DAY 5 (28th November 2023)
Piove di Sacco, via Bergamo, via Padova (some spell it as Padua)
Our hosts had booked rooms for us at the Point Hotel in a small town named Piove di Sacco just outside of Padova city, and the next few nights, we will call this “home”. Having checked that we could place our luggage at the train station in Bergamo, we planned a full day’s itinerary in Bergamo before going to Padova. We packed up our stuff, and left the AirBnb, making sure to clean up behind us. From Milan to Bergamo, the train ride took less than an hour.
Having a little time on our hands before our train ride, we walked around the Milan Centrale Railway Station and enjoyed the design of the station. When the time came to board, we left Milan one last time, heading eastward to Bergamo.
The roof structures of the Milano Centrale Railway Station
When we arrived at the Bergamo train station, we dropped our bags at a little convenient store which doubled up as a luggage storage facility. We had to get back to the store by 7:00pm, or they would keep our luggage for the night. But we had a train to catch, so, we made sure to be back way before then.
Upon arriving at Bergamo town, it became apparent that most of the main attractions are up on the hill, or the Upper City or Citta Alta, where all its historical landmarks and buildings are located. We took a bus, which wound its way slowly up the road until we reached the designated bus stop. We still had to walk up a rather steep slope to get to where we wanted to go. But the view overlooking the Lower City below was lovely under the bright winter sunlight.
View of the Lower City below
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Cappella Colleoni and Cattedrale di Sant’Alessandro Martire (Bergamo Cathedral)
Within a stone’s throw from each other, are three religious centres of worship. (Bro Ray: I spent some time trying to identify the names of each of the buildings and it was actually quite confusing!) The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is a little more easily recognizable as it has quite a unique feature – if you look closely, at the bottom of some of the columns are statues of lions. That’s how you will know that they are the same building. The ancient residents of Bergamo prayed to St. Mary to protect its inhabitants from the plague and made vows to dedicate this church to St. Mary.
Standing right beside, the Cappella Colleoni, which was dedicated to three of the saints, i.e. Bartholomew, Mark and John the Baptist. This chapel was built between 1472 and 1476, and the design is very distinct from the neighbouring Santa Maria Maggiore.
Just across the road from the first two churches, is another church – Basilica di Sant’Alessandro Martire, or just the Bergamo Cathedral, which was dedicated to Saint Alexander of Bergamo, the patron saint of the city. Of course, each of the churches have their own histories and stories. There are several other chapels within the area, too.
Piazza Vecchia Bergamo Alta
Walking just a short distance pass the Bergamo Cathedral through the Portica della Ragione, a covered arch, you will enter to the Piazza Vecchia Bergamo Alta. This is probably the most famous square in Bergamo, from which you can see the 12th century Campanone clock tower and the Palazzo Nuovo, which houses the public library of Bergamo (Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai) founded by Giuseppe Alessandro Furietti.
Il Fornaio
I would’ve thought that square pizzas in Italy would have been almost sacrilegious, but apparently not. Not at Il Fornaio anyway. We stumbled across this unassuming pizza place which served square or rectangle pizzas. And how to they charge for a slice? They weigh it. Kinda unique.
Mura Veneziane and Porta San Giacomo
We continued our walkabout after the wonderful lunch, and found our way to the Porta San Giacomo, a white marble gate that used to be the entrance to Bergamo from Milan. At the top of the gate is the carved Lion of St. Mark, which is featured on all the city gates of Upper City Bergamo. In ancient times, all the gates of the city will be closed at 10:00pm every night for the safety of its residents.
The gate is flanked by the Mura Veneziane, or the Bergamo Venetian Wall, built in the late 16th century for the protection of the inhabitants of the city. It is well-preserved to this day as it was never involved in any of the wars, and was recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The view of the Lower City can be seen from almost any vantage point along the wall.
The other sites of interest in Bergamo
The walkabout at the Upper City brought us to some interesting sites. The paved roads and narrow streets, quite steep in some areas, were not difficult to walk. The light traffic helped, too. First, we came across the clock tower located at the Piazza della Cittadella, originally a private residence of the Visconti family together with lodgings for their private army. Bernabo Visconti started the construction in 1355 and over the centuries many buildings and structures were added.
The route thereafter was pretty much downhill until we reached the University of Bergamo Humanities Library, which at first glance, looked more like a church than a library. A short walk later, we came to another gate, the Saint Augustine Gate, which also has the imprint of the Lion of St. Mark, still clearly visible. This is the east gate, built in 1574. Today, vehicles still use the gate to enter into the Upper City, but only one vehicle at a time due to its narrowness. Pedestrians and bicycles would use the smaller gates by the side.
We found a narrow walkway between the walls of the Public University of Bergamo and a private residence, which was a shortcut back to the train station. Since it was on the way, we also just stopped by the front of the Accademia Carrara Museum, which has over 300 paintings and sculptures. It was founded by Giacomo Carrara in 1796. We didn’t go in though.
We arrived at the train station with quite some time to spare. After collecting our luggage we bought some snacks and got ready to travel to Padova, almost 3 hours’ train ride away, via some big cities like Brescia, Verona and Vicenza. We didn’t get proper seating, which meant we had little chance to rest. It was already dark when we arrived at Padova, and after some looking around, found the bus station and the bus to take us to Piove di Sacco. By now, the mercury had plunged to 3⁰C. But we found the Hotel soon enough – thank God.
Summary for Day 5
Bergamo, with a population of just 120,000 people, is actually just 30km from the Swiss border. I believe there is much more to discover and explore in Bergamo, since we mostly spent what little time we had in Upper City only. Since we started at the Upper City, the rest of the walk was relatively easy, totalling more than 4.5km, mostly downhill except for the initial climb.
By the time we arrived and checked in at Point Hotel, we were utterly exhausted. And knowing that the next day was the start of “business”, we retired to our rooms early to prepare for the next day. DT and FF had arrived and checked into the hotel as well.
