Città Alta, Bergamo

Favorite thing: I was in Bergamo June 2007. I was only there for one night, it as a stop for a flight heading to Paris. I stayed at the International Youth Hostel. There is only one in Bergamo and it is great. Very, Very clean and nestled in the mountain. I went up to Citta Alta and it was beautiful, unfortunaly the weather wasn't! It was grey with heavy rains but you could still see the beauty. Sorry I don't have any names of hotels, but Bergamo is a bella city ... to be visited.

Favorite thing: The symbol of Bergamo is the big bell tower that we call 'Campanone' (Big bell).
If you happen to be in Città Alta at ten o'clock pm you won't miss the Campanone striking 100 times as it did since the Medieval period. At that time its striking meant that the doors of the walls were closing and that the inhabitants had to hurry to enter the walled town before the bells stroke the last time.
Nowadays it doesn't have any particular meaning but it still strikes 100 times as it did in the past as to remind this tradition.

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Favorite thing: Citta Alta is the oldest part of Bergamo which name probably comes from the celtic word for the hill. It was founded in pre-christian times by the Romans, but most developed during the rule of the Venetian Republic.
Although less known by the tourists, Citta Alta might be considered as the gem of the Lombardy Region.

Favorite thing: From many places you can have a wonderful outlook over the old city.
For this picture we climbed up the tower Campanone at the Piazze Vecchio.

Except for the typical red roofs of the houses, you can see at left in the back the 52 meter high tower called Torre di Gombito.
This tower was erected in the 12th century.

More to the left you can see the bell tower of the cathedral and the doom of the basilica

Favorite thing: It is a pleasure to walk through the small walking street of Via B. Colleoni.
If you walk this street to the West, you will pass the Piazza L. Mascheroni, then the Piazza Citadella (with some museum and the police station)
Then through a little gate you can take a small deviation through the little park (public garden) and finally end up at the Colle Aperto.
This is the place where you can take the bus to the staion and the airport.

Favorite thing: The skyline of Bergamo old city is really dominated by the many towers and bells.
Every where you see you can spot at least a couple of them.

I wonder how it would sound if they all would sound together?

Favorite thing: Bergamo, a lovely italian walled city, founded on a hill by a very old settlement in the protohistoric age. It still retains this configuration, giving the upper town its special character - the oldest part of the town, enclosed within walls, lays up on the hill while the modern centre has developed on the plain.

Favorite thing: Bergamo is set between hills and valleys, and has two distinct urban centres. Bergamo Alta (High Bergamo, on a hill located at 365 metres a/s/l) is the oldest of the two - it's also where the historical old quarters are, stands on a hill (365 m.) . Bergamo Bassa (Low Bergamo, located at 249 metres a/s/l) is in the plains, and it's the modern industrial and commercial centre of the city.

Fondest memory: The people. Bergamo is so near Milan (about an hour) yet culturally so far. It may as well be a city, but the inhabitants are for sure not city-dwellers: their mentality is still provincial", in the better meaning of the term - they are friendly, genuine, and reserved. Stubborn too, at times.