Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia: Atalanta

Elena Chochkova / CC BY-SA

Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio is a football club based in the Lombardy region of Italy. Usually referred to simply as Atalanta, they gained promotion from Serie B at the end of the 2010-2011 campaign and went on to establish themselves as a Serie A side. The club boasts three nicknames in the form of La Dea, the Nerazzurri and the Orobici and was founded by a group of Swiss students in 1907.

Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia has been Atalanta’s home ground since the stadium opened in 1928. Currently known as the Gewiss Stadium because of sponsorship, the ground occasionally plays host to the Italian national side for matches. It has been renovated and updated numerous times since it first opened, with the most significant alterations coming in the years since the club’s return to Serie A.

Stats

Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia Photos

Match at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d 'Italia
Gio la Gamb / CC BY-SA

Empty Stadium
Ago76 / CC BY-SA

Atalanta vs Bologna
Save the Dream / CC BY

Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia Seating Plan and Where to Sit

Gewiss Stadium is built in a bowl style, as is common with continental football grounds. It’s mainly single-tier, with three of the four stands covered and the Curva Nord Pisani being the most impressive of the four.

Atalanta Ticket Prices

It’s unusual for Atalanta to sell out their home games, so you’d be unlucky not to be able to pick one up ahead of a match. That being said, you can expect to pay anywhere from €15 for a seat in either of the curves through to €100 if you’d like a central seat in the stadium’s Main Stand.

How To Get Atalanta Tickets

Atalanta’s website is the first place to head to if you’re looking to get a ticket for one of the club’s matches, although you might be transferred to a partner website to actually make the transaction.

Where to Buy

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Getting To Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia

Train – Bergamo Railway Station is the one that serves the city and is found on the Lecco-Brescia railway line. It’s about a forty minute walk from there to the stadium, with no smaller lines available to transport you any closer.

Bus – Buses 3, 5, 6 and 9 will all get you within a short walk of the football ground, so they’re the main ones to look out for.

Car – If you take the Strada Statale 470 then you’ll get within a whisker of the ground, with Viale Giulio Cesare actually taking you past Gewiss Stadium.

By Air – Aeroporto di Bergamo-Orio al Serio, which is also known as Il Caravaggio International Airport, is about two miles from the ground. Low-cost airlines tend to call it Milan Bergamo Airport, mainly in order to make it sound closer to Milan than it is, but it does mean that you can get there relatively cheaply. Shuttle buses will then take you into the city centre and run every twenty minutes or so.

Taxi – Whilst the stadium is only a mile or so from the centre of Bergamo, the fact that it’s uphill means that all but the strongest walkers will want to jump a taxi. Doing so will cost you about €10, depending on the state of the traffic.

Parking Near Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia

The club’s website recommends that you park at a cemetery, which is about a mile and a half from the ground. In truth, there is ample storage much closer to the stadium, but do be aware of parking restrictions. They are also building an underground car park at the ground which will be useful when it’s ready.

• See Available Parking Near Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia

Useful Resources

• Flights & Travel - Expedia
• Coach Travel - Eurolines
• Parking - Just Park

Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia Hotels

In the North of Italy and not too far from Milan, you can be sure of plenty of accommodation options close to Atalanta’s ground.

Stop&Sleep - £50+

Via G. G. Paglia 19, Bergamo, BG, 24122

It’s not often that a hotel’s name gives you most of the information that you need to make your decision over whether to stay there or not, but this one certainly does. It’s not one of the most glamorous hotels in the city, but it gives you some to stop and sleep during your time in Bergamo. It’s far from the largest on our list, boasting just five rooms, but if you’re working on a budget then you’ll want to do your best to snag one of them. There is free Wi-Fi and a pleasant terraced area. More details.

Up Town B’n’B Bergamo - £70+

Piazzetta Luigi Angelini 15, Bergamo, BG, 24129,

Whilst it is true that Stop&Sleep isn’t the biggest hotel on our list, what we didn’t mention is that it’s not the smallest either. Up Town B’n’B actually only has four rooms, so you’ll need to be even quicker if you want to make sure that you can stay here. It’s worth it, though, with the venue being slightly more up-market than the Stop&Sleep. That’s perhaps because it’s got a library and offers breakfast, with five restaurants all close by. There’s free Wi-Fi for guests, plus a games room if you have younger people with you that need entertaining. More details.

Best Western Hotel Cappello D'Oro - £100+

12 Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, BG, 24121

Sometimes when you find yourself in a foreign city, the best thing to do is to stay in a chain hotel so that you know what you’re getting. That’s very much the case with the Best Western Hotel in Bergamo, which has 88 guest rooms available and a 24-hour fitness centre. There’s also a business centre that is available 24-hours a day, plus an outdoor terrace if the weather is good. You can get breakfast in the bar and lounge are, whilst free Wi-Fi is available. More details.

Pubs and Bars Near Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia

Bergamo is a classy place, so you’re going to find fewer UK style boozers and more swishy contemporary bars.

Facilities

The state of facilities at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia will largely depend on which part of the ground you’re in. None of them are unusable, but the ones in the renovated areas are obviously better than those in the parts that haven’t had work done to them.

Hospitality

The stadium has undergone numerous changes since 2010, which includes bringing the hospitality section up-to-date and more appropriate for a venue that is regularly hosting European matches. Therefore, there are all sorts of options including 16 private ‘sky boxes’ and restaurant and bar, and more.

Private Hire

If you wish to hire the stadium for a private event or function then the best bet will be to get in touch with the club who can tell you what features are available for private hire.

Stadium Tours & Museum

If you want to see around the stadium then you’ll pretty much have to just buy a ticket for a match, with official tours not being held. Equally there is no museum on site.

About Atalanta

It’s entirely reasonable to suggest that Atalanta’s history has been something of an up and down experience. The club was founded in 1907 by a group of student from Switzerland, doing so in the gym of the Liceo Classico Paolo Sarpi. The city had had a football club for four years before the new one was formed, resulting in the new club not being officially recognised by the Italian Football Federation until 1914. The club in its current form was the result of a merger between Atalanta and a third team in the city, Bergamasca. It joined the Italian League in 1929 and reached Serie A for the first time eight years later, suffering relegation immediately.

Over the decades that followed, Atalanta would occasionally gain promotion to Serie A for a prolonged period of time before being relegated back down again, finishing fifth in the top-flight in 1948; the record for a highest place finish that remained until 2017. The only major silverware that Atalanta has won to date came in 1963 when the team won the Coppa Italia. Atalanta gained new owners in 2010 in the shape of their previous player, Antonio Percassi. He began to pump money into the club, which has seen it rise up to the top end of Serie A on a regular basis ever since. In 2011-2012, Atalanta were docked six points because of the Italian Football Scandal.

Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia History

The history of the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia began in 1927, which was when ground was broken on the building of it. It opened its doors for the first time on the 23rd of December 1928 and has been renovated numerous times since. The first renovation occurred in 1949, then again in 1984. There was a brief renovation in 2015 with the most major works taking place from 2019 onwards. Sponsorship currently means that the ground bears the title of Gewiss Stadium, though to many Italians it will always be the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia. Its current capacity stands at 21,300, though it is being enlarged thanks to more renovations.

The 2015 improvements saw luxury boxes put in place above the grandstand, though disabled spectator seating areas resulting in the overall capacity being reduced. The club officially acquired the stadium from the city council in August of 2017, paying €8.6 million for the pleasure. The north stand, which is named in honour of Federico Pisani, was demolished in April of 2019 with a new stand being built over the following years. The cost was about €40 million and the changes to the ground took place over the following two summers, saving calls to build a new ground to replace the original.

Future Developments

There were numerous calls for a new stadium to be built in Bergamo for Atalanta to play their matches in, but issues with both the funding of the new venue and where it could be located resulted in these plans being abandoned. Instead, changes to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia were decided upon. One such change was the demolition of the Curve Nord Pisani, which is being replaced by the UBI Banca Tribune, and the South stand is next up for improvements.