Just 50km northeast of Milan, yet much closer to the mountains in look and feel, BERGAMO is a city with a split identity, made up of two distinct parts - Bergamo Bassa , the lower, more modern centre, and Bergamo Alta , clinging to the hill 1200 feet above the Lombardian plain. Bergamo Bassa is no great shakes, a mixture of suburbs and pompous Neoclassical town planning; but Bergamo Alta is one of northern Italy's loveliest city centres, a favourite retreat for the work-weary Milanese, who flock here at weekends seeking solace in its fresh mountain air, wanderable streets and the lively, but easy-going pace of its life.

Bergamo owes much of its magic to the Venetians, who ruled the town for over 350 years, building houses and palaces with fancy Gothic windows and adorning many a facade and open space with the Venetian lion - symbol of the republic. The most striking feature, however, is the ring of gated walls. Now worn, mellow and overgrown with creepers, these kept alien armies out until 1796, when French Revolutionary troops successfully stormed the city, throwing off centuries of Venetian rule