Neoclassical gateway marks the centre of Bergamo

Porta Nuova's twin Propilei

Porta Nuova is the hub of Bergamo’s Città Bassa (lower town), in the same way that Piazza Vecchia is the heart of the Città Alta (upper town).

This wide gateway was made in the medieval walls in the middle of the 19th century, flanked by i Propilei (the Propylaea), two buildings that look like temples.

The columned atrium at the front of each of the buildings acted as a customs and excise checkpoint until the beginning of the 20th century.

The city’s original old walls were later demolished to provide better access to the Sant’Alessandro fair held in August each year.

The nearby thoroughfare, il Sentierone, a wide street which links Via Tasso with Via XX Settembre, became popular with the Bergamaschi for the daily passeggiata. Smart public buildings such as il Palazzo della Provincia, la Prefettura and the Teatro Donizetti were constructed in the area.

The new centre of the Città Bassa was completed by 1927 and the rest of modern Bergamo developed around Porta Nuova. But it is still only a short walk to the narrow streets with churches and building dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries that lead up to the Città Alta.


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