After breakfast and meeting with the guide, transfer by coach to Varese. We will visit one of the oldest places of worship and spirituality in Italy, Sacro Monte. A destination for tourists and pilgrims for over 500 years, it became a UNESCO site in 2003.
After breakfast, we will leave the hotel rooms and move on to Bergamo Alta, the medieval heart of the city, which contains the beauty and history of past eras. We will see the Piazza Vecchia, which is a place of tranquillity and ancient beauty at the centre of which is the Contarini Fountain, with its sphinxes.
We will pass in front of the Palazzo della Regione in Città Alta, the oldest municipal building in Italy. Continuing our walk, we will see the Campanone or Torre Civica, which overlooks Piazza Vecchia and for the Bergamasks is the Campanone or Campanù in dialect. 56 metres high, from which you can enjoy a fantastic view over the whole of Bergamo.
The Colleoni Chapel, a majestic architectural beauty, a masterpiece of the Lombard and Italian Renaissance. The chapel, adjacent to the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, houses the remains of the leader Bartolomeo Colleoni, captain general of the Venetian mainland militia.
The Basilica S. Maria Maggiore. Its history is linked to an unfortunate event: the famine and plague that was sweeping through northern Italy.
The people of Bergamo prayed to Mary and invoked her help; as a sign of thanks they dedicated a church to her. This is how the Basilica was built: in 1137 the first stone was laid. Inside is the tomb of the famous Gaetano Donizetti, of Giovanni Simone Mayr, a Bavarian musician and master of the local composer, and of Cardinal Guglielmo Longo degli Alessandrini.
And much more besides…
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