Bergamo

Bergamo, city, northern Italy, capital of Bergamo Province, in Lombardy Region (Lombardia), in the foothills of the Alps. It consists of a medieval upper city, built on a hill, and a modern, industrial lower city, built on the plain. Manufactures include textiles, machinery, and cement. Among the outstanding buildings of the upper city are the Romanesque Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (begun 1137) and the Renaissance Colleoni chapel (15th century). The Carrara Academy in the lower city is noted for its large picture gallery. Modern Bergamo is built on the site of ancient Bergomum, a Gallic settlement that received Roman municipal rights from Julius Caesar and was destroyed in the 5th century by the Huns under Attila. After it was rebuilt, it became successively the capital of a Lombard duchy, a dependency of the city of Milan, and from 1428 to 1797 a part of the Venetian Republic. Later it became part of the kingdom of Lombardy. Population (2001 estimate) 117,415.