Bergamo Alta is a medieval city, surrounded by ramparts built in the 16th century, during the Venetian domination, which were added to the pre-existing fortifications in order to make it an impregnable fortress.
Bergamo is still one of the few Italian cities whose historic center has remained completely surrounded by walls that have kept their original appearance almost intact over the centuries.
The best known and most visited part of Bergamo Alta is Piazza Vecchia, with the Contarini fountain, the Palazzo della Ragione, the Civic Tower (called the Campanone), which still today strikes 100 rounds at 10 pm - those that in the past announced night-time closing of the gates of the Venetian walls - and other buildings that surround it on all sides. On the opposite side to the Palazzo della Ragione, you'll see the large white building of the New Palace that houses the Angelo Mai Civic Library.
Beyond the Palazzo della Ragione is the Duomo, the Colleoni Chapel by the architect Giovanni Antonio Amadeo with funeral monuments to the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni and his daughter Medea, the Baptistery erected by Giovanni da Campione and the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore with its beautiful north and south side portals, also by Giovanni da Campione. This last church has inlays depicting biblical scenes made of wood of various colors, whose drawings are the work of Lorenzo Lotto, and an imposing Baroque confessional sculpted by Andrea Fantoni. The church houses the tomb of the musician Gaetano Donizetti.
Via Colleoni, also known as Corsaröla, connects Piazza Vecchia to Piazza della Cittadella and is the heart of a high city.
In Piazza della Cittadella there is the Civic Archaeological Museum and the "Enrico Caffi" Museum of Natural Sciences, not far from which you can visit the Fontana del Lantro, located at the church of San Lorenzo. Among other religious architecture, the church of San Michele al Pozzo Bianco, which preserves the frescoes with Scenes from the Life of Mary by Lorenzo Lotto (1525).
Città Alta can be reached on foot through the scorlazzini (stairways that connect it from the lower part of the city from several points).
