Greenville, SC’s sister city

800px-2019_-_Parco_dei_Colli_di_Bergamo

Bergamo, Italy | Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Hey, GVL. Or should we say “ciao.” 🇮🇹

Here’s a pop quiz for you. What do Greenville + Bergamo, Italy have in common?

The two might seem completely unrelated, but they are actually sister cities.

Wait, what’s a sister city? According to Sister Cities International, “A sister city, county, or state relationship is a broad-based, long-term partnership between two communities in two countries. A relationship is officially recognized after the highest elected or appointed official from both communities sign off on an agreement to become sister cities.”

Why have sister cities? The idea is to cultivate international relationships while having the opportunity to explore different cultures and also stimulate economic development.

Cool, so why is Bergamo our sister city? Bergamo became Greenville’s first sister city in 1985 + the city’s similar size and textile histories made it a good fit for Greenville. So, where can we see some of this Italian influence in our city? It was an architect from Bergamo who helped design what used to be called Piazza Bergamo on Main Street, plus Ristorante Bergamo, on the corner of Main + Coffee, has been serving up modern Italian food since 1986. Over the years, the Bergamo Symphony Orchestra has performed several times in Greenville, sculptor Elia Aiolfi has visited to host an exhibition, and a Bergamo college professor once visited to lecture at Furman University.

Bergamo becoming Greenville’s sister city was a big deal for our city culturally + economically, but Greenville actually has more than one sister city – Kortrijk, Belgium; Vadodara, India; and the Tianjin Free Trade Zone in China are Greenville’s other current sister cities. If you’re interested in reading more about these, click here.

Are those the Alps out on the horizon? Oh nevermind, they’re just the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but either way, we think this relationship is molto bene.🍷

More from GVLtoday