Welcome to Bergamo!
My name is Alessandro and I am an architect with a great passion for art and history. I love travelling, meeting new people and discovering their traditions. I love to enjoy good food paired with good wine or craft beer.
Combining all these passions together with a lot of study, I became a tour guide and leader qualified in French and English.
The tours that I offer take place in the splendid cities of Bergamo, its province and Venice. They combine history, art, architecture, traditions, craftsmanship as well as food and wine tastings.
These tours are suitable for everyone. From individuals, small or large groups of people such as schools, companies and cultural associations, etc. For all these potential customers, I can ‘build’ personalised itineraries.
Bergamo is a city waiting to be discovered that is full of artistic treasures! Come with me to discover this beautiful city and its special surroundings that are, wrongly, not very famous! There are so many surprises and emotions to experience and to share with the people I accompany!
…sometimes I enjoy working together with my friends and fellow guides from Bergamo, Michela Del Rosso and Elisabetta Ronzoni. Guiding with them gives more voices to the tours that we have kindly called ‘Polyphonic‘. Come and listen to us! We’re waiting for you!
City Tours. Minimum duration: half day (HD).
ARTISANS OF TODAY AND CORPORATIONS OF YESTERDAY: Tour of the Upper Town intertwined with a visit to some artisan shops that use historic traditions that, despite globalisation, still survive and prosper. Guests will be able to see craftsmen at work, from whose hands the much appreciated ‘Made in Italy’ originates. (The tour needs a couple of days of organisation).
UPPER TOWN BY NIGHT-MOSCATO AND BELLS: Tour of the Upper Town. Immersed in a magical evening atmosphere, sipping a glass of Moscato di Scanzo, waiting for the hundred hypnotic chimes of the Campanone, we discover the nocturnal heart of the Upper Town.
THE WALLS – A SCULPTURE ON AN URBAN SCALE: The image par excellence of Bergamo has received UNESCO World Heritage status. We will walk along the Venetian fortress talking about history, architecture and nature. Five kilometers uninterruptedly accompanied by a stunning view.
UNUSUAL BERGAMO: Itinerary in the Upper Town to discover the places usually closed to the public. We will visit: the former Sant’Agata prison, a monastery built in the 17th century by the Theatine fathers and transformed into a prison at the beginning of the 19th century. It was designed by architect Leopoldo Pollack, closed in 1977 and now used as an exhibition space. The former Carmine monastery now houses the Tascabile Theatre of Bergamo (TTB). The archaeological excavations of the Roman Bergomum… for example in Vicolo Aquila Nera. Luogo Pio Colleoni… Aula Picta… and many other amazing places! (The tour needs a couple of days of organisation).
A SIP OF HISTORY: Guided Tour to the Astino Monastery and Biodiversity Valley. Let’s retrace the life of the Monastery discovering its mysteries and curiosities by exploring the most enchanting environments. We observe the crops that led to the biological revival of the Valley. We will conclude by tasting the zero-km products of the valley around the Monastery. (The tasting of the products is scheduled during the summer season).
DONIZETTIANO TOUR: SPLENDOURS AND MISERIES OF A COMPOSER. Tour of the Upper Town with special ‘focus’ on the places linked to the composer Gaetano Donizetti, a Bergamo native who is buried in the city’s Basilica. The itinerary includes a visit to the Donizetti Museum and Gaetano Donizetti’s childhood home. Possibility to end the tour at a historic venue, listening to some of the Maestro’s arias on the piano, enjoying a rich aperitif.
COLLEONESCO TOUR: THE CRAFT OF WEAPONS. Life and places of the leader Bartolomeo Colleoni. In this itinerary, I will tell you about the curiosities of his life and we will visit the places in the Upper Town linked to the life of the leader Bartolomeo Colleoni. (The tour needs a couple of days of organisation).
THE TREASURES OF THE CURIA: The marvellous frescoes of the Aula Picta, the enigmatic Chapel of S. Croce and the Cathedral’s Treasury. In this itinerary, I will tell about the transformations and the curiosities related to the places around the historic Bishop’s palace. We will visit the Aula Picta (currently under restoration) with its interesting 13th century frescoes and the ancient Episcopal Chapel of Santa Croce (11th century). We will conclude the tour in the Cathedral’s underground Museum where part of the Episcopal Treasure is kept and where the foundations of some Roman Domus and a fragment of the ancient Roman Forum’s street can be seen, brought to light by recent archaeological excavations.
…let’s go down to the Lower Town…
LORENZO LOTTO IN THE LOWER TOWN: We will visit the churches of San Bartolomeo, Santo Spirito and San Bernardino, which house the three wonderful altarpieces of the same names painted by the Venetian artist Lorenzo Lotto, immersing ourselves in an atmosphere with 16th century characters.
BERGAMO IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: a journey through history, styles and ideas. We will walk the streets in the centre, passing monumental buildings to explore what we have in front of our eyes every day, but that we look at too distractedly. SUGGESTED ITINERARY ALSO FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE FOR SCHOOLS.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN BERGAMO: In the heart of Lower BergamoPiacentinian Centre to the happy architectural examples of rationalist matrix. SUGGESTED ITINERARY ALSO FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE FOR SCHOOLS.