Introduction to Bergamo

47km (29 miles) NE of Milan, 52km (32 miles) NW of Brescia

Bergamo is two cities. Bergamo Bassa, the lower, a mostly 19th- and 20th-century city, concerns itself with everyday business. Bergamo Alta, a beautiful medieval/Renaissance town perched on a green hill, concerns itself these days with entertaining the visitors who come to admire its piazze, palazzi, and churches; enjoy the lovely vistas from its belvederes; and soak in the hushed beauty that inspired Italian poet Gabriel d'Annunzio to call old Bergamo "a city of muteness." The distinct characters of the two parts of this city go back to its founding as a Roman settlement, when the civitas (Latin for city) was on the hill and farms and suburban villas dotted the plains below.