"A Tale of Two Cities" a Bergamo Travel Page by antz

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Looking to Citta Bassa from City Wall

Why did I go to Bergamo?

I was sitting in work one day back in May 06, and instead of doing work I was checking out the Ryanair website for any cheap deals! (Normal behaviour?) Anyway, I came across a deal which meant I could get to Italy and back for just under £30!! Imagine my amazement! Well, I had to just book it there and then, I couldn't miss out on this opportunity!

As it turns out, the Ryanair flight went from Glasgow Prestwick to Bergamo. I looked up this unheard of (by me) town to see what it was all about. It looked like quite a nice place, so I checked out if there were any hostels available - and there was! 'Well', thought I, this must be the place for me: a cheap hostel, near Milan, what more can you ask for? So I booked the hostel as well. Only about £70 for 6 nights B&B!

At the time, it appeared to make sense that I base myself in Bergamo and travel around a bit. This probably would have been quite a good idea if I had wanted to go anywhere close by!

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One of Many Gates into Citta Alta

The inevitable little bit of history...

The name 'Bergamo' means 'house on the mountain' and this dates back to the Celtic word 'Berginos', a Celtic god of mountains.

Bergamo occupies the site of the ancient town of Bergomum, which was a Roman municipality. In the 5th century, it was destroyed by Attila. Between 1264 and 1428 the town was ruled by Milan, but passed to Venetian control until 1797; the Venetians fortified the higher portion of the town.

The town has two centers: 'Cittą alta' (uptown), a hilltop medieval town, surrounded by 17th century cyclopic defensive walls, and 'Cittą bassa' (downtown), developed since the beginning of the 20th century.

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Looking over the Citta Bassa from the Citta Alta

What did I think of Bergamo?

To tell you the truth, I wasn't that enamoured with the place. I had really been looking forward to coming to Italy, and had preconceived ideas of what it was going to be like. Needless to say, it was nothing like I had thought! Of course, that wasn't Bergamo's fault!!

Bergamo is really just another big city like all others - very busy and noisy! The old city is beautiful and well worth a visit, but the new part of the city is just like anywhere else, and I could find nothing to distinguish it.