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Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore - Bergamo Alta (Upper Town )
Situated in the heart of the upper town, Basilica di S.
Maria Maggiore is considered the most
important monument of the town.
The collocation itself, in the center of the built-up
area, underlines the importance of this building.
Piazza Duomo ( Dome Square ) has been for a long time,
until the building of the close Piazza Vecchia
( Old Square ), the fulcrum of the civil and religious life of the town.
The Duomo, the Basilica and the
Palazzo della Ragione (the ancient municipality
building) face on it.
Built in XII, as a vow to the
Virgin, the basilica conserved at the outside the
original Romanic structure. The ground plan is in
shape of a Greek cross, but the interior, modified
in ‘500 and in ‘600, is sumptuous.
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Many artists
worked for its realization: from Lombardy, Venice, Tuscany and
foreign artists. There are two entrances to the basilica decorated with
precious porches of polychrome marbles by
Giovanni da Campione (1353-60). The interior is rich
of very valuable works.
The inlays of the wooden
choir and the marquetries of the
iconostasis
that represent biblical stories, were executed
between the 1524 and the 1555 on the drawings of
Lorenzo Lotto, by the Master G.F. Capoferri and G.
Belli: the different chromatic types are due to the
different kind of wood, while the color shades and
the deepness of the image are obtained with herbs
infusions and the use of hot sand.
In the transept there are frescoes of the fourteen century by
an unknown author from the Lombardy school (Storie
di S.Egidio – “S.Egidio histories”, l’Ultima
cena, “Last supper”, L’Albero di
S.Bonaventura, “Saint Bonaventura’s tree”).
The great Crucifix that hangs on the balustrade
of the presbytery is a work by an unknown artist as
well. Beautiful Florentine and Flemish tapestries
decorate the walls of the basilica. At the end of
the nave, there are the monuments of the
famous compositor Gaetano Donizetti and of
his Master Simone Mayr. In the left aisle,
the precious baroque confessional by Andrea
Fantoni (1704 – 1705) presents an apology of the
confession.
BERGAMO ALTA:
S. MARIA MAGGIORE: Information
Piazza Duomo - Sacristy tel. 035/22.33.27. Free entrance
Opening times: from 1/11 to 31/3 from Monday to Friday: 9a.m-12.30a.m; 2:30p.m –
5p.m. Saturday: 9a.m-12.30a.m and 2.30p.m-6p.m Sunday and Public Holidays 9.00a.m-12.45a.m and
3p.m – 6.pm
from 1 April to 31 October: 9a.m.-12.30a.m. and 2.30a.m-6p.m everyday.
SS. Mass: working days: 10a.m. Public Holidays: 11.00a.m e 12.00a.m.(Visits
aren’t allowed during the celebrations)
After the mass of the 7.30a.m the basilica is closed till 9p.m.
How to reach the upper town:
from Piazzale Marconi (Train/Coach/Bus Station) and from Porta Nuova
by bus 1 + funicolar or bus 1A to Colle Aperto
by car: V.le Papa Giovanni XXIII - V.le V. Emanuele - Porta S. Agostino - Viale
delle mura.
- Bergamo tourist guides associations:
Gruppo Guide Cittą di Bergamo,
A.G.I.A.T
Guide Villaggio Crespi
Text and Photos (c) courtesy of
Provincia di Bergamo – Settore cultura, sport e turismo
Bergamo Alta:
Piazza Vecchia |
La Cappella Colleoni |
Le mura venete
Bergamo accommodations |
Getting in and around
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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