Campanone

The Beginners’ Guide to Doing Bergamo in Three Days

What the guide books often miss out

The beauty of the Bergamo Card

To ‘do’ Bergamo in three days probably the most convenient and cheapest way is to buy a 48 hour Bergamo Card, €15, and a One Day Airport Bus ticket €5. A little bit of planning should fill the 3 days remembering that (in order to make it seem a better deal) the Bergamo Card lists places that are free to everyone anyway so they can all be left to the third day. If used properly the Bergamo Card is, indeed, a good deal and allows you to get an idea of the city and its history. If travelling with very young children each card is valid for 1 adult and 1 child under six.

The Bergamo Card, is presently available for 24 and 48 hours from the time of the first use of bus ticket or after having been entered into the computer system at an attraction. If arriving by air you can get these at the airport from the transport company kiosk immediately in front of you once you’ve cleared customs, just to the left of the building exit. This kiosk also sells tickets for the buses going to Milan. The card is also on sale at the Tourist Information Office. There’s major building work going on at the airport at the moment (early summer 2014) but I don’t know how, or if, this work will have any impact on this information. The exact location might change but everything else should remain the same.

If you wish to follow a similar trip that I did over the course of three full days a considered use of your time could work in your favour as you can gain from the dead time overnight before using the second card – just take into account when you want that card to start depending upon your flight arrangements.

As is the case virtually everywhere in Italy in Bergamo you have to buy a ticket before getting on the bus. No driver will even have tickets or money if you attempt to buy one. If you are staying for any length of time in the city and don’t opt for the Bergamo Card makes sense to get one of the multi journey tickets. They are available for One, Two and Three days.

One thing it’s important to remember is that being a foreigner won’t wash in Italy if you’re caught travelling without a valid ticket. Inspectors don’t get on the buses very often, from my experience, but trying to argue you didn’t understand because you’re merely a tourist will only get you a visit to the police station. Currently the fine is €53 if you pay within 60 days of the fine being levelled, it triples after that. So if you get a ticket don’t forget to validate it in the orange machine next to each entrance on the bus. Normally you get on at the front and the back and get off in the middle.

The funicular

There are two short cable car routes in Bergamo. They don’t really exist in the UK and are a different type of transport and worth going on just for the novelty. There’s no great excitement, the journey last little more than 5 minutes and you don’t race along. The route that leaves from the main road at the bottom of the hill to Città Alta is a pleasant way to arrive in the old town. The other route is the one that takes you up to San Vigilio and leaves from outside the walls at the north-western part of the old town. These are run by ATB so any of the travel cards cover the cost.

When in the week to go

Arrive or leave on a Monday but don’t make it the middle of your stay. As is the case in many European countries Bergamo’s tourist attractions tend to close on Mondays (apart from public holidays). You might even find that some of the eateries will also take that day free as the number of people moving around will decrease. This might be less of a problem at the height of the season but then if you can be in any way more flexible in your travel dates you wouldn’t want to go in July or August anyway.

On the other hand for certain attractions being there at the weekend is useful. Two that immediately come to mind is the Donizetti Casa Natal (for opera fans) and the church of Santa Grata Inter Vites (for the macabre paintings behind the altar) – both in Via Borgo Canale.

Tourist Information

There’s a Tourist Information Office on the ground floor of the Gombito Tower, Via Gombito 13 in Città Alta. There’s also an office in Piazza Marconi, opposite the railway station, in the new town.

The best map I came across was given away free in the ATB (the local transport authority) office in Largo Porta Nova in the new town.

They tend to close at lunchtime.

What time to eat

Going to restaurants before the normal lunch break for local workers will allow for a less hectic experience, this is especially the case with the two restaurants chosen on this blog, the Autogrill in the Città Bassa and Il Circolino in Città Alta. Also if you choose to buy food and go for a picnic the places along Via Colleoni can get hectic when the crowds arrive and as you have to order, pay and then collect you could waste a lot of time in queues.

What time to visit the attractions

It might be stating the obvious but if you want to visit any of the main attractions arrive as soon as possible after they open. This doesn’t mean getting up at the crack of dawn as things don’t start opening until 09.00 at the earliest but getting the first hour before buses start to arrive from Milan is recommended. Especially in the low season, spring or autumn, Città Alta is quite pleasant in the early morning as cafés are starting to get ready for the rush and the Piazza Vecchia has few people around.

Markets

On Friday morning there’s a small general food market in Piazza Cittadella in Città Alta

On Saturday morning there are two street markets in the newer part of town.

The arts and crafts is in the Piazza degli Alpini, at the bottom end of Viale Giovanni XXIII, close to the railway station.

The food, clothing and general wares market is in Piazzale Goisis, the car park of the Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio football stadium, on Viale Guilio Cesare

Public Toilets in Città Alta

There’s a small building just up the hill from the Gombito Tower (the home of the Tourist Information Centre) on Via Lupo. Cost 25 cents.

Suggestions of what to do, where to go and where to eat

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti in Bergamo

Fans of opera, and especially that form known as bel canto (of which both Rossini and Bellini were also well-known exponents), will be able to follow a route following the life, literally from the cradle to the grave and a few stages in between, of Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti in Bergamo.

The Eccentric, Unusual and Bizarre in Bergamo

When people arrive in a tourist destination they often have a list of those highlights they wish to tick off – the ‘been there, done that, bought the T-shirt’ sort of idea. Whilst, in general, there’s nothing wrong with that approach it tends to mean that tourists race around (or are taken around) the major sites and in the process miss out on what makes the place ‘human’, somewhere people have lived for generations. Here I hope to give an introduction to the eccentric, unusual and bizarre in Bergamo.

Colleoni Chapel, Città Alta, Bergamo

The Colleoni Chapel is the Renaissance structure built beside (in fact having taken some of the space of) the Romanesque Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Piazzetta del Duomo in Città Alta in Bergamo.

Autogrill Self-Service Restaurant, Bergamo

For lunch on my first full day in Bergamo (out of three) I decided to travel down into the new town and see what was on offer there. It gave me a chance to have another look at the Monument to the Partisan and, perhaps, take some pictures of the Città Alta from below – that didn’t work out well as the day was, and remained, overcast with even a dramatic thunder and lightning show accompanying torrential rain in the evening. Just as the bus approached the Porta Nuova junction, my planned alighting place, I noticed a sign for the Autogrill Self-service restaurant on the left hand side.

San Michele al Pozzo Bianco – Bergamo

The small church of San Michele al Pozzo Bianco, on Via Porta Dipinta, just about 200 metres down the hill from the Piazza Mercato della Scarpe (where the top station of the funicular is located) in Città Alta, Bergamo, without a shadow of a doubt houses the finest collection of en situ Romanesque religious paintings in the city. Covering the period from the early 12th to the late 16th centuries its possible, in this one small building, to get an idea of the evolution not only of the artistic styles but also the way of thinking of the population during that 500 year period. For some reason unknown to me it rarely gets mentioned in any of the tourist material, either on paper or online.

Picnic at San Vigilio

With the idea that it’s possible to ‘do’ Bergamo in three full days I thought it would be useful to suggest that one of the lunches out of the three could consist of something a little less ‘formal’ than in a restaurant. I’ve already suggested the Autogrill in the Città Bassa and Il Circolino in the Città Alta so here I thought I’d offer some thoughts on snacking and organising a picnic at San Vigilio.

Il Circolino Ristorante – Cooperativa di Città Alta

I was glad I persisted in my search for a reasonably priced ristorante in Bergamo’s Città Alta, and not restricted my search to the new town, otherwise I would have missed out on Il Circolino. This is the restaurant within the building run by the Cooperativa di Città Alta, to be found in the dead-end alley off Via Colleoni (opposite No 22) with the Cooperative’s sign on the corner.

The Baptistery, Piazza Duomo, Città Alta

The Baptistery in Piazza Duomo, Città Alta, Bergamo must be the most peripatetic Baptistery in the world. It might not have travelled far but it moved often. Starting out inside the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore it was moved to two other places in the vicinity of the Piazza Duomo before ending up in its present location at the end of the 19th century.

Santa Grata Inter Vites – Macabre Paintings

Leaving through the Porta di San Alessandro in the north-western section of the walls of Città Alta, and walking just a little beyond the bottom funicular station that takes you up to San Vigilio (the highest point to look down on Bergamo) you’ll arrive, on the right going downhill, at the narrow street of Via Borgo Canale. A couple of hundred metres down this road, on the left hand side, is the church of Santa Grata Inter Vites, home to the macabre paintings by the local painter Paulo Vincenzo Bonomini (1757-1839).

Partisan Monument – Giacomo Manzù

In the Piazza Matteotti, just a few metres from the Porta Nuova in Bergamo’s New Town you come across the very moving and poignant Partisan Monument by the local, Bergamo born, sculptor Giacomo Manzù (the pseudonym of Giacomo Manzoni (22nd December 1908 – 17th January 1991).

The Campanone, Museum of the Venetian Age and Roman Archaeological Discoveries

The Campanone, the Museum of the Venetian Age and the Roman Archaeological area are all accessed by the same door, what would have been the main entrance of the Palazzo del Podestà (the Governor’s Palace) and so it makes sense to allow time to visit all three at the same time.

The Adriano Bernareggi Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art

The Museo Diocesano d’Arte Sacra Adriano Bernareggi (Adriano Bernareggi Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art) is only a short distance from the Cittá Alta. Based on the collection of a Bergamo Bishop (who gives his name to the museum) from the 1930s onwards it contains exhibits not really seen elsewhere in the city.

Three days in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy

Three days in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. What to do? Where to go? What do you need to know? How much will it cost? From the links below you will be able to find the information, practical hints, tips, suggestions of visits and food, etc., to make a full three day visit to the northern Italian city, in the foothills of the Orobie Alps and about 45 kilometres to east of Milan, an enjoyable experience.

Altun Ha

Altun Ha – Belize

Location

The original name of the site is not known. Altun Ha is the name of a nearby village, which in Yucatec Maya means [stone pond or lagoon). Due to its proximity to Belize City, this is one of the most visited sites. It covers an area of nearly 6 sq km and has over 500 visible structures, although the part that has been restored and is open to the public is relatively small. The constructions in the ceremonial precinct correspond mainly to the Classic period. During the excavations various unusual objects were found, corroborating the hypothesis that the site was an important link between the maritime trade routes and the inland: flint eccentrics, fine imported ceramics and the largest piece of jade ever found in the Maya area – an anthropomorphic head representing K’inich Ahau. This comes from Tomb B4/7 (2nd. A). The site is an hour by car from Belize City, taking the Northern Highway; when you reach mile marker 33, turn east and continue along the Old Northern Highway, where the signposts will lead you to the site. There is a car park, a visitor centre, and shops selling local handicrafts and food.

History of the explorations

In 1957 Altun Ha was recognised as an archaeological site by A. H. Anderson, the then archaeology commissioner in Belize, who conducted the first excavations. In 1961 William R. Bullard studied some of the materials. Between 1964 and 1970, David Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum carried out extensive excavations. Joseph O. Palacio began restoration work at the site in 1971 and continued until 1976. In 1978 Elizabeth Graham also conducted a series of restoration works. Between 2002 and 2003, as part of the Tourism Development Project supervised by Jaime Awe, Juan Luis Bonor and Doug Weinbury, the structures in central part of the site were restored and opened to the public.

Pre-Hispanic history

The earliest evidence of a settlement on the site dates from 200 BC. The oldest permanent construction is situated west of the central area and is not open to the public. Structure F8, known as the Reservoir Temple, is situated less than a kilometre south of Plaza B. An offering was discovered there, containing green obsidian eccentrics and blades from central Mexico, along with other imported objects not normally found in this part of the Maya area. The green obsidian may well have come from contact with Teotihuacan. The earliest building in the central precinct is Structure Al, built around 100 BC. It adopts the form of a temple and is close to the main reservoir. Subsequently, in the Early Classic (circa AD 250), building activity was concentrated in the part now open to the public. This remained the most important precinct at the site until the Late Classic.

Site description

Plaza A, in the northern section of the site, was the principal ceremonial precinct until the end of the Early Classic (circa AD 550), when the construction of Plaza B commenced, immediately south of the former. Buildings continued to be erected until AD 900 and the site was occupied for a further 100 years, although no new construction took place. In fact, a century and a half prior to the end of the building activity, the existing constructions were already decaying. Subsequently, the city was abandoned and then reoccupied in the 13th and 14th centuries. Plaza A is the largest, although no monuments or stelae were found in front of the buildings, Temple 1 displays various construction phases and its final form consists of a platform with terraces, built between the 5th and 6th centuries. Slight modifications were conducted during the course of the following centuries. The building originally comprised several rooms in the upper section and a broad stairway that reached almost to the top of the structure. A tomb was found inside the temple; dating from approximately AD 550, it is the oldest in the central precinct. It takes its name, Green Tomb, from the fact that it contained over 300 jade objects, as well as shell necklaces and ornaments, stingray spines, ceramic vessels, flint eccentrics and perishable materials such as animal skins, cloth, wooden objects and what are thought to be the remains of a bark paper codex, whose fragility and fragmented condition have prevented it from being reassembled.

Structure A2, a platform with rooms at the top, and Structure A8, a residence, are nowadays connected, although in their earliest construction phases they were separate buildings, structure A3 is the smallest temple in Plaza A. Meanwhile, structure A4 situated in the south-east section of Plaza A appears to have been a long, narrow platform with no buildings on the top, and it may well have served to delimit Plazas A and B. Plaza B is composed of various residential constructions and large temples. A group of three buildings (B3, B5 and B6) forms the south boundary: originally, these were separate structures but they were subsequently connected during the final construction phase.

Structure B4 is the most imposing building on the site and is known as the ‘Temple of the Masonry Altars’. It displays eight construction phases and stands nearly 18 m above the plaza. Seven tombs belonging to the Altun Ha elite were found inside this structure. The most impressive of them was discovered inside the rectangular block at the top of the building: Tomb B4/7 (2nd. A), which corresponds to the end of the Early Classic (AD 575-600). The remains of an elderly male were found in the tomb and the grave goods contained spectacular jade objects, including the head of the sun god, K’inich Ahau. This corresponds to the Mac phase (circa AD 600); it is 14.9 cm high and weighs nearly four and a half kilos. A variety of perishable materials were also found, such as ropes, clothing and wooden objects that do not normally survive in the Maya lowlands due to the damp climate.

From: ‘The Maya: an architectural and landscape guide’, produced jointly by the Junta de Andulacia and the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, 2010, p273, pp276-277.

Altun Ha

Plaza A; 2. Temple A1; 3. Structure A2; 4.Structure A3; 5. Structure A4; 6. Structure A5; 7. Structure A6; 8. Plaza B; 9. Structure B1; 10. Structure B2; 11. Struture B3; 12. Structure B4; 13. Structure B 6; 14. Structure B5.

Getting there:

From Belize City. There is a bus from Belize City whose final destination is Maskall and which passes the end of the approach road to the site – about a 2 mile walk. However, I have not been able to find any timetable for that bus – or whether it is possible to make the trip and back in a day. There was a bus which would have left Belize City at around 12.00 but that is not guaranteed. Otherwise, you could catch a bus to Sand Hill and get off at the junction of the Old Northern Highway. This is the road that goes within 2 miles of Altun Ha. There you either hitch or negotiate the cost of the lift. It’s all a matter of chance and luck whether you either get or lift or have to pay or not.