Show Time at Piazza Baroni

"In the center of the city, there is a babel of boutiques and exhibitions, and the Bergamasks descend from the mountains to browse or shop; some roam about, others get on with their business. At the corner of this immense bazaar, jammed with people and merchandise, thirty-six shacks host thirty-six spectacles of various sorts: giants, midgets, circuses, rhinos, puppets. Gigantic posters, meant to attract the diffident yet credulous curiosity of the simple folk, amaze passersby with images of all the monstrosities of the five kingdoms, while trombones and music blast, and clowns play and shout in an endless competition to attract spectators."

That's how noted Swiss writer, Rodolfo Topffer, described in an 1843 essay the curious happenings of the fifteen days during which the Bergamo Fair was held in what was then called Piazza Baroni, even further back in history known as Saint Anthony's Field.

Today that area corresponds to the area in front of the Santa Rita Church and stretching all the way up to the present-day Piazza della Libertà. Most of what we know today about this type of attraction comes from the posters that survived, and which are now deposited at the "Angelo Mai" Civic Library. These advertisements and flyers offer a glimpse into the attractions and amusements of the mid-19th century. One of the most curious posters, dating back to 1837, announces the presence at the fair of a "spectacular and amazing show starring a variety ferocious beasts: a tiger leopard, a genuine Lady of the Forest, the first of its kind imported to Europe alive [...] the monkey with the shrunken head, and the dog-headed monkey."

At the Saint Alexander's Fair the exhibitions of living wonders (or Freak Shows) were extremely popular. Attractions included "a 5 year-old male specimen with two heads and two bodies" or "the unparalleled and unrivaled young woman with a beard, age 24". In 1841, a public notice in Piazza Baroni caused quite a stir: there was to be a "a great chariot race followed by the double ascent of a aerostatic globe, accompanied by the feats of an extraordinary talking horse, plus sword and firearm duels, canon fire, demolitions, fireworks, pyramids and Herculean forces!"

Besides these spectacular events, the Saint Alexander's Fair offered puppet shows, Chinese shadow plays, and ballad singers. In fact, there was so much activity going on that local authorities were forced to limit the influx of artists. Finally, we can't forget the theatrical productions, a mainstay of fair entertainment. Initially, the plays were performed in a wood theater, built specially for the occasion each year. Then, in 1784, the permanent Riccardi Theater was built. There was bitter discussion all around the construction of the theater, fueled especially by the owners of the theater in the upper city, concerned about losing revenue. However, the fair was not only a source of dispute, but also a sign of the changing times: not only had all the commercial activities moved from the upper city to the lower, but now even the cultural activities had begun to spoil the supremacy of the old town district.