Donizetti Birth House ---

These are the words with which one of the 5 most important composers of all time describes, in a letter to Simone Mayr, the dwelling of his family of origin. Donizetti's birthplace, decreed a national monument, is here in Bergamo, in Borgo Canale, where at that time the buildings were rather dilapidated and poor. The composer's family lived in the basement of the building which today is also visitable on the ground floor, accessed through a narrow staircase. The space was very spartan, composed of two rooms that served as both kitchen and bedroom, as well as rooms used as a well and ice house. A destiny that appears marked, that of Donizetti: in his life he interwove notes creating immortal compositions just as his parents wove fabrics. The parents