The best way to get to Bergamo is to take the train: as you leave the station, the city immediately shows itself in its wonder.
The view follows a sharp line all the way to Porta Nuova, the hub of the Lower Town.
Just raising your head, your gaze opens wide to the majestic and perfect profile of the hills of the Upper City.
In 1837, the old gateway set in the Muraine, mighty 15th-century fortifications that encircled the hills and descended to the Lower Town and the boroughs, was replaced by an iron gate that opened a breach in the city walls: this was the Porta Nuova. This place constitutes for a long period the main entrance to the area of Bergamo devoted to trade and business.
Even today, it represents the main junction around which the main road and monumental axes of Lower Town extend.
The Ferdinandean road, inaugurated in 1838 on the occasion of the visit of the Emperor of Austria Ferdinand I, currently takes the name Viale Vittorio Emanuele and, together with Viale Roma and Viale Papa Giovanni, forms the axis that leads from Lower Town to Upper Town.
It originally stood in the middle of the countryside, but in a short time it became one of the city’s most important axes, along which fascinating public and private buildings sprang up. Around this street and the gate develops the modern city, with its suspended, industrious beauty, linked to the rhythms of work, shopping and everyday life.
From Porta Nuova there is the best view of the village built on the hill of Città Alta.
The profile of palaces, bell towers, towers, domes and walls is revealed in all its richness and harmony.
In fact, architect Marcello Piacentini, who in the early 20th century redesigned the center behind the Porta, had the foresight to design the palaces at such a height as to offer an ideal view of the village situated on the Città Alta.
The classically styled twin buildings that dominate Porta Nuova on both sides are called propylaea, or “what stands in front of the gate.”
Until 1901, in fact, they were home to the duty guard who controlled the entry of goods into the city: here an iron gate blocked the road.
Those entering the city then had to pay the tax on goods, as is the case in a customs house today.
The Muraines, in addition to being defense fortifications, also served as a customs border. When the duty tax was eliminated, it was decided to tear them down.
In some corners of the city there remain rare, surprising vestiges of them.
One in particular is well recognizable and is represented by the cylindrical Galgario tower, with a truncated conical base, which stands solitary today in the middle of a busy avenue.