Upper City – Bergamo – Piazza della Cittadella – Museo Civico – The Citadel clock tower / Torre della Campanelle
Image by ell brown
A look around the upper city / town of Bergamo.
The start of our guided walking tour of the upper town of Bergamo.
Starting from Piazza della Cittadella.
This citadel was built in the most central point of Bergamo: why? To defend the city from the enemies attacks and as a sort of garrison house in case of popular uprising, of course, but also to make sure that the subjects always remembered how powerful their rulers were: the Visconti family, head of Milan’s Duchy and Bergamo’s ruler from 1332 to 1428.
Today, this space has become a typical square in Città Alta and still hosts many traces of its past. Coming from the old town, you will walk under the Torre della Campanelle. On west, you will see a medieval postern gate: once you crossed it you’ll find a roman street (the short paved section right before the cobblestones leading to the postern gate) and you will walk under the Romanesque lowered vaults and the cylindrical pillars belonging to an ancient private house.
The current Piazza della Cittadella, instead, dates back to 1379: it was the Hospitium Magnum’s courtyard, housing the accommodations for the military garrison.
Nowadays, in the piazza della Cittadella Square you can also visit the famous museum centre featuring the Civico Museo Archeologico (the Archaeology Museum) and the Science Museum “Enrico Caffi”.
The Citadel clock tower (Torre della Campanelle)
The tower was built in 1355 but only completed by the 19th century. It is surrounded by the facade of an 18th cenury palace called Palazzo Roncalli, with a 16th century merchant portico frontage designed by Andrea Ziliolo in 1520.
