Historical Museum and Ex S. Francesco Cloister

Piazza Vecchia represents the core of Città Alta: it has been the heart of political power for centuries and it keeps being one of the most popular places for Bergamo’s citizens to spend some time with friends. Beauty is all around you if you have a seat at one of the square’s restaurants or cafes, having a drink, breakfast or even a romantic dinner. You can admire the building called “Palazzo della Ragione”, the oldest municipal seat in Lombardy, as well as the Torre Civica, a bell tower also called “Campanone”. In the middle of the square is located the Contarini Fountain, which was donated to the city by the chief magistrate Alvise Contarini in 1780, while on the opposite side of Piazza Vecchia you can see the Palazzo Nuovo (“New Palace”), which served as Bergamo’s Town Hall until 1873 and is today the seat of the Angelo Mai Library. The geometrical layout of the buildings around the square is so harmonic that when Le Corbusier visited Bergamo he said “you can’t move a single stone, it would be a crime”

Fortified building which hosts the Museum of History IX century. You can buy a museum card which includes the visit at Museo Donizettiano, Museum of history XVII century (Rocca), Historical Museum (former S. Francesco cloister), Campanone and Museum of the Veneto Age (Palazzo del Podestà).

Bergamo Historical Museum is settled in the fascinating ex San Francesco cloister. The exhibition includes reconstructions of settings, multimedia stations and movable explanatory sheets.

After exemplary restoration work was carried out, the Teatro Sociale reopened to the public in the spring of 2009 – two century after its inauguration in 1808 – with a rich calendar of shows.