Saint Alexander of Bergamo (died c. 303) is the patron saint of Bergamo. Alexander may simply have…read morebeen a Roman soldier or resident of Bergamo who was tortured and killed for not renouncing his Christian faith. Details of his life are uncertain, but subsequent Christian legends consider him a centurion who decided to become a preacher and who converted many natives of Bergamo. A golden statue of Alexander sits atop the dome of the cathedral. The first mention of a church on the site was in the 6thC. By the 1400s, bishop Giovanni Barozzi commissioned a new building designed by Atonio Averulino. In 1689, the structure was updated using designs by Carlo Fontana. The facade was completed in 1889. In the first chapel on the right is St. Benedict and Saints by Andrea Previtali (1524), and on the first chapel to the left of the nave is the Madonna and child with Saints by Giovan Battista Moroni (1576). The church has a Madonna with child with two doves by Giovanni Cariani, as well as canvases attributed to Giambettino Cignaroli and Sebastiano Ricci, and Saints Firmus, Rusticus, and Proculus (1704). The apse has the Martyrdom of St. John of Bergamo, Bishop (1731-1743) by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The St. Alessandro was painted by Carlo Innocenzo Carloni. The main altar was designed by Filippo Juvara. The choir area has wooden intaglio panels by Johann Karl Sanz. The cathedral is not merely a monument; it is a working church and regular place of worship, the centre of religious life in the diocese of Bergamo, and a place where the Bishop himself reads the service on important religious dates.

The church was founded in 1137, the high altar was consecrated in 1185, and in 1187 the presbytery…read moreand the transept wings were completed. Due to financial troubles, the works dragged for the whole 13th14th centuries. The bell tower was built from 1436 (being completed around the end of the century), while in 14811491 a new sacristy added after the old one had been destroyed by Bartolomeo Colleoni to erect his personal mausoleum, the Colleoni Chapel. In 1521, Pietro Isabello finished the south-western portal, also known as Porta della Fontana. The edifice was restored and modified in the 17th century. Fronted by a marble facade and a portico whose columns rise out of the backs of lions, the interior is a baroque celebration of gilding, woodcarving and tapestries. Gaetano Donizetti, the opera composer, who was born in Bergamo in 1797 and returned here to die in 1848, is entombed in a marble sarcophagus that's as excessive as the rest of the church's decor. Among the finest works are the choir stalls, with rich wood inlays depicting landscapes and biblical scenes, the creation of Lorenzo Lotto. The octagonal Baptistery in the piazza outside the church was originally inside but removed, reconstructed, and much embellished in the 19th century. Altogether more awe-inspiring than the neighbouring Cathedral, the Basilica is crammed with historical artefacts and is a must-see place during your idyll in Bergamo.

Definitely one of 'the' places to visit when in Bergamo, just off Piazza Duomo. There are so many…read moreinteresting carvings, beautiful frescoes and tapestries in the interior. The carved wooden confessional is well worth seeing too and the ornately carved exterior is really beautiful.