Music

Bergamo has a prominent place in music history

Music history

Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is the highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time...

. The large Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 church of Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is a church in Bergamo, Northern Italy.-History:The church was founded in 1137 on the site of another church from the 8th century dedicated to St Mary, which had been in turn erected over a Roman temple of the Clemence. The high altar was consecrated in 1185 and...

, begun in 1137, had a continuous and well-documented tradition of music teaching and singing for more than eight hundred years. When the town was under Venetian control, the musical style of the Venetians was imported as well; in particular, a large instrumental ensemble

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 grew up to support the choral singing. Composers such as Gasparo Alberti

Gasparo Alberti

Gasparo Alberti was an Italian composer....

 produced music with polyphony

Polyphony

In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....

 using two organs

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

, brass and viol

Viol

The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...

s, a style usually associated with Venice, but which flourished in the fine acoustic environment of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The city lent its name to a style of folk dance

Folk dance

The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....

 known as bergamask

Bergamask

Bergamask, bergomask, bergamesca, or bergamasca , is dance and associated melody and chord progression. It was considered a clumsy rustic dance Bergamask, bergomask, bergamesca, or bergamasca (from the town of Bergamo in Northern Italy), is dance and associated melody and chord progression. It was...

 peculiar to the peoples of that region. Known as bergomasci and renowned for their buffoonery, the fool Bottom

Nick Bottom

Nick Bottom is a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream who provides comic relief throughout the play, and is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of an ass by the elusive Puck within the play.- Overview :...

 in Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night's Dream refers to their Bergomask dance. This unconventional form gave Debussy

Claude Debussy

Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...

 a vehicle for the dissonances and irregular intervals of his "Suite bergamasque

Suite bergamasque

The Suite bergamasque is one of the most famous piano suites by Claude Debussy. Debussy commenced the suite in 1890 at age 28, but he did not finish or publish it until 1905.-History:...

".

Prominent musicians born in Bergamo include Gaetano Donizetti

Gaetano Donizetti

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...

, Pietro Locatelli

Pietro Locatelli

Pietro Antonio Locatelli was an Italian composer and violinist.-Biography:Locatelli was born in Bergamo, Italy. A child prodigy on the violin, he was sent to study in Rome under the direction of Arcangelo Corelli...

, Antonio Lolli

Antonio Lolli

Antonio Lolli was an Italian violinist and composer.- Life :Lolli, who was born ca. 1725 in Bergamo, Italy, was one of the foremost Italian violinists of the 18th century...

, Gianluigi Trovesi

Gianluigi Trovesi

thumb|200px|Gianluigi Trovesi in 2006.Gianluigi Trovesi is an Italian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and composer.A native of Nembro near Bergamo in Lombardy, he studied harmony and counterpoint under Vittorio Fellegara. Since then he has been a major player in the Italian and European jazz scene....

, Roby Facchinetti, Fabrizio Frigeni and Gianandrea Gavazzeni

Gianandrea Gavazzeni

Gianandrea Gavazzeni was an Italian pianist, conductor , composer and musicologist.Gavazzeni was born in Bergamo. For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor at La Scala, Milan, in 1966-68 being its music and artistic director.He had his Metropolitan Opera debut on 11...

. Alessandro Grandi

Alessandro Grandi

Alessandro Grandi was a northern Italian composer of the early Baroque era, writing in the new concertato style...

, one of the most progressive composers of the early 17th century after Monteverdi

Claudio Monteverdi

Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...

, was maestro di cappella there until his death in the plague of 1630; Tarquinio Merula

Tarquinio Merula

Tarquinio Merula was an Italian composer, organist, and violinist of the early Baroque era. Although mainly active in Cremona, stylistically he was a member of the Venetian school...

, an even more progressive composer, and one of the founders of the early sonata

Sonata

Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...

, took over his post.

Notable natives

Bergamo was the hometown and last resting place of Enrico Rastelli

Enrico Rastelli

Enrico Rastelli was an Italian juggler, acrobat and performer.-Biography:...

, a highly technical and world famous juggler who lived in the town and, in 1931, died there at the early age of 34. There is a life-sized statue to Rastelli within his mausoleum

Mausoleum

A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...

. A number of painters were active in the town as well; among these were Giovanni Paolo Cavagna

Giovanni Paolo Cavagna

Giovanni Paolo Cavagna was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period, active mainly in Bergamo. He trained in Venice with the studio of Titian, then became a pupil of Giovanni Battista Moroni in Bergamo. His son Francesco, called Cavagnuola, was also a painter...

, Francesco Zucco

Francesco Zucco

Francesco Zucco was an Italian painter. The year of his birth is uncertain, but is known to be no later than 1575. Zucco studied art for a time in Cremona before returning to Bergamo; there he associated with painters such as Giovanni Paolo Cavagna and Enea Salmeggia...

, and Enea Salmeggia

Enea Salmeggia

Enea Salmeggia was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period, active mainly in his native city of Bergamo....

, each of whom painted works for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Sculptor Giacomo Manzù

Giacomo Manzù

Giacomo Manzù, pseudonym of Giacomo Manzoni , was an Italian sculptor, communist, and Roman Catholic.-Biography:...

 was born in Bergamo.

Main sights

The town has two centres: "Città alta" (upper city), a hilltop medieval town, surrounded by 17th century cyclopic defensive wall

Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

s, and the "Città bassa" (lower city). The two parts of the town are connected by funicular

Funicular

A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...

/cable car

Cable car

A cable car is any of a variety of transportation systems relying on cables to pull vehicles along or lower them at a steady rate, or a vehicle on these systems.-Aerial lift:Aerial lifts where the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable:...

, roads, and foot-paths (the most convenient being immediately adjacent to the funicular station). Parking

Parking

Parking is the act of stopping a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied for more than a brief time. Parking on one or both sides of a road is commonly permitted, though often with restrictions...

 spaces are very limited in the upper city.

Città alta

The upper city, surrounded by Venetian walls built in the 17th century, forms the historic centre of Bergamo.
Città Alta is an extremely expensive place to live in, with properties being sold for a minimum of 2,000,000 euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

.
This has numerous places of interest including:

• Cittadella (Citadel), built by the Visconti in the mid 14th century.
• Piazza Vecchia (old square)
• Palazzo della Ragione. This was the seat of the administration of the city in the age of the communes. Currently it houses a selection of paintings from the Accademia Carrara. Erected in the 12th century, it was rebuilt in the late 16th century by Pietro Isabello. The façade has the lion of St. Mark
  Mark the Evangelist
  Mark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity....
  
   over a mullioned window, testifying to the long period of Venetian dominance. The atrium has a well-preserved 18th century sundial
  Sundial
  A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...
  
  .
• Palazzo Nuovo (Biblioteca Angelo Mai). It was designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi
  Vincenzo Scamozzi
  thumb|250px|Portrait of Vincenzo Scamozzi by [[Paolo Veronese]]Vincenzo Scamozzi was a Venetian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century...
  
   in the early 17th century but only completed in 1928.
• Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
  Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo
  The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is a church in Bergamo, Northern Italy.-History:The church was founded in 1137 on the site of another church from the 8th century dedicated to St Mary, which had been in turn erected over a Roman temple of the Clemence. The high altar was consecrated in 1185 and...
  
   (Saint Mary Major). It was built from 1137
  1130s in architecture
  -Buildings:* about 1130 - Urnes Stave Church built in Norway.* 1130 - Construction of Abbaye aux Dames, Caen, Normandy, completed .* 1130 - Canterbury Cathedral, England, consecrated.* 1130 - Hedingham Castle, England, begun....
  
   on the site of a previous religious edifice of the 7th century. Construction continued until the 15th century. Of this first building the external Romanesque structure and the Greek cross plan remain. The interior was extensively modified in the 16th and 17th centuries. The dome has frescoes by Giovanbattista Tiepolo
  Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
  Giovanni Battista Tiepolo , also known as Gianbattista or Giambattista Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice...
  
  . Noteworthy are the great Crucifix and the tomb of Gaetano Donizetti
  Gaetano Donizetti
  Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
  
  .
• Cappella Colleoni
  Cappella Colleoni
  The Cappella Colleoni is a church/mausoleum in Bergamo, northern Italy.Dedicated to the saints Bartholomew, Mark and John the Baptist, it was built in 1472-1476 as the personal shrine for the famous condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni, a member of one of the most outstanding families of the city, and...
  
   (Colleoni
  Bartolomeo Colleoni
  Bartolomeo Colleoni was a Venetian condottiero, who became Captain-General of the republic of Venice, where there is a famous statue showing him on horseback.-Biography:...
  
   chapel), annexed to Santa Maria Maggiore, is a masterwork of Renaissance architecture
  Renaissance architecture
  Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
  
   and decorative art. It contains the tomb of the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni.
• The Battistero (Baptistry), an elegant octagonal building dating from 1340.
• Bergamo Cathedral (Duomo). This was built in the late 17th century with later modifications.
• Rocca (Castle). It was begun in 1331
  14th century in architecture
  -Buildings:* c.1300 – Nidaros Cathedral is finished.* 1306 – Completion of Wells Cathedral chapter house in England, in Decorated Gothic style.* 1309 – Construction begins on the Doge's Palace in Venice .* c...
  
   on the hill of Sant'Eufemia by William of Castelbarco, vicar of John of Bohemia, and later completed by Azzone Visconti. A wider citadel was added, but is now partly lost. The Venetians built a large tower in the Rocca, as well as a line of walls (Mura Veneziane) 6,200 metres long.
• San Michele al Pozzo Bianco. Built in the 12th century, this church contains a wealth of frescos from the 12th to the 16th centuries, including paintings by Lorenzo Lotto
  Lorenzo Lotto
  Lorenzo Lotto was a Northern Italian painter draughtsman and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school. He painted mainly altarpieces, religious subjects and portraits...
  
  .
• Museo Civico Archeologico (Archaeological Civic Museum) This is housed in the Cittadella.
• Museo di Scienze Naturali Enrico Caffi
  Museo di Scienze Naturali Enrico Caffi
  The Museo di Scienze Naturali Enrico Caffi is a natural history museum in Bergamo, Italy.-External links:*-Gallery:...
  
   (Caffi Natural Science
  Natural science
  The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
  
   Museum) This is also housed in the Cittadella.
• Orto Botanico di Bergamo "Lorenzo Rota" (botanical garden
  Botanical garden
  A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
  
  ).
• Città Alta and its surroundings are part of the Parco dei Colli di Bergamo
  Parco dei Colli di Bergamo
  Parco dei Colli di Bergamo is a natural park in the Province of Bergamo.- Geography :The park has a surface of 47 km² and covers part of the city of Bergamo and surrounding municipalities. The largest part of the surface of the park is covered by woods...
  
  

Città bassa

The lower city is the modern centre of Bergamo. At the end of the 19th century Città Bassa was composed of Borghi, the residential houses built along the main road that linked Bergamo with the other cities of Lombardy. The main boroughs were Borgo Palazzo along the road to Brescia

Brescia

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

, Borgo San Leonardo along the road to Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 and Borgo Santa Caterina along the road to Valle Seriana. The city rapidly expanded during the 20th century. In the first decades, the municipality erected major buildings like the new courthouse and various administrative offices in the lower part of Bergamo in order to create a new center of the city. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and during the so called miracolo economico (economic boom) many residential buildings were constructed in the lower part of the city which are now divided into several neighborhoods such as Longuelo, Colognola

Colognola

Colognola,located at is a quarter of the city of Bergamo.-Geography:The quarter of Colognola is in the south part of the side close to the motorway Milan Venice also named A4.-History:...

, Malpensata and Boccaleone, Redona

Redona

Redona, , is a borough of the Italian city of Bergamo in Lombardy. Until 1927, when it was annexed to the city, Redona was an independent municipality . The higher elevations of land in Redona, on the shoulder of the Maresana hill, are covered with chestnut trees...

 and Valtesse

Valtesse

Valtesse, located at is a borough of the city of Bergamo in the north part of the city between the hill of Città Alta and Maresana Hill. The population is approximately 10,000.-Overview:...

 among many others. The shopping district developed shortly after, now commonly known as the street the shops are located on Via 20 Settembre.

Of artistic importance in Città Bassa are:

• Pinacoteca dell'Accademia Carrara
  Accademia Carrara
  The Accademia Carrara is an art gallery and an academy of fine arts in Bergamo, Italy.-History:The origins of the art gallery lie with the Count Giacomo Carrara, a wealthy collector and patron of the arts, who left a generous legacy to the city of Bergamo at the end of the 18th century.After the...
  
   (picture museum of Carrara academy) This is currently closed for restoration and a selection of its paintings is exhibited in the Palazzo Ragione in Città Alta.
• Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (gallery of modern and contemporary art), known as GAMEC.

Demographics

In 2007, there were 115,781 people residing in Bergamo (in which the greater area has more than 300 000 inhabitants), located in the province of Bergamo, Lombardia

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, of whom 46.7% were male and 53.3% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 16.32 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 23.67 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Bergamo residents is 45 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Bergamo grew by 1.92 percent, while Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 as a whole grew by 3.85 percent. The current birth rate

Birth rate

Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...

 of Bergamo is 8.72 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2006, 90.47% of the population was Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

. The largest immigrant group comes from other Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an nations (the largest being Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

, and Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

): 3.15%, Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 (mostly from Cochabamba

Cochabamba

Cochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...

, Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

): 2.37%, sub-saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...

: 1.41%, and North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

: 1.23%. Currently one-fifth of the babies born in Bergamo has at least one foreign parent. The city is predominantly Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 and also host the see of a Diocese of Bergamo

Roman Catholic Diocese of Bergamo

The Diocese of Bergamo is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy, and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan. It was founded in the fourth century CE, and its first bishop was Saint Narno...

, but due to immigration now has some Orthodox Christian, Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

, and Protestant adherents.

Economy

As capital and main town of its province, Bergamo hosts the public administration offices of provincial interest.
In the past, many factories were in the commune territory, mainly for electrical components, industrial mechanics and publishing businesses, but have then moved outward.
In the town three large corporations are still based:

• Italcementi
  Italcementi
  Italcementi is an Italian multinational company, quoted on the Borsa Italiana, which produces cement, ready-mix concrete and construction aggregates...
  
   SpA, general headquarters of the 5th largest cement producer in the world.
• UBI
  UBI Banca
  Unione di Banche Italiane S.c.p.A., branded as UBI Banca, is the fifth-largest banking group in Italy by both market capitalisation and number of branches. The firm is primarily a holding company for a number of Italian cooperative banks, although it also controls the publicly-traded online bank...
  
   group, ex BPU e Banca Popolare di Bergamo - Credito Varesino, general headquarters of the 4th largest Italian bank group.
• Brembo
  Brembo
  Brembo S.p.A. is a manufacturer of automotive brake systems, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles. It was established in Bergamo, Italy in 1961. Soon after the company was formed, it specialised in disc brakes, which were exclusively imported from the United Kingdom at the time...
  
  , general headquarters and plants of the manufacturer of automotive brake systems' leader, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles.
• Tenaris
  Tenaris
  Tenaris is a global manufacturer and supplier of seamless and welded steel pipe products and provider of pipe handling, stocking and distribution services to the oil and gas, energy and mechanical industries...
  
  , is a global manufacturer and supplier of seamless and welded steel pipe products and provider of pipe handling, stocking and distribution services to the oil and gas, energy and mechanical industries.
• ABB SpA, offices and plants of a multinational corporation operating mainly in the power and automation technology areas..

Sports

• Bergamo's football team
  Football team
  A football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.Such teams could be selected to play in an against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a...
  
   is Atalanta
  Atalanta B.C.
  Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly known as just Atalanta, Atalanta Bergamo or the abbreviation Atalanta BC, is an Italian football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy.They are nicknamed the Nerazzurri and the orobici...
  
   who play in the top level Serie A
  Serie A
  Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
  
   at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia
  Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia
  Atleti Azzurri d'Italia is a stadium in Bergamo, Italy, used by the Atalanta and Albinoleffe football teams. The field is 120 m long, and 70 m wide...
  
  
• The town has a woman's volleyball
  Volleyball
  Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
  
   team named Foppapedretti Bergamo
  Volley Bergamo
  The Norda Foppapedretti Bergamo is the volleyball team of Bergamo.-2011-2012 Team Roster:As of August 2011Coach: Davide Mazzanti-Transfers:*Christiane Fürst transferred to Fenerbahçe Acıbadem for 2010-11 season....
  
  .
• The city is also home to the Bergamo Lions
  Bergamo Lions
  The Bergamo Lions is an American football team from Bergamo, Italy. They won the Eurobowl in 2000, 2001 and 2002, while losing to the Chrysler Vikings in the finals of 2004 and 2005. In Italy they have been unbeaten since 1998...
  
   American football
  American football
  American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
  
   team, one of the most successful in European Football League
  European Football League
  The European Football League is a European Cup style tournament for European American Football teams affiliated to EFAF...
  
   history, winning multiple Eurobowl
  Eurobowl
  The Eurobowl is both the final game and the trophy of the European Football League , a European American football contest.-Eurobowls:-Champions:...
  
  s.

Miscellaneous

• Angelo Roncalli
  Pope John XXIII
  -Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
  
  , later to become Pope John XXIII and born in the province of Bergamo, studied in the diocesan minor seminary
  Minor seminary
  A minor seminary is a secondary boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming priests. They are generally Roman Catholic institutions, and designed to prepare boys both academically and spiritually for vocations to the priesthood...
  
   of Bergamo.
• The city is home to Costantino Rocca
  Costantino Rocca
  Costantino Rocca is the most successful male golfer that Italy has produced. After a long career on the European Tour he is now playing on the European Seniors Tour. He has five European Tour wins and is best known for his second place finish in the 1995 Open Championship.-Career outline:Rocca...
  
  , the first Italian golfer to play in the Ryder Cup
  Ryder Cup
  The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
  
  .
• The town hosted the seventh Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne in 1951
  1951 in architecture
  The year 1951 in architecture involved some significant events.-Buildings:* February 28 - Bronx River Houses completed in the Soundview section of The Bronx in New York City.* May 3 - Festival of Britain opened in London:...
  
  .
• For about 55 years, from 1945 to 2000, the town was the site of the headquarters of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade "Legnano"
• Every year the town used to host an important poetry event called "BergamoPoesia"
• Giuseppe Donizetti
  Giuseppe Donizetti
  Giuseppe Donizetti was, from 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II .His younger brother Gaetano Donizetti was a famous Italian opera composer...
  
   also known as Donizetti Pasha, the eldest brother of Gaetano Donizetti
  Gaetano Donizetti
  Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
  
  , who became Instructor-General of the Ottoman Military Bands under Sultan Mahmud II
  Mahmud II
  Mahmud II was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. He was born in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, the son of Sultan Abdulhamid I...
  
   and Sultan Abdulmecid I
  Abdülmecid I
  Sultan Abdülmecid I, Abdul Mejid I, Abd-ul-Mejid I or Abd Al-Majid I Ghazi was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on July 2, 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories...
  
   was born in Bergamo in 1788.
• Bergamo is the traditional birthplace of Arlecchino
  Harlequin
  Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
  
   and Brighella
  Brighella
  Brighella is a comic, masked character from the Commedia dell'arte. His early costume consisted of loosely-fitting, white smock and pants with green trim and was often equipped with a battachio or slapstick, or else with a wooden sword. Later he took to wearing a sort of livery with a matching cape...
  
  , two popular characters of the commedia dell'arte
  Commedia dell'arte
  Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
  
  
• Bergamo is crossed by river Morla
  Morla
  Morla is a 16 Km long river in province of Bergamo.Its source is located in Maresana in the municipality of Ponteranica, then Morla crosses the city of Bergamo, after Bergamo part of its waters are used in agricolture. Morla is a tributary of Serio....
  
  

International relations

Bergamo is twinned

Town twinning

Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

  with:
Greenville

Greenville, South Carolina

-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Pueblo

Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....

, United States Mulhouse

Mulhouse

Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Tver', Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 Olkusz

Olkusz

Olkusz is a town in south Poland with 37,696 inhabitants . Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship , it is the capital of Olkusz County...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 Bengbu

Bengbu

Bengbu , formerly known as P'engpu and Peng-pu, is a prefecture-level city with a population of 3,164,467 at the last census in northern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China...

, People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 Cochabamba

Cochabamba

Cochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...

, Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, since 2008


Bergamo set a relationship of decentralized cooperation with the municipality of Kakanj

Kakanj

Kakanj , is an industrial town and a municipality in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, located north of Visoko and southeast of Zenica. It was built along the slopes of wide hills on either side of the Zgošća river...

, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in the late 1990s. Procedures for town twinning were set up in 1997 but never completed.

Further reading

• Christopher Carlsmith. A Renaissance Education: Schooling in Bergamo and the Venetian Republic, 1500–1650 (University of Toronto Press; 2010) 436 pages; Considers how humanism, Tridentine Catholicism, and Venetian power affected education in the north-Italian city

External links

• Bergamo official website
• Turismo Bergamo
• Università degli Studi di Bergamo website
• Article on Bergamo on the New York Times