Bergamo, Italy – 4K Walking Tour (1 Hour from Milan)
Bergamo, Italy sits just north of Milan and is one of Italy’s most rewarding places to explore on foot. Many visitors land at the nearby airport, Orio al Serio, and head straight to Milan, but the smarter move is stopping here and giving this city the time it deserves.
Things to see
00:00 *Welcome to Bergamo*
00:15 *Funicolare Città Alta:* 1887 funicular to the upper town
01:55 *Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe:* Historic shoemakers’ market square
03:55 *Via Gombito:* Main street of Città Alta
04:45 *Piazzetta S. Pancrazio:* Former parish meeting place
06:10 *Chiesa S. Pancrazio:* 15th-century parish church
07:45 *Torre del Gombito:* One of Città Alta’s surviving towers
11:30 *Antico Lavatoio:* Washouse built after 1884 cholera
15:18 *Piazza Angelini:* Former Piazza Verzeri, redesigned in 1930s
18:15 *Portone S. Vincenzo:* Former entrance to old cathedral
20:20 *Piazza Vecchia:* Città Alta’s main civic square
25:10 *Fontana Contarini:* 1780 gift from Venetian governor
27:05 *Palazzo Nuovo:* Three-century build now a civic library
29:40 *Palazzo del Podestà:* Seat of power for over 800 years
30:50 *Campanone:* Bergamo Alta civic bell tower
35:20 *Scalone delle Lapidi:* 1453 staircase lined with tomb slabs
38:35 *Palazzo della Ragione:* One of Italy’s oldest civic halls
40:30 *Portico:* Covered passage with 1501 magistrates’ stone bench
44:25 *Meridiana:* Floor meridian used to set city clocks
45:15 *Piazza Duomo:* Religious heart of Città Alta
46:35 *Battistero:* Gothic baptistery reassembled in 1898
47:10 *Cappella Colleoni:* Mausoleum of condottiero Colleoni
48:45 *Basilica S. Maria Maggiore:* Major Romanesque church
49:15 *Porta dei Leoni Rossi:* North entrance of the Basilica
50:50 *Stemma Colleoni:* Colleoni’s coat of arms
51:20 *Duomo S. Alessandro:* Bergamo’s cathedral
57:05 *Misure medievali:* Stone rulers to prevent merchant fraud
58:15 *Fontanone Visconteo:* 3-million-liter underground cistern
1:02:30 *Porta dei Leoni Bianchi:* South entrance of the Basilica
1:07:30 *Fontana di Antescolis:* Part of Bergamo’s medieval waterworks
1:08:30 *Via Arena:* Street named after a lost Roman amphitheater
1:11:40 *Tempietto Santa Croce:* Small octagonal chapel
1:14:25 *Piazzetta Terzi:* Small square praised by Hermann Hesse
1:14:55 *Palazzo Terzi:* 1631 noble-family residence
1:19:20 *Via Colleoni:* Street named after Colleoni
1:24:00 *Chiesa Sant’Agata:* One of Bergamo’s oldest churches
1:24:45 *Piazza Mascheroni:* Former military square of Città Alta
1:25:40 *Torre della Campanella:* Entry tower marking the citadel
1:27:50 *Cisterna Mascheroni:* Huge reservoir holding 1,400 m³
1:31:40 *Piazza Cittadella:* Courtyard of the Visconti Citadel
1:36:00 *Torre di Adalberto:* Last standing tower of the citadel
1:41:45 *Porta Sant’Alessandro:* Main western gate of Città Alta
1:44:30 *Funicolare San Vigilio:* 1912 line to San Vigilio hill
1:53:55 *Colle San Vigilio:* Defense point above Città Alta
1:57:25 *Castello San Vigilio:* Medieval fortress above Città Alta
1:58:15 *Torrione Castagneta:* Northeast tower of the castle
2:02:30 *Piazza Superiore:* Upper courtyard of the castle
2:06:05 *Torrione Belvedere:* Viewpoint tower with panorama
2:13:25 *Baretto San Vigilio:* Post-war café turned hilltop restaurant
2:15:05 *Chiesa San Vigilio:* Chapel that named the hill
2:18:20 *Scorlazzone:* 1st section of historic trail (206 steps)
2:26:35 *Scorlazzino:* 2nd section of historic trail (162 steps)
2:34:45 *Borgo Canale:* One of Bergamo’s oldest quarters
2:53:15 *Scalone San Gottardo:* 1752 stone stair to former monastery
2:55:30 *Santa Grata inter Vites:* Church named after its vineyards
2:58:00 *Casa Donizetti:* Birthplace of composer Donizetti
3:03:45 *Porta del Pantano Inferiore:* Old entry to the Visconti Citadel
3:04:45 *Via della Boccola:* Former “back way” into the city
3:11:25 *Porta San Lorenzo:* Garibaldi’s troops entered here in 1859
3:16:30 *Mura Veneziane:* 6.2 km UNESCO-listed Venetian walls
3:23:35 *Ex Monastero S. Agostino:* 1290 monastery, now Bergamo University
3:25:45 *Prato della Fara:* Green lawn created from filled-in ravine
3:29:10 *Porta Sant’Agostino:* 16th-century Venetian eastern gate
3:32:15 *Parco Sant’Agostino:* Park along Sant’Agostino Bastion
3:35:10 *Baluardo del Pallone:* Pincer-shaped bastion
3:43:50 *Cortina Sant’Andrea:* Long wall section with wide views
3:51:50 *Cameo:* A passerby steals the scene 😄
3:56:25 *Porta San Giacomo:* Main gate for arrivals from Milan
4:12:20 *Baluardo San Giovanni:* Southwestern bastion
4:30:55 *Piazza Mercato del Fieno:* Former hay and fodder trading square
4:33:20 *Ex Convento San Francesco:* Convent with Roman bath ruins below
4:35:40 *Torre San Pancrazio:* One of Bergamo’s oldest towers
4:37:50 *Rocca di Bergamo:* 14th-century fortress turned museum
4:38:20 *Parco Rimembranze:* 1927 memorial park for fallen soldiers
4:50:45 *Scuola dei Bombardieri:* Venetian artillery barracks
4:56:20 *Mastio:* Best 360° viewpoint of Bergamo
4:58:25 *Thanks for Watching!* 👋