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The historic Upper Town (Città Alta) in Bergamo, Italy, is surrounded by Venetian defensive walls. The walls are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
“Main Street”
After exploring the sites on Piazza Vecchia and Piazza del Duomo, we decided to take a walk through the rest of Upper Town. It was cold and Marisol wasn’t feeling well, so it only consisted of walking down Via Gombito and Via Bartolomeo Colleoni, which are the main streets through the area.
Via Gombito and Via Bartolomeo Colleoni are pretty much the same street running about 500m long. Via Gombito stretches from the funicular station from Lower Town to Piazza Vecchia while Via Bartolomeo Colleoni goes from Piazza Vecchia to Piazza Mascheroni. It’s a pleasant narrow street to walk down, filled with shops, cafés, and some restaurants.
We especially enjoyed looking at the window displays of the food shops. Pasta, cheese, bread, and meat got our appetites going and we couldn’t wait for our next meal!
Churches
There are two churches along the street. The first one we passed was the Church of San Pancrazio (Chiesa di San Pancrazio), located on Via Gombito just a block from the funicular station. It dates back to at least 888, but was significantly expanded and restored from the 17th to 19th centuries. We didn’t go inside.
The next church is on Via Bartolomeo Colleoni near Piazza della Cittadella. It’s called the Church of Sant’Agata nel Carmine (Chiesa di Sant’Agata nel Carmine) and was built in 1357. It has a simple façade but is supposedly beautiful on the inside. The church was closed when we walked past.
Piazza Mascheroni
At the very end of Via Bartolomeo Colleoni is Piazza Mascheroni. On this square you’ll find the Clock Tower (Torre dell’Orologio), which is part of the Cittadella building. The building, which dates back to the 14th century, was the home of the city’s Venetian captains. Nowadays, it houses two museums – an archaeology museum and a natural science museum. Admission to both museums costs €3 (as of July 2023), but we weren’t interested in visiting either.
Also on Piazza Mascheroni is Palazzo Roncalli. It was built in 1500 by the Roncalli, a wealthy merchant family. The building functioned as a warehouse for merchandise that arrived from Venice and other cities.
What really caught our eye was a fruit market. There were a few stalls selling fruits, vegetables, cheese, and meat, so we stopped and filled up on some fresh fruits to snack on.
Piazza della Cittadella
When we finished shopping, we passed through the Clock Tower into Piazza della Cittadella, which is basically a parking lot.
Venetian Walls
At the opposite end, we passed through a gate into an open area where we were able to see the Venetian defensive walls. We then continued through Porta Sant’Alessandro to explore San Vigilio.
