When Greenville, South Carolina, and Bergamo, Italy, became siblings 40 years ago, the family resemblance was striking, says Craig Lundgren, president of Greenville Sister Cities International.
“There are many similarities,” he says. “Bergamo has a similar industry base to Greenville—textiles, chemicals, advanced materials, engineering, and precision machinery. It has a robust cycling community and an excellent soccer team, and it is a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.”
Also, both are foothills towns: Greenvillians see the rounded peaks of the Blue Ridge, while Bergamaschi (as they call themselves) look out upon the Italian Alps. Roughly similar in size and population, both regions were major textile hubs that have diversified into other areas of industrialization. And both were ready to become more well-known outside their countries’ borders.
So, when Greenville architect Jack Parillo pitched the idea of adopting an international sister to Mayor-Elect Bill Workman in 1983, Bergamo made the list. Founded in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to foster person-to-person “citizen diplomacy,” Sister Cities International (SCI) aims “to promote world peace and a global understanding of others,” says Mimi Jenko, Bergamo program director for SCI Greenville.
“A Very Special Place” (Un Posto Molto Speciale)
After narrowing down the candidates, a delegation from Greenville traveled to Europe in early 1985 to visit Bergamo and the other finalist, the Belgian city of Ghent. The Bergamo-based Radici family of industrialists, who would later establish Radici USA in Spartanburg County, helped facilitate these early exchanges.
The search committee was “magnificently and warmly” welcomed in Bergamo, said Tom Sowden, then president of Greenville SCI, who described the town to the Greenville News as “a very special place.”
The delegation toured Bergamo’s old walled city, known as Città Alta (Upper Town) as well as the modern expansion in the lower plains. They were impressed by the setting, the industry, and the culture—and delighted to meet the quarterback and the free safety for the Bergamo Lions, a semipro American football team.
“[They’re] just dying to play somebody over here,” Sowden told the News.
In October 1985, Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Zaccarelli—who had, at that point, learned about 200 words of English—and his entourage traveled to Greenville and signed the Sister Cities document with Mayor Workman.
Bergamo and Greenville spent the next few years getting to know each other. Students traveled abroad in both directions to live with host families; Bergamo natives launched Ristorante Bergamo and Trattoria Giorgio on Main Street; and a tape of Greenville’s legendary Singing Christmas Tree was hand-delivered to Bergamo officials. Two Greenvillians flew overseas to suit up with the Bergamo Lions for a season. And with design help from Bergamo architect Laura Sonzogni, Piazza Bergamo was dedicated in downtown Greenville in 1989, where ONE City Plaza now stands.
Voi Ritorno! (Y’all Come Back!)
Greenville has since added Kortrijk, Belgium, as another sister city. Although the transatlantic collaborations have stalled at times, especially during the 2008 recession and the later COVID pandemic, there have been many fruitful exchanges since, says Lundgren.
“We have discussed city planning initiatives and challenges, such as smart development practices, investing in innovation and entrepreneurship, and strengthening education systems,” he says. “And there have been joint research projects that have developed through these exchanges. Moving forward, I’d like to see all of these continue but with more regularity and consistency.”
During a recent visit to Italy, Mimi Jenko delivered a letter from current Greenville Mayor Knox White to Bergamo’s Mayor Elena Carnivale.
“It’s a fabulous city and has so many similarities to Greenville—great food, love of public art, beautiful green spaces, and a respect for its heritage,” Jenko says. “The people were incredibly friendly and welcoming.”
And they’d welcome even more visitors from their sister city in South Carolina. Located between Milan and Venice and easily reached by rail or car, “Bergamo is actually a very easy city to visit,” Lundgren says. “For anyone attending the winter Olympics in Milan in 2026, Bergamo would be a great place to add to the itinerary.”
Divertimento Fatti Di Bergamo (Fun Facts About Bergamo)
Pop. 120,580- Fourth-largest city in the northern Italian region of Lombardy
- Città Alta (Upper City), a hilltop medieval town surrounded by sixteenth-century defensive walls, is connected to Città Bassa (Lower City) by a funicular railroad
- Named “European Cheese Capital” for its renowned Cheese Valleys
- Must-sees: the Accademia Carrara, Palazzo Moroni, and the Museo delle Storie di Bergamo
- Notable natives: Gaetano Donizetti, composer of almost 70 nineteenth-century operas and namesake of the city’s theater; renowned juggler Enrico Rastelli; Pio Manzù, designer of the Fiat 127; fashion designers Nicola Trussardi and Mariuccia Mandelli; and Greenville restaurateurs Giorgio Todisco (Trattoria Giorgio) and Nello Gioia and Gian Pietro Ferro (Ristorante Bergamo)
