mless than 54 kilometres. It is the distance that separates Bergamo from Bresciatwo symbolic cities of Italian and Lombard entrepreneurship, perhaps even slightly rivals, but which have united in a single great Capital, that of Italian Culture 2023. So events, important restorations, exhibitions, festivals, hidden treasures, even natural ones. A great and unexpected beauty, waiting to be discovered.
A look at the city, on foot or by bike
In Bergamo you can start from the top. Or rather, “de hura”. Yes, because this is a double city, which develops above, on the hill, and below “de hota” in the plain below, an ancient and modern combination, Venetian and Lombard. The walls that surround it, commissioned by the Serenissima, have remained practically intact since 1588. Those with good legs can walk up the ancient staircase, but there is also a comfortable funicular that takes you to the top, from where the view opens up to the great beauty of Piazza Vecchia.
Just think that the architect Le Corbusier, when he saw it, said: «You can’t even touch a stone, it would be a crime». Then continue towards the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and the neighbor Mausoleum which houses the remains of Bartolomeo Colleoni, the captain of fortune of the Renaissance to whom the Lordships relied to defeat foreign armies.
Santa Maria Maggiore and the Colleoni Chapel in the Upper Town of Bergamo (Getty Images).
Another obligatory historical tribute is to San Lorenzo, the smallest of the four entrance gates to the citythe one where Garibaldi passed on 8 June 1859. Because, as the municipal coat of arms recalls, this is the “City of the Thousand”: as many as 174 people from Bergamo joined the ranks of Garibaldini ready to leave for the expedition from Quarto. Since walking (or cycling) makes you hungry, a strategic stop is in La Marianna (Largo colle Aperto, 4), where the recipe for stracciatella ice cream was born, made with leftover chocolate from Easter eggs and which has become the official flavor of the city.
The tour continues descending towards the lower city, for a stroll on the Sentierone, the shopping street overlooked by the Donizetti Theater and the Church of Santi Stefano e Bartolomeo, with the Martinengo altarpiece by Lorenzo Lotto. Two more steps and you reach the church of San Leonardothe oldest in the lower city.
It is pleasant to “stroll” through the historic center also in Brescia, a city that the poet Alessandro Aleardi called “the Lioness of Italy”. The best way to start is to walk the Corridor Unesco, a kilometer-long monumental walk that connects the archaeological park of the Capitolium and the Museum of Santa Giulia. In one kilometre, 2500 years of history can be retraced, with a gaze that embraces the monumental architectures from the Roman age to the early Middle Ages, up to the Renaissance. Eyes full of history and culture also in the square of the two cathedrals, so called due to the presence of the two “cathedrals”: the Cathedral, or New Cathedral (1604-1825) which stands on the ancient paleo-Christian church of San Pietro del Dom, and the Duomo Vecchio or Rotonda, dating back to the 12th century.
The New Cathedral and the Old Cathedral in Piazza Paolo VI in Brescia. (Getty Images)
Under the light of the summer sun, squares and palaces can be admired: that of the Loggia, the Monte di Pietà and Palazzo Monti, which offers artists the opportunity to be hosted and to exhibit their works; the Martinengo Colleoni palace is home to the Mo.Ca., an incubator of innovative projects in the field of art, where talents from the world of graphics, digital and communication are trained. TOalso on the subway: the SubBrixia project offers works by Emilio Isgrò, Marcello Maloberti, Patrick Tuttofuoco, Nathalie Du Pasquier.
For those who love trekking there is the new path called “La Via delle Sorelle” which starts from Bergamo Alta and arrives at the Castle of Brescia, 130 kilometers in six stages to be covered in a week, through over thirty municipalities. An easy route, with hospitality for wayfarers, among villages, abbeys, churches, museums and the absolute green of hornbeam, oak and chestnut woods.
Bergamo and Brescia: exhibitions, theaters and festivals
Events, exhibitions, music reviews and festivals are practically countless. In the first row is the Carrara Academy in Bergamo which includes one of the most refined European collections (Pisanello, Bellini, Raffaello, Tiziano, Lotto) and hosts the exhibition until 9 September Peaks of Light. Naoki Ishikawa in the Orobie Alpswith the theme of the landscape and the Bergamo mountains at the centre. The GAMeC, Gallery of modern and contemporary artproposes a program inside and outside its museum spaces, such as the site-specific intervention for Palazzo della Ragione by the British artist Rachel Whiteread, the urban installations in piazza della Libertà and for the Kilometro Rosso Innovation District. The Landscape Festivalfrom 7 to 24 September, has the theme “Growing together”, with events, talks, workshops, exhibitions and green installations.
Steve Vai, Tener-a-mente festival, Brescia Vittoriale
Another of the central moments of the cultural calendar is The Donizetti Operafrom 16 November to 3 December, with the LU OpeRave in which the works of the composer from Bergamo meet new musical trends. Electronics breaks through with six shows of the Sub Limen Festivalat the Roman Theater in Brescia (July 21-23) and at the Daste cultural center in Bergamo, in the former power plant (November 17-19).
The Museum of Santa Giulia and the Archaeological Park of Brescia host Plessi marries Brixiaa city itinerary made up of installations, video projections, digital environments, the result of a “love at first sight” by Fabrizio Plessi, the pioneer of video art, towards the city (until 7 January 2024). The Museum of Santa Giulia deserves a visit of a couple of hours, with a stop in front of the spectacular Wish Crossone of the largest jeweled crosses that have come down to us.
The renovated Museo del Risorgimento Leonessa d’Italia, which is located in the spaces of the Grande Miglio, in the heart of the Castle of Brescia, smells of history and technology. Here you are greeted by looping slideshows, or rotating collections of images that tell the historical events of the Risorgimento. The best memory of the city? The Boxer and the Victory, aka the Resting Boxer, from the Roman National Museum and the Winged Victory, statue almost two meters tall, with iconic female strength and beauty. These two extraordinary bronzes from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, both recently restored, represent a dialogue on the meaning of “victory”. The works will be exhibited together from 12 July in the new Capitoliumrearranged by the Spanish architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg.
Thirty traditional cheeses, nine PDOs and three Slow Food presidia. With this Palmares, Bergamo and its territory are rightly considered a food valley which has its showcase in the event called Shapes (projectforms.eu). It takes place in Bergamo from 20 to 23 October, a triumph of flavors and aromas of Taleggio, Strachitunt, Bitto, Gorgonzola, Quartirolo, with tastings, workshops and, of course, gourmet purchases. Among the excellences of the territory there is also the Bergamo polenta, made with local corn, such as the Rosato Rosso di Rovetta or the Spinato di Gandino. Dishes that are accompanied by Valcalepio Doc, red and white, which can be discovered along the way there Valcalepio wine route and flavors of the Bergamo area which connects typical food and wine producers, with wineries, restaurants and hospitality among the vineyardsAnd. The same experiences can be lived on Franciacorta roadan 80-kilometre route between Lake Iseo and Brescia, which touches wineries, restaurants, trattorias, agritourisms. They offer a cuisine that combines the peasant tradition of inland meat with that of lake fish. Among the most representative dishes, the beef in Rovato oil and the baked stuffed tench which with its unique and decisive flavor has won recognition as a Slow Food presidium. To be tasted also in the twelve starred restaurants that embellish the area.
info: bergamobrescia2023.it ; visitbergamo.net/it ; bresciatourism.it
Bergamo and Brescia: tips for “secret places”
The digital platform that leads to the creation of unexpected travel itineraries was born. From bistros to craft workshops, from museums to cellars, a guide to cultural, artistic, aesthetic, food and wine excellence…
Addresses and suggestions on historic homes, hotels, bistros, secret cellars, restaurants, museums, artistic craft studios… like the ones you give to a friend. From this idea, Places Secrets (placessecrets.com), a collection of guides on a digital platform, to build an unexpected travel itinerary. The creative mind of the project is Lavinia Colonna Preti, entrepreneur, photographer and great travel enthusiast, who wants to share her experiences with other curious travelers like her.
The Areadocks Boutique Hotel, in Brescia.
At the moment, the guides are dedicated to Veneto, Tuscany, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sicily and Lombardy. And in the guide of the latter there are the “secrets” addresses of Bergamo and Brescia (lombardiasecrets.com). Like that of Areadocks, in Brescia, made out of a former railway warehouse, with restaurants, shopping and an art hotel with 13 rooms that seem to come out of a film (it is no coincidence that the design studio that conceived it furnished some of the most beautiful houses in the world).
Bergamo and Brescia: where to eat
The Baretto di San Vigilio, in Upper Bergamo.
To eat? The delicatessen restaurant Victor’s Workshopin the historic Brescia district of San Bartolomeo, where you can also buy cured meats which alone are worth the trip.
In Bergamo, if you like family cooking, opt for Trattoria d’Ambrosio at Giuliana’sAtalanta fan and landlady, where you will taste the roast pigtail with polenta and the legendary “pull me up and down”, or the Baretto di San Vigilioat the top of the hill, for a romantic aperitif with a view.
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