Tour of Bergamo’s lower town from the neoclassical district to the museums’ esplanade

The neoclassical Porta Nuova is the monumental gate of the city of Bergamo, now in the centre of the lower town, which was built in 1837, crossed by Via Vittorio Emanuele, which connects Città Bassa to the Città Alta. The walls it allowed one to pass through were demolished in the 20th century.
The green space behind the gate is adorned with commemorative monuments, including the Monument to the Partisan of 1977, which depicts the death of a resistance fighter known as a partisan in Italy and refers to an experience lived by the artist while witnessing a similar scene. Then opposite is Piazza Dante and the Torre dei Caduti.
The Piacentiniano Centre is also behind the gate, a block of early 20th-century palazzi, designed by Piacentini, including the Palazzo della Banca d’Italia, the Law Courts or the Post Office, the famous avenue of the Sentierone with its shopping centre under the arcades of the quadriportico in front of the theatre. The Sentierone dates back to 1620 and was redeveloped in the early 20th century. It is the living heart of lower Bergamo, for shops and dining.
The Donizetti Theatre was a reconstruction of 1800. It is the main theatre of Bergamo, hosting among others each year the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo.

To the west of Porta Nuova is the charming Piazza Pontida lively with bars and pubs, near the heart of the city’s shopping area, between Via XX Settembre, Via Sant’Alessandro and Via Sant’Orsola.

To the east of the district, via Torquato Tasso is another street with restaurants and cafés, passing by the church of Santo Spirito. Then, via Pignolo is one of the most pleasant in Bergamo, lined with its old palazzi, a portion of which is occupied by shops and restaurants, and another more historic part has palazzi (Palazzo Bonomi, Palazzo Daina, Palazzo Monzini), the baroque church of San Tommaso, or the pretty marble Fountain of the Dolphin.
The pretty alley via San Tomaso leads to the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, inaugurated in 1991, near the Carrara Academy on the other side of the esplanade.

In the district there is also the Suardi Park, and the solitary Torre del Galgario which was included in the city walls.

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Bergamo

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