A place anciently dedicated to trade and commerce, it is located at the meeting point of the then most important access routes to the Upper Town.
According to tradition, it owes its name to the ancient presence of the Guild of Shoemakers, which had its headquarters in the 14th-century palace whose facade is preserved, now the station of the funicular railway that went into service in 1887.
In the medieval city artisans and merchants were organized into guilds, whose activities were regulated by statutes approved by the municipality, some of which are still preserved in the Civic Library.
Text edited by
Mauro Gelfi, Bergamo Historical Museum
Rosanna Paccanelli Gavazzeni