.
• Orto Botanico di Bergamo "Lorenzo Rota" (botanical garden).
• Città Alta and its surroundings are part of the Parco dei Colli di Bergamo

• 

  Torre Civica

• 

  Citadel

• 

  Via Gombito

• 

  San Vigilio Castle

• 

  Palazzo Medolago

• 

  Porta San Giacomo

Città bassa

The lower city is the modern centre of Bergamo. At the end of the 19th century Città Bassa was composed of Borghi, the residential houses built along the main road that linked Bergamo with the other cities of Lombardy. The main boroughs were Borgo Palazzo along the road to Brescia, Borgo San Leonardo along the road to Milan and Borgo Santa Caterina along the road to Valle Seriana. The city rapidly expanded during the 20th century. In the first decades, the municipality erected major buildings like the new courthouse and various administrative offices in the lower part of Bergamo in order to create a new center of the city. After World War II and during the so-called miracolo economico (economic boom) many residential buildings were constructed in the lower part of the city which are now divided into several neighborhoods such as Longuelo, Colognola, Malpensata and Boccaleone, Redona and Valtesse among many others. The shopping district developed shortly after, now commonly known as the street the shops are located on Via 20 Settembre.

Of artistic importance in Città Bassa are:

• Pinacoteca dell'Accademia Carrara (picture museum of Carrara academy) This is currently closed for restoration and a selection of its paintings is exhibited in the Palazzo Ragione in Città Alta.
• Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (gallery of modern and contemporary art), known as GAMEC.

• 

  Santa Maria delle Grazie

• 

  Torre dei Caduti

• 

  Accademia Carrara

• 

  Bergamo by night

Demographics

In 2010, there were 119,551 people residing in Bergamo (in which the greater area has about 500 000 inhabitants), located in the province of Bergamo, Lombardia, of whom 46.6% were male and 53.4% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 16.79 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 23.61 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 17.88 percent (minors) and 20.29 percent (pensioners). The average age of Bergamo residents is 45 compared to the Italian average of 43. In the eight years between 2002 and 2010, the population of Bergamo grew by 5.41 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 5.77 percent.^[10] The current birth rate of Bergamo is 8.4 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.3 births.

In 2010, 85% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group comes from other European nations (the largest being Romania and Ukraine): 4.89%, Americas (mostly from Cochabamba, Bolivia): 4.61%, sub-saharan Africa: 1.59%, and North Africa: 1.53%. Currently one-fifth of the babies born in Bergamo has at least one foreign parent. The city is predominantly Roman Catholic and also host the see of a Diocese of Bergamo, but due to immigration now has some Orthodox Christian, Muslim, and Protestant adherents.

Economy

As capital and main town of its province, Bergamo hosts the public administration offices of provincial interest. In the past, many factories were in the commune territory, mainly for electrical components, industrial mechanics and publishing businesses, but have then moved outward. In the town three large corporations are still based:

• Italcementi SpA, general headquarters of the 5th largest cement producer in the world.
• UBI group, ex BPU e Banca Popolare di Bergamo - Credito Varesino, general headquarters of the 4th largest Italian bank group.
• Brembo, general headquarters and plants of the manufacturer of automotive brake systems' leader, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles.
• Tenaris, is a global manufacturer and supplier of seamless and welded steel pipe products and provider of pipe handling, stocking and distribution services to the oil and gas, energy and mechanical industries.
• ABB SpA, offices and plants of a multinational corporation operating mainly in the power and automation technology areas.

Transport

Air

Bergamo is served by Bergamo Orio al Serio Airport, located 5 km (3 mi) south-east of the town, which is the fourth busiest airport in Italy, serving about 9 million passengers in 2013.

The city is also served by Milan Linate Airport, located 50 km (31 mi) south-west of Bergamo.

Rail

Bergamo railway station is connected with the rest of Lombardy by trains for Milan, Lecco, Cremona, Brescia and Monza.

Railway service is operated by Trenord and TiLo.

Urban transport

Transport within Bergamo is provided by ATB and comprises a network of buses together with two different funicular systems opened in 1887 (Funicolare di Bergamo Alta) and in 1912 (Funicolare di Bergamo-San Vigilio), as well as the Bergamo–Albino light rail, which opened on 24 April 2009.

Future developments for the tramway will lead to a total of three lines:

• Line 1 Bergamo FS - Albino
• Line 2 Bergamo FS - Villa d'Almè - San Pellegrino Terme
• Line 3 Hospital-Railway Station FS-Trade Fair - Bergamo Airport.

Road

Motorway A4 is the main axis connecting the city with the east and the west of the country, to cities such as Milan, Turin, Venice and Trieste.

Climate

Bergamo experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) characteristic of Northern Italy. While most of Italy is characterized by dry summers with little to no precipitation, Bergamo has the reverse trend; the summer is wetter than winter. However, Bergamo's climate is designated with an f because there is statistically significant rainfall throughout the winter (in order to qualify for a w precipitation designation under the Köppen scale, the driest month in the winter would need to have less than 12.95 mm (1 in).)

Climate data for Bergamo (1971–2000, extremes 1946–present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	21.9 (71.4)	22.7 (72.9)	27.1 (80.8)	31.9 (89.4)	35.5 (95.9)	36.3 (97.3)	39.0 (102.2)	37.9 (100.2)	32.4 (90.3)	29.0 (84.2)	23.0 (73.4)	19.0 (66.2)	39.0 (102.2)
Average high °C (°F)	6.6 (43.9)	8.6 (47.5)	13.0 (55.4)	16.4 (61.5)	21.4 (70.5)	25.3 (77.5)	28.3 (82.9)	27.8 (82)	23.4 (74.1)	17.6 (63.7)	11.1 (52)	7.2 (45)	17.2 (63)
Daily mean °C (°F)	2.7 (36.9)	4.4 (39.9)	8.2 (46.8)	11.4 (52.5)	16.2 (61.2)	19.9 (67.8)	22.8 (73)	22.6 (72.7)	18.6 (65.5)	13.3 (55.9)	7.3 (45.1)	3.4 (38.1)	12.6 (54.7)
Average low °C (°F)	−1.1 (30)	0.1 (32.2)	3.3 (37.9)	6.3 (43.3)	11.0 (51.8)	14.5 (58.1)	17.3 (63.1)	17.3 (63.1)	13.8 (56.8)	9.0 (48.2)	3.4 (38.1)	−0.3 (31.5)	7.9 (46.2)
Record low °C (°F)	−15.0 (5)	−20.1 (−4.2)	−7.7 (18.1)	−3.6 (25.5)	1.7 (35.1)	4.2 (39.6)	8.9 (48)	8.4 (47.1)	5.1 (41.2)	−1.7 (28.9)	−7.0 (19.4)	−12.4 (9.7)	−20.1 (−4.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	66.1 (2.602)	54.0 (2.126)	71.5 (2.815)	87.4 (3.441)	122.5 (4.823)	121.2 (4.772)	91.9 (3.618)	100.3 (3.949)	114.3 (4.5)	121.5 (4.783)	87.5 (3.445)	64.4 (2.535)	1,102.6 (43.409)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	7.1	5.3	7.0	9.3	11.1	9.1	6.3	7.2	6.5	8.3	7.1	6.6	90.9
Average relative humidity (%)	75	75	68	71	69	67	67	68	71	75	78	79	72
Source: Servizio Meteorologico (humidity 1961–1990)[11][12][13]

Sports

• Bergamo's football team is Atalanta who play in the top level Serie A at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia
• The town has a woman's volleyball team named Foppapedretti Bergamo.
• The city is also home to the Bergamo Lions American football team, one of the most successful in European Football League history, winning multiple Eurobowls.

Miscellaneous

• Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, later to become Pope John XXIII and born in the province of Bergamo, studied in the diocesan minor seminary of Bergamo
• The city is home to Costantino Rocca, the first Italian golfer to play in the Ryder Cup
• The town hosted the seventh Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne in 1951
• For about 55 years, from 1945 to 2000, the town was the site of the headquarters of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade "Legnano"
• Every year the town used to host an important poetry event called "BergamoPoesia"
• Giuseppe Donizetti also known as Donizetti Pasha, the eldest brother of Gaetano Donizetti, who became Instructor-General of the Ottoman Military Bands under Sultan Mahmud II and Sultan Abdulmecid I was born in Bergamo in 1788
• Bergamo is the traditional birthplace of Arlecchino and Brighella, two popular characters of the commedia dell'arte
• Bergamo is crossed by the river Morla
• The patron saint of Bergamo is Saint Alexander of Bergamo^[14]

International relations

Twin towns − Sister cities

Bergamo is twinned with:^[15]

Bergamo has a partnership with:

• Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland^[15]
• Olkusz, Poland^[15]
• Bolesław, Poland^[15]
• Posadas, Argentina, as Friendship and Cooperation city since 1998^[18]

Consulates

Bergamo is home to the following consulates:

• Bolivia^[19]
• Malawi^[20]
• Switzerland^[21]

See also

• Lombardy

References

Further reading

Published in the 19th century

• "Bergamo", Italy (2nd ed.), Coblenz: Karl Baedeker, 1870 

• "Bergamo", Hand-book for Travellers in Northern Italy (16th ed.), London: John Murray, 1897, OCLC 2231483 

Published in the 20th century

• Edward Hutton (1912), "Bergamo", The Cities of Lombardy, New York: Macmillan Co. 

• "Bergamo", Northern Italy (14th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1913 

• Egerton R. Williams Jr. (1914), "Bergamo (etc.)", Lombard Towns of Italy, London: Smith, Elder & Co. 

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Bergamo.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bergamo.

• Bergamo official website (Italian)
• Turismo Bergamo
• Università degli Studi di Bergamo website (English)
• Article on Bergamo on the New York Times
• Photo Gallery (Città Alta) (Italian)

Lombardy · Comuni of the Province of Bergamo Adrara San Martino Adrara San Rocco Albano Sant'Alessandro Albino Algua Almenno San Bartolomeo Almenno San Salvatore Almè Alzano Lombardo Ambivere Antegnate Arcene Ardesio Arzago d'Adda Averara Aviatico Azzano San Paolo Azzone Bagnatica Barbata Bariano Barzana Bedulita Berbenno Bergamo Berzo San Fermo Bianzano Blello Bolgare Boltiere Bonate Sopra Bonate Sotto Borgo di Terzo Bossico Bottanuco Bracca Branzi Brembate Brembate di Sopra Brignano Gera d'Adda Brumano Brusaporto Calcinate Calcio Calusco d'Adda Calvenzano Camerata Cornello Canonica d'Adda Capizzone Capriate San Gervasio Caprino Bergamasco Caravaggio Carobbio degli Angeli Carona Carvico Casazza Casirate d'Adda Casnigo Cassiglio Castel Rozzone Castelli Calepio Castione della Presolana Castro Cavernago Cazzano Sant'Andrea Cenate Sopra Cenate Sotto Cene Cerete Chignolo d'Isola Chiuduno Cisano Bergamasco Ciserano Cividate al Piano Clusone Colere Cologno al Serio Colzate Comun Nuovo Corna Imagna Cornalba Cortenuova Costa di Mezzate Costa Serina Costa Valle Imagna Costa Volpino Covo Credaro Curno Cusio Dalmine Dossena Endine Gaiano Entratico Fara Gera d'Adda Fara Olivana con Sola Filago Fino del Monte Fiorano al Serio Fontanella Fonteno Foppolo Foresto Sparso Fornovo San Giovanni Fuipiano Valle Imagna Gandellino Gandino Gandosso Gaverina Terme Gazzaniga Ghisalba Gorlago Gorle Gorno Grassobbio Gromo Grone Grumello del Monte Isola di Fondra Isso Lallio Leffe Lenna Levate Locatello Lovere Lurano Luzzana Madone Mapello Martinengo Medolago Mezzoldo Misano di Gera d'Adda Moio de' Calvi Monasterolo del Castello Montello Morengo Mornico al Serio Mozzanica Mozzo Nembro Olmo al Brembo Oltre il Colle Oltressenda Alta Oneta Onore Orio al Serio Ornica Osio Sopra Osio Sotto Pagazzano Paladina Palazzago Palosco Parre Parzanica Pedrengo Peia Pianico Piario Piazza Brembana Piazzatorre Piazzolo Pognano Ponte Nossa Ponte San Pietro Ponteranica Pontida Pontirolo Nuovo Pradalunga Predore Premolo Presezzo Pumenengo Ranica Ranzanico Riva di Solto Rogno Romano di Lombardia Roncobello Roncola Rota d'Imagna Rovetta San Giovanni Bianco San Paolo d'Argon San Pellegrino Terme Sant'Omobono Terme Santa Brigida Sarnico Scanzorosciate Schilpario Sedrina Selvino Seriate Serina Solto Collina Solza Songavazzo Sorisole Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII Sovere Spinone al Lago Spirano Stezzano Strozza Suisio Taleggio Tavernola Bergamasca Telgate Terno d'Isola Torre Boldone Torre Pallavicina Torre de' Roveri Trescore Balneario Treviglio Treviolo Ubiale Clanezzo Urgnano Valbondione Val Brembilla Valbrembo Valgoglio Valleve Valnegra Valtorta Vedeseta Verdellino Verdello Vertova Viadanica Vigano San Martino Vigolo Villa d'Adda Villa d'Almè Villa d'Ogna Villa di Serio Villongo Vilminore di Scalve Zandobbio Zanica Zogno

Parco dei Colli di Bergamo Municipalities Almè Bergamo Mozzo Paladina Ponteranica Ranica Sorisole Torre Boldone Valbrembo Villa d'Almè Mountains and hills of the park Canto Alto Maresana Hill Rivers of the park Morla Quisa

Bergamo History of Bergamo Republic of Venice Republic of Bergamo Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia Churches and monuments Santa Maria Maggiore Cappella Colleoni Duomo di Bergamo Rivers and streams Morla Quisa Quarters Colognola Redona Valtesse Valverde,Bergamo Transportation Il Caravaggio International Airport Bergamo railway station