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.
![fullsizeoutput_280a6](https://wanderessence.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/fullsizeoutput_280a6.jpeg?w=1200)
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”
“polenta é osei”
Piazza Vecchia with the Campanone
Piazza Vecchia with the Campanone
Piazza Vecchia
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
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
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
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church
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
“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
Chiesa di Sant’Agata nel Carmine
Chiesa di Sant’Agata nel Carmine
Città Alta
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
view of the Lower Town from Città Alta
Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo
walkway from Città Alta to the Lower Town
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
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
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
Accademia Carrara
3. Madonna col Bambino by Andrea Mantegna c. 1480
Accademia Carrara
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
Accademia Carrara
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
Naoki Ishikawa 2022
Naoki Ishikawa
Naoki Ishikawa
Naoki Ishikawa
Naoki Ishikawa
Naoki Ishikawa
Naoki Ishikawa
Naoki Ishikawa
Naoki Ishikawa
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°.
You must be logged in to post a comment.