The best city hikes and walks around Parco dei Colli di Bergamo

Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe is one of the oldest squares in Bergamo Alta. It represents the main gateway to the old city for anyone using the historic funicular, whose arrival station opens directly onto the square. It has a characteristic irregular shape and serves as a fundamental road junction between the streets rising from the lower city and those winding within the medieval walls.

A very small library, but certainly of more historical than practical value. Interesting to visit if you like the old-fashioned style of the upper town.

Beautiful spot with a restaurant and a great view.

The Cittadella Viscontea of Bergamo is a historical fortress located in the Upper Town. Built in the 14th century at the behest of the Visconti family, the Citadel was and is an important defensive and military structure. This strategically located fortress was a key element in the defence of the city. Over the centuries, the Cittadella Viscontea has undergone various modifications and transformations. Currently, it hosts cultural events, exhibitions and temporary performances. Inside, you can visit the Military History Museum that displays armours, ancient weapons and historical documents, offering an insight into the military history of the region. It is, moreover, an important historical site, which not only preserves its historical importance but also offers spaces for cultural and entertainment activities, attractive for visitors wishing to learn more about the history of the city. (c) https://www.bergamobytuktuk.com/en/location/piazza-della-cittadella-citadel-square/

It is the access tower to the Citadel, erected by Rodolfo Visconti around 1385 to defend himself from enemy attacks and as a garrison in case of popular insurrection, and called “Hospitium Magnum”, or the Great Residence. We find it right in front of us once we arrive in Piazza Mascheroni, coming from via Colleoni. We recognize it because it is entirely plastered from a probable restoration carried out in the 19th century and because it is enriched by an original fresco painted in the 19th century, during the period of Austro-Hungarian domination. In addition to the double-headed eagle, symbol of Habsburg domination, the fresco features the coats of arms of the two great lordships that characterized the history of Bergamo: the biscione with a man in its jaws, symbol of the Visconti, and the winged lion, the coat of arms of the Venetians who dominated Bergamo for over three and a half centuries, from 1428 to 1797. The restoration of this 19th-century fresco was carried out by Andrea Mandelli in the last decades of the 20th century. The tower has a pointed arch door that connects Piazza Mascheroni to the Citadel. Above the door, an original balcony with an iron railing, from the 18th century. At the top of the tower, we find a bell cell of Slavic design, which gives the Tower itself its name. The five pinnacles were added in the 19th century and have no correspondence with Italian architecture of the time. In fact, this whole part recalls Bohemian or Polish architecture; it is difficult to see the hand of an Italian architect. On the left facade inside the underpass, in a niche with blue and red outlines, there is the depiction of the Madonna blessing with the Child with a luminous halo, a Saint Christopher in a red robe with the Child on his shoulder, depictions that were ex votos dating back to the 16th century. The exterior of the tower has monochrome prismatic rustication that echoes the color of the two pinnacles placed next to the balcony. The eaves feature a broken arch motif that follows the entire contour of the tower, although little visible on the facade facing the Visconti square, paintings dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. (c) https://matematica09.altervista.org/campanella/

The "Angelo Mai" Civic Library is located in the Palazzo Nuovo, at Piazza Vecchia 15 in Bergamo. The Palazzo Nuovo, whose construction began in the early 17th century and was designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, housed the offices and offices of the Municipality of Bergamo for nearly three centuries. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, it was first home to the Royal Vittorio Emanuele II Technical Institute, and then to the Museum of Natural Sciences. The Library has been housed there since 1928, having moved from the Palazzo Vecchio or Palazzo della Ragione, which is located on the same square and faces the Palazzo Nuovo. The façade of the Palazzo Nuovo was completed in 1928 by architect Ernesto Pirovano, who incorporated Scamozzi's original design into his work. (c) legacy.bibliotecamai.org/informazioni/sede_orari/palazzo_nuovo.html

I once saw a James in front of the door but he wasn't the saint...

Beautiful tower, you can go up if you pay an entrance fee.