A MAGICAL PLACE

Bergamo’s beautiful upper town, the Città Alta (pictured above), is a magical place well worth visiting. Use this website to help you plan your trip to Bergamo in Northern Italy and find your way to some of the other lovely towns and villages in Lombardia that are perhaps less well known to tourists.

20120626

Elegant hotel on the shore of Lago d’Iseo

Monte Isola in Lago d'Iseo
If you would like close up views of Monte Isola, the stunning island in the middle of Lago d’Iseo - just a short distance from Bergamo - visit the resort of Sulzano on the Brescia side of the lake.

If you are not driving, the best way to reach Sulzano is to take the train from Bergamo to Brescia and then change to the train that runs along the side of the lake in the direction of Edolo. It will pass through the resort of Iseo before it reaches Sulzano.

It is a short walk from the railway station in Sulzano to the landing stage, or imbarcadero, where you can buy boat tickets to visit the island and pick up tourism information leaflets. The green mountainous island almost looks almost within touching distance from here. It takes only a few minutes on the ferry to reach the nearest point on Monte Isola, the old fishing village of Peschiera Maraglio.

Sulzano viewed from the Monte Isola ferry
Sulzano is an ideal location for a short break as it has shops, bars and amenities and is set in beautiful scenery, as well as being handily placed for visiting the island.

Consider a stay at the Hotel Rivalago in Via Cadorna, which is right on the edge of the lake.

This elegant four star hotel has a beautiful garden which runs down to the shore and a lakeside swimming pool with a bar at the side.

The 32 guest rooms all have wireless internet and some have balconies overlooking Lago d’Iseo with lovely views of Monte Isola.

The Hotel Rivalago also has its own private beach for the use of guests who wish to swim in the lake.

Check rates for the Hotel Rivalago with Hotels.com or Expedia.com


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20120607

Golden statue crowns cupola of huge church


Not to be missed in Bergamo’s Città Bassa…


SANTA MARIA IMMACOLATA DELLE GRAZIE


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 go back as far as 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.

See Best of Bergamo’s updated Flights Guide

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20120602

Rotonda dei Mille recalls the achievements of Garibaldi


The statue of Garibaldi
in Rotonda dei Mille
Bergamo is proud to call itself Città dei Mille in memory of the young men from the city who accepted Giuseppe Garibaldi’s invitation to help him unite Italy.
A statue of Garibaldi, who died 130 years ago today, stands on top of a marble column in the centre of Rotonda dei Mille in the Città Bassa (lower town), where five roads converge.
Garibaldi entered Bergamo in June 1859, where he was received with great enthusiasm. He invited the young Bergamaschi to volunteer for his Sicilian expedition and many young men accepted his invitation, earning Bergamo the title of Città dei Mille.
They helped Garibaldi win control of Sicily in the name of Vittorio Emanuele II. From there he crossed the Strait of Messina and marched north through Italy. He met the new king on 26 October 1860, shook his hand and then retired to live on the island of Caprera, off the coast of Sardinia. This was where he eventually died on 2 June, 1882, at the age of 74.


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