bergamo: città alta, “polenta e osei,” & the accademia carrara

wanderessence1025 November 8, 2023 9 Comments

Monday, July 3: Our first and only full day in Bergamo, we drove to the Lower Town and took the funicular up to Città Alta.

Funicolare Città Alta

In the Città Alta, at the top of the funicular, we were greeted by numerous pasticcerie with shop windows full of “polenta é osei,” the most renowned sweet specialty of Bergamo’s cuisine. It is made from sponge cake, chocolate, butter, hazelnut creams and rum. The sponge cake is covered with yellow marzipan, then dusted with crystals of yellow sugar. The little birds then placed on the polenta are made from marzipan covered with a layer of chocolate.

We didn’t allow ourselves to be enticed by these sweet concoctions just yet; instead we wandered through the town, arriving at Piazza Vecchia. Sadly we found we couldn’t climb up the massive 13th century Torre Civica, also known as the Campanone, because it was closed on Mondays.

at the top of the funicular

“polenta é osei”

Piazza Vecchia with the Campanone

Piazza Vecchia

We visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, a major church in the upper town. According to popular tradition, the church was built to comply with a vow made to the Virgin Mary in 1133 by the citizens of Bergamo to protect the city from the plague that was hitting northern Italy at that time.

The church was founded in 1137 on the site of another church from the 8th century dedicated to St Mary, which had been in turn erected over a Roman temple. The church is a conglomeration of different styles, from Romanesque to Gothic. We loved the wooden marquetry designed by Lorenzo Lotto.

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

We went next door to the Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church, with its brilliant white facade. Located in Piazza Duomo, in the heart of the Old Town, this area was already a sacred place in the 5th Century B.C., as known by the underground layers. The building holds numerous treasures, such as the paintings by Giovan Battista Moroni and Andrea Previtali, The Martyrdom of Saint John Bishop by Giambattista Tiepolo, an altarpiece by Carlo Ceresa and some wood and marble inlays by Andrea Fantoni.

Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church

After wandering around a bit, we had to sample some of the “polenta e osei” at Il Fornaio during our “mandatory” cappuccino and pastry break.

“polenta e osei” at Il Fornaio

me enjoying “polenta e osei” at Il Fornaio

“polenta e osei” at Il Fornaio

We strolled about some more, on a super sugar high, stopping into a random church, Chiesa di Sant’Agata nel Carmine.

Bergamo’s Città Alta

Chiesa di Sant’Agata nel Carmine

Città Alta

map of Città Alta

After rambling around some more, we stopped for lunch at Il Fornaio, where we shared a delicious pizza with burrata and mushrooms.

Il Fornaio

pizzas for sale at Il Fornaio

Burrata and mushroom pizza at Il Fornaio

By then we were stuffed, so we meandered aimlessly until we decided to walk down from the Città Alta to the lower town.

Bergamo

me in Bergamo

Mike in Bergamo

Bergamo

On the long path down to the Lower Town, we had fabulous views of the Città Alta perched proudly on the hilltop.

view of the Lower Town from Città Alta

Bergamo

walkway from Città Alta to the Lower Town

me on the walkway from Città Alta to the Lower Town

view of Città Alta

fetching house on the hillside

view of the Lower Town as we descended

another fetching view

Mike on the walkway down

a pretty house we passed along the walk down

When we reached the Lower Town, we stopped for Aperol spritzes and were served up some cicchetti even though we weren’t hungry and didn’t ask for any food. The waiter said it was included in the price, which turned out to be outrageous compared to other places. That’ll teach us to always look at the menu before ordering.

Mike at the café

a little stop for drinks in the Lower Town (+ cicchetti)

After taking an afternoon nap, we walked just around the corner from our Airbnb to the Accademia Carrara, officially Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti di Bergamo, an art gallery and academy of fine arts in Bergamo. The art gallery was established in about 1780 by Giacomo Carrara, a Bergamasco collector or connoisseur of the arts. The academy of fine arts was added to it in 1794.

Accademia Carrara

entrance to Accademia Carrara

We enjoyed seeing all the masterpieces by the classic Italian painters. We were given a pamphlet that showed the masterpieces we should look for and did a kind of scavenger hunt to find them. The 16 are numbered and named on the photos in the gallery below. Famous painters represented included Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini, Canaletto, Pisanello, Mantegna and Titian.

Accademia Carrara

1. Madonna col Bambino e angelia by Benozzo Gozzoli c. 1440-1445

Accademia Carrara

2. Ritratto di Leonello d’Este by Pisanello c. 1441-1444

Saint Apollonia with her Teeth Torn Out by Giovanni d’Alemagna 1440-1445

Saint Appollinia Blinded by Giovanni d’Alemagna 1440-1445

Accademia Carrara

3. Madonna col Bambino by Andrea Mantegna c. 1480

Accademia Carrara

Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini c. 1485-1487

The Story of Virginia by Sandro Botticelli c. 1505

Saint Jerome Extracting the Thorn from the Lion’s Paw by Pittore lombardo o ligure 1465-1475

Ecce Home by Andrea Solario 1503-1505

Madonna and Child between Saints Jerome and Anne (the Baglioni Madonna) by Andrea Previtali 1511-1513

The Stoning of Saint Stephen by Lorenzo Lotto 1513-1516

Saint John the Evangelist by Lorenzo Costa c. 1480-1481

Weeping Angel by Vicino da Ferrara c. 1465-1470

Portrait of Giuliano de’Medici by Sandro Botticelli c. 1478-1480

7. San Sebastiano by Raffaello 1501-1503

8. Tre Crocifissi by Vincenzo Foppa 1450 o 1455 (?)

The Flagellation of Christ by Defendente Ferrari c. 1520

Portrait of Giovanni Benedetto Caravaggi by Giovanni Cariani c. 1519-1520

Portrait of a Gentleman by Altobello Melone c. 1513

Accademia Carrara

10. Nozze mistiche di santa Caterina d’Alessandria, un angelo e Nicolò Bonghi by Lorenzo Lotto 1523

11. Ritratto di vecchio seduto by Giovan Battista Moroni 1576

12. Ragazzo con canestra di pane e dolciumi by Evaristo Baschenis 1650-1660

13. Il Canal Grande da Ca’Foscari verso il ponte di Rialto by Canaletto c. 1726-1728

14. Caterina Cornaro riceve l’annuncio della sua deposizione dal Regno di Cipro by Francesco Hayez 1842

15. Ritratto della contessa Anastasia Spini by Piccio c. 1840

16. A Memory of Sorrow (Portrait Santina Negri) by Giuseppe Pelllizza da Volpedo 1889

Portrait of Francesco Maria Bruntino by Fra Galgario 1737

View of Saint Mark’s Square by Francesco Guardi 1760-1770

Accademia Carrara

The Artist’s Daughter Irene (Girl with Roses) by Cesare Tallone 1898

Madonna Nursing the Child by Bergognone c. 1492-1495

The Birth of Mary by Vittore Carpaccio c. 1502-1504

Accademia Carrara

Paolo e Francesca by Gaetano Previati c. 1887

Madonna and Child Enthroned; the Holy Trinity; Saint Peter; Saint Michael the Archangel (The Scanzo Polyptych) by Bartolomeo Vivarini 1488

Accademia Carrara

Musical Instruments and Sstatuette by Evaristo Baaschenis c. 1660

The Mother’s Curse by Ponziano Loverini 1886

We also loved the special exhibit on the Bergamasque Alps, “Vette di Luce,” especially after having spent over a week in the Dolomites. The paintings were done by various Italian artists and the photographs were taken by Naoki Ishikawa (b. 1977, Tokyo). After climbing Mount Fuji and Denali, he went on to conquer ten of the world’s fourteen highest mountains. In the Bergamo region, he was struck by the everyday life of the mountain communities: cow herding, producing cheese and butter, and the processes used to obtain great varieties of dairy products.

The Dragon’s Lair by Matteo Rubbi 2023

Pizzo Recastello by Camillo Galizzi c. 1935-1940

View of Sedrina by Costantino Rosa c. 1850-1870

“Vette di Luce”

Landscape with Snowy Mountains by Costantino Rosa c. 1861

Serio River Waterfalls by Costantino Rosa 1861

The Cabianca (from the Calvi Refuge) by Camillo Galizzi c. 1948

The North Face of the Presolana by Camillo Galizzi c. 1935-1940

View of the Val Brembana by Constantino Rosa c. 1850-1870

Naoki Ishikawa

Naoki Ishikawa 2022

Naoki Ishikawa

After our museum visit we found a hole in the wall café, Café Poeme, where Mike had a brown-sauced lasagna with radicchio and I had breaded meatballs, French fries and a honey mustard sauce. We both had Hugos as we sat on the sidewalk near a busy street. It was a rather nondescript place, but the food was good.

me with a Vespa on the street of Bergamo

Mike at Café Poeme

brown-sauced lasagna with radicchio

me with a Hugo at Café Poeme

breaded meatballs at Café Poeme

our trip so far on Polarsteps

On Tuesday morning we would head to Lucca where, on Wednesday, we would rendezvous with my Slovakian friend Darina. From there, Mike would return home and Darina and I would prepare to embark on a very hot Via Francigena to Rome.

Steps: 14,456; Miles 6.13. Weather: Hi 83°, Lo 64°.

CategoriesBergamo, Europe, International Travel, Italy, Lombardy, Photography, Prose, Travel, Travel Creativity, Travel Essay, Travel photography, Travelogue, Writing

TagsBergamo, Europe, Italy, Photography, Travel, Walks, Writing

9 Comments

the eternal traveller November 8, 2023 at 4:37 pm

What a treat to see such a big collection of old masters. And all your meals look amazing too.

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1. wanderessence1025 November 9, 2023 at 9:23 am
  
  It was a beautiful collection of art, Carol. We loved it, although by this time in our trip, I was getting a bit bored with Italian cities. I still had a lot to go through too!
  
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restlessjo November 8, 2023 at 5:18 pm

We were quite close to Bergamo but never visited, Cathy. Probably because James was small when we were there and it’s a different holiday. Your photos of the Basilica are magnificent. Not sure about those polenta cakes- they look a bit sickly, but you have to try them!

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1. wanderessence1025 November 9, 2023 at 9:29 am
  
  To be honest, Jo, I wasn’t that crazy about Bergamo. I don’t think you missed much, especially having small James along. When our boys were little we mostly took beach vacations, and never would have dragged them on a cultural trip. Those polenta cakes were way too sugary for me! I didn’t care for them at all, but you’re right, we had to at least try them. I’m a salt kind of girl anyway; I’ll always eat salty food over sweet, when I have to choose. That Basilica was amazing, and it was wonderful to see the Città Alta perched high on the hill, and that art museum was fabulous, but other than that, I think I’m getting burned out on European cities. I am urged to return to South America and Asia again… 🙂
  
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  1. restlessjo November 9, 2023 at 10:59 am
    
    I never made it to the Far East, Cathy, and don’t think it’s likely now. To be honest, you can get such a good flavour of what these places are like from blogs and travel videos. I would love to see some of South America but you know I’m never going to convince the other half. I think we probably still have enough excitement in our lives 🤗🩷
    
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    1. wanderessence1025 November 14, 2023 at 4:22 pm
      
      I’m sure you have plenty of excitement in your life, Jo. We all have fewer and fewer years left remaining, so I’m still trying to squeeze as much in as I can. Who knows how long I’ll be able to do so. No more long walks though, that’s for sure. Unless they’re fully supported with luggage transfers, etc. 🙂
      
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    2. restlessjo November 14, 2023 at 5:34 pm
      
      🤗🩷
      
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Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter November 9, 2023 at 4:00 pm

Another post full of fabulous things! You pack such a lot into a day.

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1. wanderessence1025 November 14, 2023 at 4:19 pm
  
  Thank you, Anabel. Well, we figured we’d probably never go back, so we tried to squeeze in what we could. 🙂
  
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