Sheep breed
Bergamasca
Bergamasca
A large Lombard meat sheep with alpine transhumance.
Description1
A breed from the mountains of Bergamo province in northern Italy, from the Val Brembana and Val Seriana and especially the Clusone plateau. Today it is kept across most of mainland Italy, above all in Abruzzo, and also in Brazil, Serbia and Venezuela.
A large white sheep: rams average 105 kg and 90 cm at the withers, ewes 82 kg and 80 cm.
Raised mainly for meat and often used in crosses to raise meat yield. In Lombardy it is traditionally transhumant: summers on alpine pasture, winters in the Po Valley.
History1
Early 20th century
Spreads through much of Lombardy.
2013
Over 80% of registered stock is kept in Teramo, Abruzzo.
Breed standard and breed society
The official breed description, breeding goal and herdbook rules are published by the breed's recognised breed society.
- English Wikipedia – Bergamasca sheephttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamasca_sheep
Photo gallery
All photos are freely licensed (Wikimedia Commons, Flickr); author, source and licence are shown under each image.
Sources
Accessed: 2026-10-18.