Piazza Vecchia is the main square of Bergamo's upper town, Città Alta, enclosed on every side by buildings from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, with a marble fountain in the middle. Every evening at 10 pm the bell of the Campanone, the civic tower on the square, strikes 100 times, the old signal that the gates in the city walls were closing.
Piazza Vecchia at a glance
- Where: in the centre of Città Alta, at the meeting point of Via Colleoni and Via Gombito, with Piazza del Duomo just behind the arches of the Palazzo della Ragione.
- Created: grew up around the Palazzo della Ragione, built in 1183–1198; its present look comes mainly from the Venetian period (1428–1797) and the completion of the Palazzo Nuovo in 1928.
- What it is today: the living room of the upper town, a pedestrian square with café terraces, the civic library in the Palazzo Nuovo and exhibitions in the Palazzo della Ragione.
- Time needed: 20–30 minutes for the square; an hour or more with the tower and Piazza del Duomo.
From medieval commune to Venetian showpiece
The square began with the Palazzo della Ragione, built at the end of the 12th century as the seat of the free commune of Bergamo and one of the oldest town halls in Italy. In 1428 Bergamo came under the Republic of Venice, which ruled it for almost four centuries, and the square filled with the symbols of the new masters: the winged lion of St Mark on the palace and, later, the Contarini Fountain. The Venetians also built the great walls around the upper town, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.
Opposite the Palazzo della Ragione stands the white marble Palazzo Nuovo, designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi and begun in 1604. It served as Bergamo's town hall for about three centuries, until 1873, and was only finished in 1928, more than 300 years after work began; since then it has housed the Angelo Mai civic library. The square's name, 'old square', distinguishes it from the newer centre that grew in the lower town.
What to look for
- The Contarini Fountain: given to the city in 1780 by the Venetian governor (podestà) Alvise Contarini, made of local Zandobbio marble and decorated with sphinxes, lions and snakes.
- The Palazzo della Ragione: its open ground-floor arcade, the winged lion of St Mark on the facade, and the covered staircase beside the tower that leads up to the great hall.
- The sundial under the arcade: a meridian line set into the floor in 1798. At solar noon, a ray of light through a hole in a disc hanging from the arches falls on the line and shows the date and the zodiac sign.
- The Campanone (Torre Civica), about 52 metres tall, whose bell still rings 100 strokes at 10 pm. You can go up the tower for a view over the rooftops.
- The Palazzo Nuovo's white facade, with statues above the library windows representing crafts, industry, agriculture, work and the rivers Brembo and Serio.
The architect's compliment
Bergamo likes to quote the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, who is said to have called Piazza Vecchia one of the most beautiful squares in the world. The exact wording and where he said it are hard to pin down, so treat it as a much-repeated compliment rather than a sourced quotation. Standing in the middle of the square, by the fountain, most visitors find it easy to agree.
Tips for your visit
- Be in or near the square at 10 pm to hear the Campanone strike its 100 strokes; it takes a few minutes, so there is time to count.
- Come at noon on a sunny day to watch the light fall on the sundial line under the arcade.
- Walk through the arches of the Palazzo della Ragione into Piazza del Duomo: the change from the open square to the crowded church facades behind is one of the best moments in the upper town.
Nearby
- Colleoni Chapel: the multicoloured marble Renaissance chapel built by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo for the mercenary captain Bartolomeo Colleoni, just behind the square.
- Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore: next to the chapel, with wooden inlays designed by Lorenzo Lotto and the tomb of the composer Gaetano Donizetti, who was born in Bergamo.
- Venetian Walls: the 16th-century walls around Città Alta, a UNESCO site, with a walk along the top and views over the lower town; a few minutes' walk away.
- Funicular to the lower town: the cable railway that has linked Città Alta with the lower town since the 1880s, from the end of Via Gombito and Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe.
See Bergamo with World City Trail
Our Bergamo scavenger hunt turns the upper town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops in Città Alta and takes around 2 hours, with about 22 minutes of walking. Piazza Vecchia is one of the stops.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Bergamo.
Play the Bergamo scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Bergamo →
Play the outdoor escape game in Bergamo →
Facts checked in October 2026.