The University of Bergamo (Università degli Studi di Bergamo) is a young university spread across historic buildings in the upper and lower town. The part most visitors walk past is the former convent of Sant'Agostino at the eastern end of Città Alta, a medieval complex that spent the 19th century as an army barracks and now holds the humanities departments. Its former Gothic church, full of 14th-century frescoes, has served as the university's great hall since 2015.
The University of Bergamo at a glance
- Where: the Sant'Agostino complex stands on Piazzale Sant'Agostino, just inside Porta Sant'Agostino at the eastern edge of Città Alta; other university buildings are in the lower town and in Dalmine.
- Founded: in 1968 as an institute of foreign languages and literature; it became a state university on 1 November 1992. The church of Sant'Agostino dates from 1290.
- What it is today: a state university with more than 20,000 students. The cloisters of Sant'Agostino house the humanities campus, and the former church is the Aula Magna, used for ceremonies, lectures and exhibitions.
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes to see the façade and walk into the cloisters, longer if the church is open for an event.
From convent to barracks to campus
The church of Sant'Agostino was founded in 1290 for the Augustinian hermits and consecrated in 1347. Over the following centuries the friars added a small cloister in the 15th century and a larger one in the 16th, and painters filled the church walls with frescoes. After the religious orders were suppressed, the church and convent became a barracks and arms depot in the 19th century, and the frescoes disappeared behind brick walls. They came to light again only during restorations in the 1950s and 1960s directed by Mauro Pelliccioli.
The university started in 1968, when local institutions in Bergamo founded an institute of foreign languages and literature in the upper town. Economics followed in the 1970s, engineering in 1991, and on 1 November 1992 the institute became the state University of Bergamo. In 2001 the humanities campus moved into the restored cloisters of Sant'Agostino, and in 2015 the deconsecrated church reopened as the Aula Magna. Restoration of the frescoes and of the smaller cloister has continued since then.
What to look for
- The Gothic façade: the stone front of the former church, with a statue of St Augustine, facing the open square.
- The cloisters: walk through the entrance into the arcaded courtyards, where students now sit between lectures.
- The church interior, if it is open: a long single nave with seven pointed transverse arches and a wooden ceiling with painted tiles.
- The frescoes: an anthology of 14th-century painting in Bergamo, including a fragment of a Last Supper and scenes from the lives of hermit saints.
- The square outside: Piazzale Sant'Agostino and the lawns of the Fara park beside it, a favourite place for students to sit outside.
A campus inside the walls
Few universities have a campus like this one: students walk to class through a 16th-century cloister, a few steps from the Venetian walls, which have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017. The university calls Sant'Agostino a 'widespread campus', because its rooms are spread across the old convent buildings rather than in one modern block. If you visit on a weekday in term, you will see the place as it is meant to be used, full of students rather than tourists.
Tips for your visit
- The cloisters can usually be visited when the university is open, but this is a working campus: keep quiet near classrooms and don't walk into lectures.
- The former church is normally open only for events and exhibitions, so look for posters at the entrance or on the university's website.
- Come in the late afternoon and walk out onto the walls near Porta Sant'Agostino for the view over the lower town.
Nearby
- Porta Sant'Agostino: the Venetian gate right next to the complex, one of the four gates into Città Alta.
- The Venetian walls: walk along the top of the 16th-century walls for wide views over the lower town.
- Via Porta Dipinta: the quiet street that leads from Sant'Agostino towards the centre of the upper town, lined with old churches and palazzi.
- Piazza Vecchia: the main square of Città Alta, with the Palazzo della Ragione and the Campanone tower, around 10–15 minutes' walk away.
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.