Piazza Matteotti (Città Bassa)
Piazza Matteotti anchors Bergamo's lower city the way a town square should — not as a monument to itself, but as the place everyone passes through. The official taxi rank is here. So is the funicular connection up to Città Alta. And so, at the square's corner with Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII, is Giacomo Manzù's bronze partisan, 3.2 metres of cold metal, hanging upside down — an image that stops you mid-stride whether you were expecting it or not.
The square gathers centuries without making a fuss about it: a Baroque church, a Neoclassical city hall, a 45-metre war memorial inaugurated in 1924, and a theatre that traces its lineage to 1791. Via XX Settembre runs off one edge, lined with the kind of shops locals actually use.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who know the square tend to time a coffee at Balzer or Caffè del Centro for the early evening, when the Torre dei Caduti catches the last light and the piazza shifts from transit point to somewhere worth sitting. The monuments are easier to read then, too — Manzù's partisan in particular.
The story behind Piazza Matteotti (Città Bassa)
Piazza Matteotti took shape in the 19th century as Bergamo's lower city expanded beyond its medieval walls. Palazzo Frizzoni went up in 1857, designed by Francesco Valsecchi for use as a military command — it now serves as the city hall. The Teatro Gaetano Donizetti stands on the site of the earlier Teatro Riccardi, which opened in 1791, burned in 1797, reopened in 1800, and was renamed in 1897 to mark the centenary of the composer's birth.
The 20th century left its own marks. The Torre dei Caduti was inaugurated in 1924 to honour Bergamo's dead from the First World War. The Monumento ai Fratelli Calvi, designed by Pino Pizzigoni and unveiled in 1933, remembers four brothers who died in that same conflict. Giacomo Manzù's Monument to the Partisan arrived later — unveiled on 25 April 1977, the date Italy marks its liberation from Fascism.
Good to know
ATB bus line 1 connects Piazza Matteotti to the train station and the lower funicular stop; a single urban ticket (€1.60, valid 75 minutes) covers both funiculars. The square itself costs nothing to enter. Climbing the Torre dei Caduti requires a separate ticket. Spring and early September are the most comfortable seasons.
April through mid-June and September offer the most agreeable conditions — mild temperatures and enough clear days to make the open square comfortable. Summer afternoons can bring sudden thunderstorms, and July heat waves occasionally push past 35°C. Winter is cold and frequently grey, with January averaging around 4°C.
Where is Piazza Matteotti (Città Bassa)?
Location
- In Bergamo
- 45.6955, 9.6695
- Open in Google Maps
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