On the seventh of April 1167 the municipalities that made up the Lombard League swore their oath here against the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and ever since the name of Pontida has stood in Italy as a synonym for alliance. In the abbey museum you can visit the chapter house, which many call the hall of the oath: it is an improper way of putting it, because that is not the room of 1167. The most famous place in the village, in short, is not where everyone believes.
The Benedictine abbey of San Giacomo Maggiore was founded by Alberto da Prezzate between 1076 and 1079 and it has been through a good deal: damaged in 1373 by the Visconti reprisal against the Guelphs of the Valle San Martino, it was destroyed in 1798 by French troops, and only in 1911 did the Benedictines rebuild it and return. On top of the bell tower, since 1826, there is a revolving statue of Saint James. Three thousand two hundred and ten inhabitants in the province of Bergamo, at the narrowest point of the valley, on the slopes of Monte Canto.
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📅 Every year, on 25 July
Pontida celebrates Saint James the Greater on 25 July. The town is known for its abbey, the site in 1167 of the oath with which the Lombard cities allied against Barbarossa.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Pontida, but an easy day trip away.
