Located in Città Bassa opposite the headquarters of the Bank of Italy, the Temple is the place of worship for Bergamo’s Protestant community.
It was built in the second half of the 19th century according to the design of architect Giacomo Frizzoni.
L’inaugurazione ebbe luogo – come ricorda l’iscrizione nell’atrio – il 30 aprile 1876.
Nasceva così il secondo luogo di culto protestante della Lombardia, secondo solo a quello di Milano.
At the time the last stone was laid, the Reformed Community of Bergamo was just sixty-nine years old.
It had been officially founded in the Napoleonic era (1807) by a group of Protestant merchants and businessmen, of Swiss origin like most of the Reformed who settled in the city; the most eminent among them were also financiers of the Temple, through land or monetary donations.
This was the case with the Frizzoni family, who offered the plot of land on which the building stands today; old prints and paintings show that the building was originally surrounded by meadows and groves, also owned by Palazzo Frizzoni.
The style of the Temple is a Neo-Renaissance with strong references to Romanesque and the work of Boniforte Solari (15th cent.) in the clean lines of the architecture and in the use of materials typical of the Lombard tradition: terracotta for the masonry and stone for the sculptural elements.
The façade is gabled, decorated with small arches, pilasters and a fine alternation of brick-colored shades; the entrance is in the center of the lower bay and is surmounted by round arches, as are the two side windows.
Standing out above it all are the Christ with angels in the lunette and the beautiful rose window in the upper bay.
Inside are a wooden-lapid pulpit, a fine marble baptismal font, and a Lingiardi organ from Pavia, placed on the inner loggia above the entrance.
The apse is decorated with three polychrome stained glass windows depicting the risen Jesus Christ and the apostles Paul and John.
The Temple is run by the Bergamo Protestant community as part of the Protestant Cultural Center, along with the Girolamo Zanchi Archive and Library, located on Via Tasso.