Bergamo is internationally renowned for its majestic Venetian Walls, dating back to the XVI Century.
However, during the Middle Age the powerful Visconti family used to rule over Bergamo (along with Milan) and ordered to build the so-called “Muraine”: surrounding walls aimed to protect the boroughs that were born over the centuries along the main roads connecting Bergamo with the nearest villages.
This building work used to integrate the other strongholds on the hills, where San Vigilio Castle headed the urban defensive system.
Six entrance gates along the Muraine’s perimeter used to connect Bergamo to the external streets: fortified and provided with drawbridges over the moat, these accesses were also used for custom control, closing at night and opening in the morning.
The Muraine surrounding walls also included 31 square plan towers and one round plan tower: they were demolished in 1901, when the access to Bergamo became totally free and there was no need to pay any duty anymore. Nevertheless, there is one evidence left: the Galgario Tower (whose name comes from the word “calchera” or “calcarium”, meaning “lime kiln”), one of the most important towers in this defensive system, located in a strategic position: in fact, it stands in the meeting point of several roads still widely used today.
Bergamo is internationally renowned for its majestic Venetian Walls, dating back to the XVI Century.
However, during the Middle Age the powerful Visconti family used to rule over Bergamo (along with Milan) and ordered to build the so-called “Muraine”: surrounding walls aimed to protect the boroughs that were born over the centuries along the main roads connecting Bergamo with the nearest villages.
This building work used to integrate the other strongholds on the hills, where San Vigilio Castle headed the urban defensive system.
Six entrance gates along the Muraine’s perimeter used to connect Bergamo to the external streets: fortified and provided with drawbridges over the moat, these accesses were also used for custom control, closing at night and opening in the morning.
The Muraine surrounding walls also included 31 square plan towers and one round plan tower: they were demolished in 1901, when the access to Bergamo became totally free and there was no need to pay any duty anymore. Nevertheless, there is one evidence left: the Galgario Tower (whose name comes from the word “calchera” or “calcarium”, meaning “lime kiln”), one of the most important towers in this defensive system, located in a strategic position: in fact, it stands in the meeting point of several roads still widely used today.
