CATHEDRAL, Introduction And Interior

Hi, my name’s Scott, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the wonders of the world: Bergamo Cathedral.

The magnificent, late-nineteenth-century white marble facade of the Cathedral contrasts sharply with the simple style of the medieval buildings around it, which are the result of centuries of historical events stretching back 3,000 years, when the place was already inhabited.

The Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Alexander, the patron saint of Bergamo, and was built just after Christianity took hold, in the most important neighborhood of the Roman city, through which a street lined with traders, shops, craft workshops and residential dwellings also ran. After 1100, however, the church was rebuilt in Romanesque style, while the church of Santa Maria Maggiore was also being built nearby.

1459 saw the beginning of the work to extend the cathedral, which was entrusted to one of the most renowned architects of the Renaissance, Filarete, from Florence, who designed a magnificent building. This included the completion of the chapel on the left side, dedicated to Saint Catherine and Saint Jerome, but the work unfortunately came to a halt with the death of Filarete....