The Palazzo del Podestà in Bergamo’s upper section stands on the area that was used for making judgments on legal issues in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. Today the building is used as the Museum of the Venetian Age, or Museo Storico. Restorations to the building uncovered Roman walls beneath the museum and an area where an ancient forum was situated. Descend 8 feet (2.5 meters) into this archeological site just before entering the museum to view the ancient structure.
The building has newer legal connections dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries when it was the seat of the chief magistrate or governor, the translation of podestà. Travel through time to when Bergamo was an important merchant city in the Republic of Venice by viewing the displays in the museum.
Walk through all seven sections and their interactive displays to get a feeling of what it was like living in Bergamo in the 16th century. Notice the maps becoming progressively more detailed after the discovery of America, and travel along old routes to witness their dangers.
See displays of the town before its surrounding walls were built, observe the active trade in spices and newly invented printed books, and finish your tour by strolling through a medieval market in Bergamo with all its activity and sound. Compare these times to the present by walking out to the Piazza Vecchia and absorbing how these old buildings still interact gracefully with modern-day life.
The Palazzo del Podestà had various other uses over the centuries under Venetian and Austrian rule, including some over the last century that were not of historical importance. Walk over the footbridge that connects the building with the adjacent Palazzo della Ragione that is also worth a visit. Palazzo del Podestà is open most days throughout the year.
