Museo del Cinquecento, History museum in Bergamo, Italy
The Museo del Cinquecento occupies the Palazzo del Podestà, whose arched entrance links Piazza Vecchia and Piazza del Duomo in Bergamo's upper city. Seven interactive rooms cover 16th-century Bergamo, from Venetian walls to goods arriving from the New World. Below street level, excavations show the Roman forum; above, the route continues to the Campanone bell tower.
The Palazzo del Podestà served as an administrative seat for the rulers of Bergamo over many centuries, including Milanese lords and, from 1428, the Republic of Venice. The museum itself opened in 2012, after restoration work carried out between 2001 and 2011 that also uncovered Roman structures beneath the building.
The museum sits in the Palazzo del Podestà, right between Piazza Vecchia and Piazza del Duomo, two squares that have been the heart of the upper city for centuries. Inside, one room recreates an apothecary shop where visitors can open drawers filled with spices, herbs, and other ingredients typical of the 1500s, complete with the smells of the period.
The museum entrance lies between Piazza Vecchia and Piazza del Duomo, in the upper city reached by funicular from the lower town. From Piazza Vecchia, a large pointed arch leads into the archaeological area with protohistoric and Roman remains, then on to the Renaissance courtyard and the seven interactive rooms. The route continues up to the Campanone tower.
One room displays a large 1693 painting showing Bergamo from above, before the Venetian walls were built, with a black line marking exactly where the walls would later rise. The building also connects to the Campanone, an old tower that once served as both a private home and a jail before becoming a bell tower in the 1600s, and still rings every evening.
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