|
|
|
Bergamo Travel Guide
|
| Bergamo
|
Just
50km northeast of Milan, yet much closer to the mountains
in look and feel, BERGAMO is a city with a split identity,
made up of two distinct parts – Bergamo Bassa, the
lower, more modern centre, and Bergamo Alta, clinging to
the hill 1200 feet above the Lombardian plain. Bergamo Bassa
is an odd mixture of pompous Neoclassical town planning
and medieval cobbled streets; but Bergamo Alta is one of
northern Italy's loveliest city centres, a favourite retreat
for the work-weary Milanese, who flock here at weekends
seeking solace in its fresh mountain air, wanderable lanes
and the lively, but easy-going pace of its life.
Bergamo owes much of its magic to the Venetians, who ruled
the town for over 350 years, building houses and palaces
with fancy Gothic windows and adorning many a facade and
open space with the Venetian lion – symbol of the
republic. The most striking feature, however, is the ring
of gated walls. Now worn, mellow and overgrown with creepers,
these kept alien armies out until 1796, when French Revolutionary
troops successfully stormed the city, throwing off centuries
of Venetian rule.
|
| Bergamo
Travels & Tours |
Carrara Academy Gallery (Galleria dell'Accademia Carrara)
Filled with a wide-ranging collection of the works of homegrown
artists, as well as Venetian and Tuscan masters, the academy
draws art lovers from all over the world. The most important
works are on the top floor -- head here first if your time
is limited. The Botticelli portrait of Giuliano de' Medici
is well known, and one room contains three versions of Giovanni
Bellini's favorite subject, the Madonna and Child. It's
interesting to compare his work with that of his brother-in-law,
Andrea Mantegna, whose Madonna and Child is also displayed,
as is Vittore Carpaccio's Nativity of Maria, seemingly inspired
by Flemish painters.
Colleoni Chapel (Cappella Colleoni)
This Renaissance chapel honors the inflated ego of the Venetian
military hero Bartolomeo Colleoni, with an inlaid marble
facade reminiscent of Florence. It was designed by Giovanni
Antonio Amadeo, who's chiefly known for his creation of
the Certosa in Pavia. For the condottiere, Amadeo built
an elaborate tomb, surmounted by a gilded equestrian statue.
(Colleoni, who was once the ruler of the town and under
whose watch the town fell to the Republic of Venice, which
he then served, was also the subject of one of the world's
most famous equestrian statues, now standing on a square
in Venice.) The tomb sculpted for his daughter, Medea, is
much less elaborate. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted most
of the frescoes on the ceiling. |
|
|
Bergamo Hotels Discounts Search
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
