Christmas in Bergamo

Natale adds extra sparkle to Lombardy’s hidden gem

The beautiful city of Bergamo has now become even more magical, adorned with thousands of twinkling lights, colourfully decorated Christmas trees and lovingly recreated nativity scenes, known in Italian as presepi.

Christmas tree lights up a corner of Piazza Vecchia

On Christmas Eve, la Vigilia di Natale, it was warm and sunny with a clear blue sky while people completed their Christmas shopping, with most of the shops open for business, even though it was a Sunday.

Hundreds of people dressed as Santa Claus - Babbo Natale to Italians - competed in a fun run for charity, Babbo Running, handily finishing on Via Sentierone in the Città Bassa, so they could go into the bars still in costume for a refreshing drink afterwards, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Babbo Running finishes in Bergamo's lower town

The night before Christmas, the buses and the funicular railway were running until late, making it possible to go up to the Città Alta to dine out.

Restaurants were open on both Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day, Natale, but were all filled to capacity, so it is well worth booking in advance, by either email or telephone, to make sure you get a table at your favourite.

There were Christmas concerts in many of the churches and more informal festive entertainment put on in some of the bars.

The talented Maysingers perform in the Tucans
 Pub in Via Donizetti

Some shops and bars were open on Christmas Day in the morning but there was no public transport running. Thankfully the day dawned bright and clear, with warm sunshine, making the walk up to the Città Alta enjoyable.

Many shops and businesses in the city had followed the custom of leaving a seat outside for Santa, adding to the festive atmosphere.

The shops were all filled with seasonal goodies, such as the traditional Panettone and Pan d’Oro and also torrone, a type of nougat made in Cremona, which is a traditional gift to take when visiting friends on Christmas morning. Negozio Sperlari in Via Solferino, in nearby Cremona, has become famous for making torrone. The concoction of almonds, honey and egg whites was created in the city to mark the marriage of Bianca Maria Visconti to Francesco Sforza in 1441, when Cremona was given to the bride as part of her dowry.

In one supermarket in Bergamo’s Città Bassa, a special offer enabled customers to buy a bottle of Aperol, a bottle of Prosecco and a very large bag of crisps, patatine, for just 10 euros,the makings of a very merry Christmas!

Supermarket special offer

Editor’s note: ‘Particular praise should go to the restaurant Il Sole in Via Colleoni just off Piazza Vecchia in the Città Alta. The restaurant was full for Christmas lunch and offered a very good à la carte menu. The courses were served promptly and all the dishes we ordered were hot and delicious. The staff were cheerful and attentive. It was a lovely convivial atmosphere and I would recommend the restaurant to anyone wishing to enjoy a good Christmas lunch in Bergamo’s Città Alta next year.’

For more information visit www.ilsolebergamo.com

Buon Natale e Buon Anno from Best of Bergamo !

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Sant’Alessandro festival 2015

Patron saint honoured by bells

The bells have been ringing out all over Bergamo today to herald the festival in honour of the city’s patron saint, Sant’Alessandro, which starts tomorrow.

The annual event commemorates the event on August 26, 303, when Sant’Alessandro was martyred by the Romans for refusing to renounce his Christian faith.

Column marks spot where
 Sant'Alessandro was executed

It is believed Sant’Alessandro was a devout citizen who had defiantly continued to preach in Bergamo, despite several narrow escapes from the Romans, but he was eventually caught and suffered decapitation.

A series of religious, cultural and gastronomic events focused on the theme of Gratitude will takes place in his name over several days throughout the city, which will be decorated with festive lights.

Palazzo Frizzoni, the seat of the commune, will open its doors to the public for guided tours tomorrow afternoon.

Bergamaschi bell ringers will perform a set of traditional old tunes to entertain the public in Piazza Mascheroni and there will be stalls and refreshments along the Sentierone. A firework display will take place at 10.30 pm tomorrow night.

Porta Sant’Alessandro, which leads from the upper town to Borgo Canale and San Vigilio, was built in the 16th century. It was named after a fourth century cathedral that had originally been dedicated to the saint but was later demolished.

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New Year celebrations in Piazza Vecchia

For the first time ever the funicular that links the Città Bassa with the Città Alta will run until two o'clock in the morning on New Year's Day (Capodanno) in Bergamo.
This is to enable revellers to enjoy the celebrations in Piazza Vecchia, which are expected to go on well after the Campanone has rung in the New Year at midnight.

Action in Death in the High City
 takes place in Piazza Vecchia.

Restaurants around the square will be putting on special New Year's menus and there will be live music and entertainment for the crowds in Piazza Vecchia. A fireworks display from Porta San Giacomo will welcome in 2015 with a bang.
ATB (Azienda Trasporti Bergamo) have taken the decision to keep the funicular running after midnight when it would normally stop to enable locals and visitors to get home safely after enjoying the festive atmosphere.
Bergamo's Piazza Vecchia will clearly be the place to see in the New Year.
Buon Anno and a Happy New Year to all visitors to Best of Bergamo.
And a special thank you to everyone who has bought a copy of Death in the High City, published in 2014 and the first crime novel to be set in Bergamo, in which most of the action takes place within the walls of the Città Alta.

Death in the High City by Val Culley is available in paperback and in Kindle from Amazon

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Visit Bergamo at festival time

Roman column marks where
 Sant'Alessandro was killed

The end of August is a great time to visit Bergamo as the city is in celebratory mood because of the festa for their patron saint Sant’Alessandro.

Every year on 26 August Bergamo commemorates the date in AD 298 that Saint Alexander was martyred by the Romans for refusing to renounce his Christian faith.

It is believed Alessandro was a devout citizen who had insisted on preaching in Bergamo, despite having had several narrow escapes. But he was eventually caught by Roman soldiers and suffered decapitation.

A series of religious, cultural and gastronomic events takes place in his name over several days throughout the city, which is decorated with festive lights.

In 2010 for the first time there was a re-enactment of Alessandro’s execution in full costume at the place where it is believed to have been carried out, in Via Sant’Alessandro, where the church of Sant’Alessandro in Colonna now stands.

A Roman column outside the church marks the spot where the decapitation is said to have happened.

Church bells will ring out all over the city to herald the start of the festival beginning at 10.00 on Saturday 25 August. A fair to mark Sant’Alessandro’s festa will be held in Via Sentierone in the Città Bassa on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 August. There will also be a street art exhibition and musical entertainment.

Porta Sant’Alessandro, which leads from the Città Alta (upper town) to Borgo Canale and San Vigilio, was built in the 16th century. It was named after a fourth century cathedral that had originally been dedicated to the saint but was demolished to make way for the fortifications built round the Città Alta by the Venetians who ruled the city at the time.

The gate became a checkpoint manned by customs officers, who would tax farmers from outside the city bringing in vegetables, eggs, chickens and wine to sell to residents of the Città Alta (upper town).

 

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New York art lovers enjoy paintings while Accademia Carrara is closed

Stars from the collection of Venetian paintings held by the Accademia Carrarra in Bergamo are currently on show in New York.

While the prestigious art gallery in Bergamo’s Città Bassa (lower town) is closed for restoration some of the choicest items from its collection have taken to the road.

From now until September, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will be showing ‘Bellini, Titian and Lotto: North Italian paintings from the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo’.

Bellini's Pietà with the Virgin and Saint John

Visitors will be able to see Giovanni Bellini’s Pietà with the Virgin and Saint John, dated between 1455 and 1460, a mournful complement to his later Madonna and Child, which is already in the Met’s collection.

From Titian there is the very early Orpheus and Eurydice, thought to have been painted between 1508 and 1512 and from Lorenzo Lotto there is the charming portrait of Lucina Brembati, who wears a large, jewelled toothpick on a gold chain around her neck.

Among the less familiar sights are three small narrative paintings from a Lotto altarpiece that have not travelled before and works by Giovanni Cariani, Andrea Previtali, Moretto da Brescia and Vincenzo Foppa, artists not so well known outside Italy.

For more information about the exhibition visit www.metmuseum.org.

Visitors to Bergamo can enjoy fine paintings from the Accademia Carrara collection and see inside the 12th century Palazzo della Ragione in the Città Alta (upper town) at the same time.

Titian's Orpheus and Eurydice

The exhibition ‘Vincere il Tempo’ (literally Winning Time) in the Truss Room of the Palazzo follows the collecting history of the Accademia, which was begun by Giacomo Carrara in the middle of the 18th century and has since received donations from many other passionate art collectors.

Along with works by Raphael, Titian and Mantegna, masterpieces by local artists such as Giovan Battista Moroni, Fra’ Galgario and Vincenzo Foppa are on display.

The entrance to the exhibition is up the covered staircase in Piazza Vecchia and along the little bridge that leads to the top floor of the Palazzo.

The ticket price is €5, but there are reductions for groups and families.

The building that usually houses the Accademia Carrara’s distinguished collection in Piazza Giacomo Carrara in the Città Bassa is currently undergoing extensive restoration work. For more information visit www.accademiacarrara.bergamo.it.

 

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Celebrate Easter in Bergamo

Easter eggs fill shop windows
in Bergamo

Easter is a lovely time for a break in Bergamo as the weather is beginning to warm up and the spring flowers are in bloom.

In the run up to Easter many Bergamo shops will have elaborate displays of chocolate eggs in their windows. Italian Easter eggs are usually wrapped artistically in coloured cellophane and tied with pretty ribbons. They often contain a toy, or in the case of Easter eggs for adults, a gift, which can sometimes be as substantial as a mobile phone!

There are some fascinating chocolate and cake shops in Via Colleoni in the Città Alta (upper town) and down in the Città Bassa (lower town) there is a well-stocked chocolate and sweet shop in Via Tiraboschi, a left turn off Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII at Largo Porta Nuova. The shop also sells a selection of boxes of chocolates and biscuits - ideal to take home as holiday presents.

Although Venerdi Santo (Good Friday) is not a Bank Holiday in Italy and the shops are open as usual there will be special services in the churches and some areas will have processions and events.

On Easter Sunday, while the world tunes in to watch the celebrations in Rome on television, services will be held at churches all over Bergamo.

The restaurants in Bergamo will be busy at lunch time as families go out to celebrate la Pasqua (Easter) together and many will be serving a special menu. If you are looking forward to a good lunch it is advisable to book somewhere in advance.

Traditional Easter food

A traditional Easter meal for Italian families, whether they are eating at home or in a restaurant, is likely to centre on agnello (lamb) as the main course, either roasted or braised.

For dessert there will usually be la Colomba, the dove shaped cake that is traditional at Easter, in the same way that il Panettone is traditional at Christmas.

La Colomba (the dove) is known as the bird of peace and there is a legend that says a cake in the shape of a dove was offered to try to end a siege at Pavia.

But there is also the theory that the cake was created in the 1930s by a firm in Milan who wanted to provide a cake for Easter that was the equivalent to il Panettone.

La Colomba is now sold all over Italy but is also made in the home. The traditional version has an almond and sugar topping, but these days the shops sell them with all kinds of fillings, icings and toppings. 

If the weather is warm and sunny, consider a day out at one of the lakes near Bergamo during your stay.

You could take a bus to the resorts of Sarnico, Tavernola Bergamasca or Lovere on the western shore of Lago d’Iseo. Or you could go by train to Brescia , where you then change to the train to Edolo that runs alongside the eastern shore of the lake. The train stops at Sulzano and from there you could make the short crossing to Monte Isola, the largest lake island in Italy and southern Europe.

From Brescia you can also take a train to Desenzano del Garda on Lake Garda , from where you can go by boat to Sirmione or Bardolino.

And it is only half an hour by direct train from Bergamo to the beautiful lake resort of Lecco at the foot of Lago di Como.

Buona Pasqua! 

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Italy’s image under scrutiny in Bergamo

An exhibition poster

An exhibition to celebrate 150 years of Italian unity by examining the image of Italy abroad is currently being shown in Bergamo.

The Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GAMEC) is exhibiting works by 200 Italian and international artists covering a multitude of visual expressions of Italy.

The exhibition Il Belpaese dell’arte – etiche ed estetiche della nazione (The beautiful country of art – ethics and aesthetics of the nation) runs until 19 February, 2012.

The exhibition explores art, cinema, literature and Italian products to examine Italy’s image in elite and popular culture throughout the world since the 18th century.

How to find GAMEC

The gallery is at number 53 Via San Tomaso in the Città Bassa (lower town) and is a short walk from Via Sentierone in the centre. Leave along Via Torquato Tasso past the Church of San Bartolomeo. Turn left into Via Pignolo and walk uphill in the direction of the Città Alta (upper town) until you reach Piazzetta del Delfino. Turn right into Via San Tomaso and you will find the gallery on the right hand side before you reach Piazza Carrara at the end of the street.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 – 19.00; Thursday 10.00 – 22.00. Closed Mondays.

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Bergamo celebrates Sant’Alessandro festival

Porta Sant'Alessandro

Every year on 26 August,  Bergamo commemorates the date in AD298 that patron saint Sant’Alessandro was martyred by the Romans for refusing to renounce his Christian faith.

It is believed Alessandro was a devout citizen who had continued to preach in Bergamo, despite several narrow escapes, but was eventually caught and suffered decapitation.

A series of religious, cultural and gastronomic events will takes place in his name over several days throughout the city, which will be decorated with festive lights.

In 2010 for the first time there was a re-enactment of Alessandro’s execution in full costume at the place where it is believed to have been carried out, in Via Sant’Alessandro, where the church of Sant’Alessandro in Colonna now stands.

A Roman column outside the church marks the spot where the decapitation is said to have happened.

Porta Sant’Alessandro, which leads from the Città Alta (upper town) to Borgo Canale and San Vigilio, was built in the 16th century in memory of the saint. It was named after a fourth century cathedral that had originally been dedicated to the saint but was later demolished.

The gate became a checkpoint manned by customs officers, who would tax farmers from outside the city bringing in vegetables, eggs, chickens and wine to sell to residents of the Città Alta.

Royal Wedding fever hits Italy

Victor Emanuele III's statue
a reminder of Italy's royal past

Billions of people all over the world are following the wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton on television today.

Italian viewers could enjoy two hours of live coverage of the ceremony and its build-up on the country's main television channel, Rai Uno.

Last night the live debate programme Porta a Porta was devoted to Nozze di Re (the royal wedding). The question was asked: Is the future of the monarchy in William’s hands?

And studio guests discussed the people left off the guest list for the wedding, which include members of the former Italian royal family, who spent many years in exile but are now living back in Italy .

On June 2 every year, Italians celebrate the birth of the republic in Italy . They voted for a republic in a referendum held in 1946 and as a result King Umberto II went into exile.

But the Italian royal family are still remembered in many places throughout the country, including Bergamo, where a statue of Victor Emanuele III towers over Piazza Giacomo Matteotti in the Città Bassa (lower town).

And the attitude of many Italians has softened towards their former royal family in recent years. Emanuele Filiberto, the son of the current king of Italy, achieved the majority vote in Ballando con le Stelle on Rai Uno, an equivalent of the popular BBC programme, Strictly Come Dancing, when he took part in 2009. Thanks to the viewers’ vote he was crowned champion, sparking headlines in the Italian newspapers declaring him ‘King for a Night’.

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Bergamo art exhibition wins time for gallery restoration

Palazzo della Ragione

Visitors to Bergamo can look inside the 12th century Palazzo della Ragione in the Città Alta (upper town) and enjoy some of the finest paintings from the prestigious Accademia Carrara collection at the same time.

While the Accademia’s neoclassical building in the Città Bassa (lower town) is being restored, a selection of the gallery’s most important works are on show in the Truss Room of the Palazzo della Ragione.

The exhibition ‘Vincere il Tempo’ (literally Winning Time) will run throughout 2011 from Tuesday to Sunday each week.

The exhibition follows the collecting history of the Accademia, which was begun by Giacomo Carrara in the middle of the 18th century and has since received donations from other passionate art collectors.

Along with works by Raphael, Titian and Mantegna, masterpieces by local artists such as Giovan Battista Moroni, Fra’ Galgario and Vincenzo Foppa are on display.

The entrance to the exhibition is up the covered staircase in Piazza Vecchia and along the little bridge that leads to the top floor of the palazzo.

The ticket price is €5, but there are reductions for groups and families. For more information visit www.accademiacarrara.bergamo.it.

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Bergamo Jazz 2011

The elegant Teatro Donizetti

Bergamo hosts its 33rd annual jazz festival later this month with a series of events at the Teatro Donizetti and throughout the city.
Bergamo Jazz 2011, under the artistic direction of Paolo Fresu, will feature a host of internationally acclaimed musicians in concert, as well as films and educational events for jazz enthusiasts.
The former church of Mary Magdalene and the Teatro Sociale will be used as venues and there will be three evenings dedicated to jazz in the elegant setting of Teatro Donizetti in Via Sentierone in the Città Bassa (lower town) between March 18 and 20.
The Teatro Donizetti was built near the end of the 18th century but was remodelled at the end of the 19th century and renamed in honour of composer Gaetano Donizetti, who was born in Bergamo in 1797. After a brilliant career during which he composed some of the greatest lyrical operas of all time, Donizetti returned to spend his last days in his native city. His tomb is in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Città Alta (upper town).
Although Teatro Donizetti is an internationally acclaimed opera house it now also stages symphony concerts, dance, jazz and the annual Brescia and Bergamo piano festival.
For more information or to book tickets online, visit teatro.gaetano-donizetti.com

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Painter Moroni’s death at Gorlago

See paintings by Moroni in the
Palazzo della Ragione

Giovan Battista Moroni, who was considered one of the great portrait painters of the 16th century,  died 433 years ago today while working on a painting of the Last Judgment at a church just outside Bergamo.

Moroni was born at Albino near Bergamo somewhere between 1510 and 1522 and went on to train under a religious painter from Brescia,  Alessandro Bonvicino.

Although Moroni painted some acclaimed religious works, he is even more renowned for the vitality and realism of his portraits,  for which he was once praised by Titian.

Some of Moroni’s work is in the Uffizzi Gallery in Florence and some in the National Gallery in London.

But some fine examples of Moroni’s work are also in the collection of the Accademia Carrarra in Bergamo.  Although the Accademia is currently closed for restoration, you can see some of Moroni’s paintings in the exhibition currently being held in the Palazzo della Ragione in the Piazza Vecchia in Bergamo’s Città Alta (upper town).

Moroni’s legacy of portraits provides an illuminating insight into life in Bergamo in the 16th century, as he received commissions from upwardly mobile merchants as well as nobleman.

Moroni was the first painter to reflect the changes brought about by the Reformation in his art, as a consequence of working in Trento towards the end of his life when the Council of Trent was summoned by Pope Paul III.

One of Moroni’s finest religious works, the Coronation of the Virgin, can be seen in the church of Sant Alessandro della Croce in Via Pignolo in Bergamo’s Città Bassa (lower town).

Moroni’s unfinished painting of the Last Judgment can be seen in the church at Gorlago, where he was working just before his death on 5 February 1578.

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Bergamo awaits Befana

An artist's impression of Befana

Children in Bergamo will have been hoping to find that Befana had left them presents when they woke up this morning.

Although Christmas is virtually over, 6 January is the day when a kind witch visits the good children in Italy and leaves them presents. If they have been naughty they are supposed to receive a lump of coal and if they have been stupid they are supposed to receive only a carrot. But many children throughout Italy will have been expecting some good presents from Befana today.

Befana is also sometimes referred to as La Vecchia (the old woman) and La Strega (the witch). But she is supposed to be a similar character to Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus.

It is believed her name derives from La Festa dell’Epifania (the feast of the Epiphany).

Befana is usually portrayed in illustrations as an old lady riding a broomstick, wearing a black shawl and covered in soot because she enters the children’s homes through the chimney.

Lucky children in Bergamo may have already received presents from Santa Claus and wake up today to find another delivery from Befana.

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