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| Santa Maria Immacolata delle Grazie |
A landmark of Bergamo's Città Bassa (lower town) is the impressive church of Santa Maria Immacolata delle Grazie in Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII.
The huge church on the corner of Porta Nuova has a 19th century green cupola topped with a golden statue with an early 20th century campanile next to it.
But the origins of the church date back to 1422 when a convent was built on the site dedicated to Santa Maria delle Grazie.
The beautiful cloisters have been preserved within the church buildings although the convent itself was suppressed at the beginning of the 19th century.
The neoclassical design for the new church was created between 1855 and 1857 by architect Antonio Preda and the first stone was laid on 1 May 1857 by the bishop at the time, Monsignore Pierluigi Speranza.
On 7 December 1907 the main altar was consecrated in the presence of the then bishop Giacomo Maria Radini Tedeschi, who was accompanied by his 26-year-old secretary Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, a native of Bergamo and the future Pope John XXIII.
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