The inspirational power of Bergamo

The skyline of the Città Alta captivates the
imagination whether on a crisp Christmas night (above)
or a warm summer's day (below)

I have become a frequent visitor to Bergamo in northern Italy over the last few years and started travel writing as a result of my interest in the city.

There are many ways in which Bergamo has inspired me as a writer, but probably its most fascinating feature is the way the Città Alta appears in the skyline enticing you to go up there.

The view of Bergamo’s upper town in the skyline is one of the first things you notice when you arrive. Even as you get off the plane at Bergamo Caravaggio airport it is difficult to ignore the city.

You can see the domes and towers of the upper town silhouetted against the sky from the airport runway.

To move straight on to Milan, or one of the lakes, as many people do, without exploring the medieval Città Alta and the lower town, the Città Bassa, would be a great pity.

If you arrive in Bergamo by train, or take the bus into the city from the airport, you will see a magnificent view of the Città Alta from outside the railway station.

If you stand and look down the long, straight Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII you will see the towers and roofs of the Città Alta silhouetted against the blue sky, suspended as if by mysterious means.

It’s a magical view and makes you want to go straight up there and explore the upper town at close quarters.

The view is different according to the season. I have visited Bergamo in the spring, summer and autumn. The Città Alta looks magnificent on a bright day silhouetted against a blue sky. But it also looks beautiful shrouded in mist in the autumn.

The monumental walls protecting the Citta Alta
were built by the Venetians in the 16th century

One of the most striking features that you notice straight away is the huge wall around the Città Alta.

Le Mura is the name for the 16th century fortified walls that have divided Bergamo into two cities, the Città Alta (the upper town) and the Città Bassa (the lower town). They are truly monumental stone walls, completely surrounding the Città Alta, built by the Venetian occupiers and rulers of Bergamo in 1561 to keep invaders out.

You will sometimes see articles written about Bergamo in magazines and newspapers, and information about the city in travel guides about northern Italy, where the Città Bassa is dismissed as not being worth a visit.

But having stayed in Bergamo many times I have found that there are a lot of buildings of historical importance on both sides of the walls.

Bergamo is an artistic and cultural treasure chest, but also has its own natural beauty, set among hills, mountains, lakes and rolling countryside.

The Città Alta is an impressive fortified town, which has retained many of its 12th century buildings and has had some stunning Renaissance and Baroque architecture added over the centuries.

The Roman column next to the church of
Sant'Alessandro is thought to mark the
spot where the saint was murdered

It is where the Venetian east meets the Lombardian west. Because they governed for so long, the Venetians have left behind traces of their culture and style, such as the ornate fountains.

One of the most historically important places in Bergamo is the spot where the patron saint, Sant’Alessandro, was decapitated by the Romans in 298 for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. Yet it is outside the walls in the Città Bassa.

A Roman column in front of the church of Sant’Alessandro in Colonna is believed to mark the exact spot where he was martyred.

Every year on 26 August Bergamo remembers Sant’Alessandro’s decapitation in 298. For the first time, in 2010, there was a re-enactment of the event in full costume at the scene as part of the annual Festa di Sant’Alessandro.

The church of Sant’Alessandro in Colonna was rebuilt in the 18th century on the site of a much earlier church in Via Sant’Alessandro. Its ornate campanile was completed at the beginning of the 20th century.

The church houses a work depicting the martyrdom of Sant’Alessandro by Enea Salmeggia and one showing the transporting of Sant’Alessandro’s corpse by Gian Paolo Cavagna. It also contains paintings by Renaissance artist Lorenzo Lotto, a Venetian who lived in Bergamo for 12 years.

Via Sant’Alessandro is an ancient winding street that leads down from Porta San Giacomo into the modern centre of Bergamo.

Yet the features and guide book entries that tell you there is nothing of interest in the Città Bassa completely overlook this area.

(An extract from ‘Why Bergamo inspires me as a writer’, a talk given to the Nottingham Dante Alighieri Society in March 2012).

For more information about Bergamo, visit my website www.bestofbergamo.com

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Bright fragrant mimosa signals respect for women

Yellow mimosa flowers (pic: Pixabay)

All over Italy, men will be seen carrying bunches of prettily wrapped mimosa to give to the woman in their lives today.

The flowers might be for their wives, girlfriends, mothers, friends or even employees and are meant as a sign of respect for womanhood.

The custom of men giving mimosa to their ladies began in the 1940s after the date 8 March was chosen as the Festa della Donna (Festival of the Woman) in Italy. The date coincides with International Women's Day.

Yellow mimosa was chosen as the flower to give because it is in bloom at the beginning of March, is relatively inexpensive and the scent of it in the atmosphere is a sign that primavera (spring) is just round the corner.

Continuing with the theme of mimosa, you might see on restaurant menus at this time of the year variations of dishes such as risotto mimosa or pasta mimosa (made with finely scrambled eggs).

And some cake shops will have Torta Mimosa in their windows, a concoction made with sugar, orange juice, whipped cream and orange liqueur.

Buona Festa!

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Bergamo airport is dedicated to an artistic genius

When booking flights to Italy you might be puzzled to see references to Caravaggio airport near Milan.

A portrait of Caravaggio
from about 1621

This is because Bergamo airport at Orio al Serio has changed its name to the Caravaggio International Airport Bergamo - Orio al Serio.

ENAC (the Italian civil aviation board) approved the decision by SACBO (the management company of Bergamo airport) to dedicate the airport to the controversial but highly talented painter Michelangelo Merisi.

Bergamo airport is also often referred to as ‘Milan Bergamo’. It is now the fourth busiest airport in Italy and you can fly to it from 29 different countries.

The artist Michelangelo Merisi became known as Caravaggio because he spent the early years of his life living in the small town of Caravaggio just south of Bergamo.

The painter is believed to have been born in Milan in 1571 but his family moved to Caravaggio because of an outbreak of plague.

He returned to train as a painter in Milan but then went on to work in Rome , Naples, Malta and Sicily until his death at Porto Ercole in Tuscany in 1610.

Caravaggio became famous for his paintings for churches and palaces that combine a realistic observation of the physical and emotional state of human beings with a dramatic use of lighting. This was a formative influence for the baroque school of painting.

Despite his artistic success he had a turbulent personal life. He was thrown into jail on several occasions, once vandalised his own apartment and had a death warrant issued for him by the Pope.

Some of his major works, such as The Calling of St Matthew, the Crucifixion of St Peter and Deposition, can be found in churches in Rome , but his work is also well represented in the Uffizi gallery in Florence.

The town of Caravaggio is worth visiting to see the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Caravaggio, which was built in the 16th century on the spot where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a humble peasant woman.

The Sanctuary was later rebuilt and completed in the 18th century and is now a grand building visited by pilgrims from all over the world.

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Why I prefer to celebrate with Prosecco rather than Champagne

On Valentine’s Day, and any other occasions when there is an excuse to crack open the bubbly, you will find me drinking Prosecco.

A prosecco from
Valdobbiadene

A delicate, sparkling white wine, Prosecco is sold by the glass in bars in Italy and is a refreshing drink to order at any time of the day.

Named after the variety of grape it is made from, Prosecco is lighter and more delicate than Champagne because it is bottled while young rather than being fermented.

It is made in the areas of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano in the Veneto region, in the north east of Italy .

The grape, one of Italy’s oldest, was probably named after the town of Prosecco near Trieste, where it  is believed to have originated.

Italy produces 150 million bottles of Prosecco a year, mostly from the area around Valdobbiadene.

Fortunately for the rest of the world, Prosecco travels well. It is reasonably priced in the UK , ranging from £6 to £12 a bottle. It is best drunk young, the perfect excuse for not leaving it on the wine rack too long.

When on holiday in Italy, Prosecco is the ideal aperitivo to enjoy before lunch and dinner and is a refreshing drink to order in a bar when you are having a break from sight seeing. Salute!

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Italy images provide a welcome winter warmer

What could be more warming on a cold winter’s day than looking back at your summer travel photographs and remembering how hot it was when they were taken?

Yesterday, I was able to do just that by venturing out in the snow showers to W H Smith to buy a copy of the latest ITALIA! Magazine, which includes my feature on Cava de’ Tirreni, a town south of Naples and Sorrento set in the hills above the Amalfi coast.

The feature ‘48 HOURS IN Cava de’ Tirreni’ forms part of a Best of Campania special in the March edition of the magazine and is run alongside reviews of a hotel in Capri and one in Amalfi by boutique hotel booking specialists Mr and Mrs Smith, and an article exploring the property buying options in Campania.

Eagerly turning the pages with fingers numb with cold, I immediately remembered how warm it had been walking round Cava de’ Tirreni for two days last September and how pleasant it had been to escape for a few hours to the slightly cooler village of Corpo di Cava in the hills above the town.

Even some of the locals are wearing sleeveless tops and shorts in the pictures that accompany the feature.

On a day when I needed several layers of jumpers and fleeces to keep warm, it was lovely being transported back and remembering what it was like to be there.

ITALIA! magazine Issue 88 March 2012 is now on sale in branches of W H Smith. For more information about the magazine visit www.italia-magazine.com

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Beat the economic blues with a bargain break in Italy

With spending cuts and grim economic forecasts dominating the news, it would not be surprising if one of the first things you decided to give up was your holiday.

But I would argue that we all need our holidays more than ever at the moment to take us away from the daily routine of work and gloomy talk about recession.

And, in a strange way, there has never been a better time to afford a holiday, with the number of cheap flights and bargain hotel prices being advertised at the moment.

To keep the costs down still further, be prepared to stay in less well-known towns or resorts where not only are hotel rooms reasonably priced but day-to-day costs such as taxi fares and dining out are cheaper too.

Frascati's impressive 17th
century cathedral 

Frascati's impressive cathedral

If, like me, you are an Italophile and need your regular fix of Italy, you will find that there are currently some low-cost flights on offer for the wonderful cities of Rome,Venice and Milan.

But if you base yourself just outside these cities you will find you spend less, while still getting the chance to enjoy the same great atmosphere, architecture, food and wine.

If you can find a cheap flight to Rome (Ciampino), consider staying in the ancient, wine-producing city of Frascati, just down the road from the airport.

The city has the feel of Rome, but is on a smaller scale, with life at a less frantic pace. There are statues, fountains and stunning architecture, including a beautiful cathedral in the main square, and it is easy to walk round Frascati. On my last visit, a taxi driver told me how little crime there is in the area.

It is said that the delicious white wine that takes its name from the town ‘non viaggia bene’ (does not travel well), which is all the more reason to drink it there, in quaint wine bars serving it cheaply by the glass.

Villas built by wealthy Romans on the hills behind Frascati now lie in ruins, but there are elegant 16th and 17th century villas, such as the imposing Villa Aldobrandini, to look round.

Take the train to Rome (30 mins) and see the sights, but return in the evening to sit on a terrace sipping wine, looking down over the eternal city.

Padova's Basilica
of Sant'Antonio

The Basilica di Sant'Antonio in Padova

If you can book a low cost flight to Venice (Marco Polo) or Treviso, why not go by train or taxi to nearby Padova (Padua), a sophisticated city with good shops, restaurants and hotels.

Padova’s Scrovegni Chapel contains one of the world’s greatest works of art, a complete cycle of frescoes painted by Giotto between 1303 and 1305, the first time an artist created life-like figures with realistic expressions.

Padova is home to one of the most important places of Christian worship, the Basilica di Sant’Antonio, where pilgrims pray to the saint.

Foodies will be fascinated by the variety of shops and stalls in the Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza delle Frutta.

You could take the train to Venice (35 mins) and arrive in style at Santa Lucia railway station on the Grand Canal. But return to Padova at night to enjoy an excellent meal, at a noticeably lower price than you would pay around St Mark’s Square.

The Colleoni Chapel 
is a Renaissance gem

The Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo

There are currently some bargain flights to be found for Bergamo Caravaggio airport, also known as Milan Bergamo. And you will be missing a trick if you don’t stay and explore Bergamo, a historic city with two distinct centres.

The upper town (Città Alta) is a beautiful, walled city with buildings that date back to medieval times, but there are plenty of shops, bars and restaurants to welcome visitors.

At the heart of the city is Piazza Vecchia, remodelled during the Renaissance and praised by architects as the most beautiful square in Italy.

Walk through the archways under Palazzo della Ragione to see the Colleoni Chapel, considered the finest Renaissance building in Italy.

The lower town (Città Bassa) also has elegant buildings and a good choice of restaurants and hotels. From there you could take the train to Milan (50 mins) to see the sights, but in the evening you will be glad to return to the peace of Bergamo and dine within its 16th century walls.

For much more detailed information about Bergamo visit www.bestofbergamo.com.

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