Returning to Bergamo After Ten Years

When I first arrived here as a student fifteen years ago, what struck me immediately was Città Alta rising above the city. It felt like a mountain carrying history on its top. Back then my interests were very different. Like many people in their twenties, I was more focused on social life, shops, and the excitement of being somewhere new. Returning now, I notice something entirely different.

The city itself has not changed nearly as much as myself, the observer.

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The Education of the Eye

One of the greatest gifts of getting older is that knowledge changes what you see.

Ten years ago many buildings in Città Bassa already seemed old to me. Today I realise that some of the true treasures of Bergamo are hidden in plain sight. Churches containing extraordinary Renaissance masterpieces stand quietly between ordinary streets. A short walk can take you from a busy avenue into a sanctuary housing works by Lorenzo Lotto that people travel across the world to admire.

As I developed the hobby of a bookbinder in recent years, I now find myself looking at old books, manuscripts, inscriptions, and materials in ways I never would have imagined in my twenties. Interests evolve, and with them perception broadens. A city reveals different layers depending on who is looking.

Perhaps that is why repeated visits matter so much, where ever you go. We do not return as the same person and this I consider as one of the magics of travel.

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Memory, Nostalgia, and the Beauty of Return

Certain memories belong inseparably to Bergamo. Walking along the Venetian walls. Watching the sun disappear behind the hills. Crossing the old bridges toward the city gates. Discovering leather shops, a personal favourite of Marisa, and small boutiques hidden along ancient streets.

For me, Bergamo is also inseparable from the painter Lorenzo Lotto. His works possess an expressiveness that immediately draws the eye. They remind me of the paintings of Murillo in Spain, works that somehow make everything around them fade into the background.

Returning after ten years creates a curious mixture of memory and discovery. You remember the city, yet you encounter it anew. Nostalgia does not diminish the experience. Quite the opposite. Many of history's greatest artistic achievements were born from longing. Dante had Beatrice. Petrarch had Laura. Why should a city like Bergamo be any different?

Memory allows a place to grow richer with time.

Why Historic Cities Matter

One of the most striking aspects of Bergamo is how it resists modern speed.

The restricted traffic in much of the historic centre creates something increasingly rare in modern Europe: silence. Without constant movement and noise, perception sharpens. One notices the weathered stones, the worn staircases hollowed by centuries of footsteps, and façades shaped by time rather than fashion.

These imperfections are precisely what make historic cities emotionally powerful. They are physical evidence of human life.

Repeated exposure to great art, architecture, and music works in much the same way. It gradually raises one's standards of beauty. Looking carefully at a Renaissance painting teaches you to look differently at a sunset, a landscape, or even a simple stone wall. The act of observation itself becomes refined and subsequently more focused.

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What Bergamo Understood Before I Did

Looking back, I suspect Bergamo entered my life through music for a reason.

My studies with pianist Konstantin Bogino first brought me here. Through music I discovered not only a city, but a broader world of art, history, craftsmanship, and cultural depth. Bergamo became one of the places that quietly educated my taste and shaped my understanding of beauty.

Today I see it as one of Italy's great cultural cities, not because it overwhelms visitors with spectacle, but because it rewards attention.

The longer you look, the more it reveals.

And in my opinion it is the highest compliment one can give to any city.

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Travel Deeper, Not Faster

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Robert Poortinga  
Travel Booking Assistant  
River cruise & Europe destination expert  
Culinary and art travel specialist

Concert Pianist

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