The town has two centres: “Città alta” (upper city), a hilltop medieval town, surrounded by 17th century cyclopic defensive walls, and the “Città bassa” (lower city). There are funicular/cable car, roads, and foot-paths between the two parts of the town. Parking spaces are very limited in the upper city.

Città Alta, surrounded by Venetian walls built in the 17th century, forms the historic centre of Bergamo. It is an extremely expensive place to live in, with properties being sold for a minimum of 2,000,000 euro.

Città Alta has numerous places of interest including:

• Cittadella, built by the Visconti in the mid 14th century
• Piazza Vecchia (old square)
• Palazzo della Ragione
• Palazzo Nuovo (Biblioteca Angelo Mai)
• Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major)
• Cappella Colleoni
• The Battistero – an elegant octagonal building dating from 1340
• Duomo or Cathedral of Bergamo
• Rocca (Castle)
• San Michele al Pozzo Bianco
• Museo Civico Archeologico
• Museo di Scienze Naturali Enrico Caffi
• Orto Botanico di Bergamo “Lorenzo Rota” (botanical garden)

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Loket has 3 000 inhabitants and it is located in the Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary region of the Czech Republic. Most people visit Loket as a day trip from Karlovy Vary, but it’s also a sleepy place to ease off the travel accelerator for a few days.

Loket means “elbow” in English. The town is named this due to the town centre being surrounded on three sides by the Ohře River, and the shape the river takes is similar to that of an elbow. The town centre itself features Loket Castle, a 12th century gothic castle. The town centre is a national monument and as such is preserved from modern developments.

There is an annual opera festival in an open air amphitheatre with the castle as a backdrop.

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