Antiquity Bergomum (as it was known in classical Latin) was first settled by the
Ligurian tribe of the
Orobii, during the Iron Age period. During the
Celtic invasion of
northern Italy, around the year of 550 BC, the city was conquered by the
Celtic tribe of
Cenomani. In 49 BCE, it became a
Roman municipality, containing inhabitants at its peak. An important hub on the military road between
Friuli and
Raetia, it was destroyed by
Attila in the 5th century.
Middle Ages From the 6th century, Bergamo was the seat of one of the most important
Lombard duchies of northern Italy, together with
Brescia,
Trento, and
Cividale del Friuli: its first
Lombard duke was
Wallaris. After the conquest of the Lombard Kingdom by
Charlemagne, it became the seat of a county under one
Auteramus (died 816). An important Lombardic
hoard dating from the 6th to 7th centuries was found in the vicinity of the city in the 19th century and is now in the
British Museum. From the 11th century onwards, Bergamo was an independent
commune, taking part in the
Lombard League which defeated
Frederick I Barbarossa in 1165. The local
Guelph and Ghibelline factions were the
Colleoni and
Suardi, respectively. Feuding between the two initially caused the family of
Omodeo Tasso to flee north , but he returned to Bergamo in the later 13th century to organize the city's couriers: this would eventually lead to the
Imperial Thurn und Taxis dynasty generally credited with organizing the
first modern postal service.
Early modern After a short period under the
House of Malatesta starting from 1407, Bergamo was ceded in 1428 by the
Duchy of Milan to the
Republic of Venice in the context of the
Wars in Lombardy and the aftermath of the 1427
Battle of Maclodio. Despite the brief interlude granted by the
Treaty of Lodi in 1454, the uneasy
balance of power among the northern Italian states precipitated the
Italian Wars, a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, also the
Papal States,
France, and the
Holy Roman Empire. The wars, which were both a result and cause of Venetian involvement in the power politics of mainland Italy, prompted
Venice to assert its direct rule over its
mainland domains. As much of the fighting during the Italian Wars took place during sieges, increasing levels of fortification were adopted, using such new developments as detached bastions that could withstand sustained artillery fire. The
Treaty of Campo Formio (17 October 1797) formally recognized the inclusion of Bergamo and other parts of northern Italy into the
Cisalpine Republic, a
"sister republic" of the
French First Republic that was superseded in 1802 by the short-lived
Napoleonic Italian Republic and in 1805 by the
Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.
Late modern and contemporary At the 1815
Congress of Vienna, Bergamo was assigned to the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a
crown land of the
Austrian Empire. The visit of
Ferdinand I in 1838 coincided with the opening of the new boulevard stretching into the plains, leading to the railway station that was inaugurated in 1857. Austrian rule was at first welcomed, but later challenged by
Italian independentist insurrections in 1848.
Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Bergamo in 1859, during the
Second Italian War of Independence. As a result, the city was incorporated into the newly founded
Kingdom of Italy. For its contribution to the
Italian unification movement, Bergamo is also known as
Città dei Mille ('City of the Thousand'), because a significant part of the rank-and-file supporting Giuseppe Garibaldi in his expedition against the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies came from Bergamo and its environs. During the twentieth century, Bergamo became one of Italy's most industrialized areas. In 1907,
Marcello Piacentini devised a new
urban master plan that was implemented between 1912 and 1927, in a style reminiscent of
Novecento Italiano and
Modernist Rationalism. The 2017
43rd G7 summit on agriculture was held in Bergamo, in the context of the broader international meeting in
Taormina. The "Charter of Bergamo" is an international commitment, signed during the summit, to reduce hunger worldwide by 2030, strengthen cooperation for agricultural development in Africa, and ensure price transparency. In early 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Bergamo's healthcare system was overwhelmed by patients with
COVID-19. There were reports of doctors confronted with ethical dilemmas with too few ICU beds and mechanical ventilation systems. Morgues were overwhelmed, and images of military trucks carrying the bodies of COVID-19 victims out of the city were shared worldwide. An
investigative report by
The New York Times found that faulty guidance and bureaucratic delays rendered the toll in Bergamo far worse than it had to be. from the airport|center ==Geography==