SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE
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The most important monument of Bergamo preserving a Romanesque structure.
In the heart of the upper town, this basilica, considered the most important monument in Bergamo, was built in 1137 on the site of an older church. It preserves a Romanesque structure, while the interior was enriched in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the fourteenth century, Giovanni da Campione added to the building the two north and south porches resting on lions. The decoration consists of opulent paintings, stuccos and marquetry.
In the left aisle, 66 Florentine tapestries (1586) are displayed in rotation and are of a very beautiful design. They evoke the Scenes from the Life of the Virgin. Other masterpieces inside the church are the wooden confessional by Andrea Frantoni dating from 1704, a feat of Baroque sculpture, and the 16th-century wooden choir, entirely decorated with marquetry based on designs by Lorenzo Lotto. On the back wall of the nave, another sumptuous Flemish tapestry, illustrating a Crucifixion, was woven in Antwerp in 1698. Just below, admire the Passage of the Red Sea by Luca Giordano.
Santa Maria Maggiore also houses the tomb of Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), a great opera composer from Bergamo. The octagonal baptistery that was inside was moved in 1660, but its current location in the square dates only from 1898. The work of Giovanni da Campione (1340), its upper part in red Verona marble is openwork with a series of small columns. The statues of the Virtues decorate each side of the octagon.
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