The Astino Valley • Visit Bergamo

A fascinating monastery dating from the year 1000 found new life and opened its doors in the heart of a beautiful valley where, between ancient cultures and fruit trees, there is also an unique botanical garden in Europe. A biological and open to all reality.

Astino Valley is a summer-long dream, with its monastery that after decades of abandonment, now is back to shine in the heart of the green valley that was founded in 1070 by monks of Vallombrosa. Today it is surrounded by ancient organic crops in the heart of the protected area of the Parco dei Colli, that can be reached with a pleasant walk from Bergamo Alta between dry stonewalls and bolts or by bus, a few minutes from the center of the Città Bassa.

Astino is a magical place where you can discover the Church of the Holy Sepulchre next to the monastery, the beautiful cloister, the rooftop garden and the wine cellars where you can taste wines, homemade beers and traditional plates, next to the historical giant barrels, with the addition of the exhibition Luigi Veronelli – Camminare la Terra, a journey into the world of this winemaker, gastronome and intellectual ambassador of Italian food and wine in the world.

The visit to Astino this summer is an unmissable opportunity, behind which is an open-air museum situated on a hill surrounded by the green: the Valley of Biodiversity, the detached section of the Lorenzo Rota Botanical Garden in Bergamo Alta, a unique work in Europe inaugurated at Expo2015, which houses in 9000 square meters about 300 different species of plants and 1500 varieties of them.

Besides proposing a program of educational, cultural initiatives and workshops for children, the Botanical Garden is also a place to relax, which greets visitors at the weekend for lunch with delicious picnic vegan and vegetarian baskets (for reservations, info@cooperativabiplano.it).

Astino also means biological agriculture, with crops covering an area of 26 hectares and woods an area of 40, where ancient local cultivations were retrieved: from extra virgin olive oil extracted from Sbresa, an ancient olive variety of Bergamo, to aromatic plants and herbs, gooseberries, currants, blueberries and raspberries, with fruit trees, corn and ancient grains.

Spinaches, cabbage, peas, beans and zucchini can be purchased directly from the Garden of Valle d'Astino, while the hop gardens at the foot of the monastery will produce beers flavored with herbs such as thyme, rosemary and juniper, in addition to dry sparkling wines. The food and wine of the Valley will also be among the ingredients of the tasty dishes of the menu of the cellars of the monastery.

During the six months of the Expo, the Astino Valley Astino can be reached every Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 20 by a shuttle service every 20 minutes from the railway station, with stops at Porta Nuova, Auchan in Via Carducci, free Parking Red Cross via Broseta 133 and at via Campo Sportivo Lochis.