Bergamasque Arches

Today we walked all around the city of Bergamo. We went to two museums: The Archaeology Museum and The Academia. While I was walking around the city, I observed the various styles of buildings.  Because Bergamo has been a host to many different groups of people, it has many different types of architecture. One thing I noticed in particular is that there are arches everywhere, and arches are different based upon what period they are from. Many of the houses in the Citta Alta (upper city/ gated area) of Bergamo have arched doors.  Here is one arch below:

This arch is a simple Roman arch. Roman arches are characterized by being strong and rounded. Many of the doors of houses had this style of arch. As you can see, the door right next door also has a Roman arch. This arch comes from the time when the Romans were in control of Bergamo. Another type of arch I observed is a Gothic arch. These arches are from the Gothic era. The arch is pointed and is in a form that results in the ability to make structures taller. The Gothic period emphasized the importance of tall buildings. They especially wanted churches to be tall, to convey the presence of God. Below is a picture of a simple Gothic arch: