BRESCIA, A CITY RICH were enclosed by an of Greek and Etruscan IN HISTORY. arcade with a double order pottery, Roman glassware The city of Brescia of columns. There were and household items numerous shops opening are now in the monastic lies at the foot of the hills below the off the arcade. Nowadays complex of Santa Giulia, Piazza della Vittoria Pre-Alps, bordering on the Po Plain. Roman remains, the City Museum. Its situation is favourable to town aristocratic palaces and old Palazzo Martinengo. The square was designed settlement, industry, trade and houses offer a remarkable The palace faces the by Marcello Piacentini tourism. The first settlement goes back scenografic effect. Forum and Via Musei. and inaugurated in 1932. to the Bronze Age, when the Ligurians established The Capitolium Temple It comprised several The monumental square in Brescia. Later the Etruscans settled there, while The Temple was built by buildings, which Santa Giulia, was built in the city the Celts occupied the city at the end of the VIIth Vespasian between 74 nowadays house art the City Museum centre on the site of an and 73 A.D. at the north exhibits and a cultural century B.C. In 27 B.C. Brixia was raised to the rank old medieval quarter. end of the Forum. Between institute. The façades The site of the convent There are a colossal Post The Church of Santi of Roman “Colonia”. the IVth and the Vth looking onto the square, encloses millenary Office and a brick Torrione Nazaro and Celso At the time of the dissolution of the Roman Empire, centuries the temple was completed in 1663, has two remains. It was founded (high tower) on the north Brescia became the capital of a Lombard duchy (VIIth partially destroyed bossed portals with by king Desiderio in side. The facings of the The XVth century church century A.D.). During this period the convent of in a dreadful fire. It was Martinengo-Cesaresco’s 753 A.D. Nowadays, other buildings and was totally restored San Salvatore (later called Santa Giulia) found in 1823, but it is only coats of arms, while the superimposition the paving of the during the first half was founded by King Desiderio. Its cloisters are since 1939 that it has the XVIIth century façades of buildings on the Quadriportico and of of the XVIIIth century, when numerous altars the setting Alessandro Manzoni chose for “Adelchi”; assumed the present looking onto Via dei Musei foundations of old ones the arcades are of two- structure. The three cellae has an imposing portal is evident from were decorated with the famous tragedy tells the story of Ermengarda, coloured marble. the mosaics of the old polychrome marbles, the king’s unhappy daughter married to Charlemagne, stucco works and late Piazza Piazza Paolo VI Roman villa, the king of the Franks who subdued the city. baroque sculptures. della Loggia (formerly Piazza del Duomo) the Lombard Basilica In the XIth century Brescia became a city-state and of San Salvatore, The most important took part in the struggle against Federico Barbarossa It is the most beautiful The east side of the wide the Renaissance church painting in the church is at Legnano. In this period the local citizen Arnaldo, square in Brescia and was square, which was in the of Santa Giulia. the “Averoldi Polyptych”, who was a monk, was burned alive because inaugurated in 1433. heart of the old city, is In the church of Santa commissioned from Titian in 1520-22. he preached against the corruption of the clergy and It is dominated by the occupied by the Tower of Maria in Solario, The Castle with frescoes by was considered a heretic. magnificent Renaissance “Pégol” and the Loggia delle The Church Floriano Ferramola, of Santa Maria There have always been During the XIIIth century Milan and Venice disputed Palace of the Loggia, Grida, incorporated nowadays the town hall. into the Broletto, the under the cupola, the del Carmine settlements on the rule of Brescia. In 1438 the Visconti besieged the Its building began in 1492. Duomo Nuovo (The New “Treasure of Santa the Cidneo Hill since city, but there is a popular belief that Saints Faustino The upper part was Cathedral) and the Giulia” is displayed. The Its building was begun prehistory. During and Giovita appeared to the enemies and managed finished circa 1570 Duomo Vecchio most important items in 1429 and completed the Roman period there to put them to flight. to the design of Iacopo (The Old Cathedral). are: the Great Cross of fifty years later. must have been an In 1512 Brescia was besieged by the French army led Sansovino and Andrea The Duomo Nuovo king Desiderio, The monumental brick enormous temple there. From Middle Ages by Gaston de Foix. During the XVIth century in the Palladio. The splendid (The New Cathedral). covered in jewels and façades, surrounded cameos and by slender pinnacles onwards the summit artistic field the painters Foppa, Romanino, Moretto decorative sculpture Its building began in 1604 the Lipsanoteca, a VIth dominates the narrow of the hill was reinforced: and Savoldo created the most famous works of the that adorns the palace is and was completed in classical style. On the in 1825. The grandiose century ivory reliquary. thoroughfare. the Mirabella Tower Brescian Renaissance, which are now in south side, the XVth and Botticino marble façades The wonderful portal has and the XIVth century the Municipal Art Gallery and churches. Afterwards, XVIth century façades is dominated by the The Church a fresco by Ferramola Visconti Keep were under the rule of Venice, Brescia prospered. of the Monti di Pietà imposing cupola, while the of San Francesco on top, which represents constructed. Afterwards, The long period of peace brought great economic are worthy of note inside has a Greek-cross d’Assisi the “Annunciazione”. the Venetians added progress in agriculture and handicraft, as tombstones and other plan and includes several In the interior, among the a strong defensive system of bastions and especially in the manufacture of arms, which was pieces of Roman works of art. The new It is one of the most numerous works of art the sculpture of the warehouses. The XVIth renowned all over Europe. stonework have been set cathedral stands next to remarkable monastic into their walls. churches in Italy, where “Compianto di Cristo century entrance At the end of the XVIIIth century, the French army the Duomo Vecchio (The The east arcade is Old Cathedral), which is the peaceful and morto” is worthy of note: to the Castle, fitted with led by Napoleon put an end to Venetian rule, surmounted by a building the most important serene atmosphere has the polychrome a drawbridge in the past, so Brescia became part of the Cisalpine Republic and that incorporates the building of the Lombard been the result of terracotta statues portray leads to the garden, of the Regno d’Italia. beautiful sixteenth century Romanesque style. The the realization of a the greatest human where one can enjoy On the fall of Napoleon, Brescia became a possession mechanical Clock Tower, circular old cathedral was simple, unadorned late drama and are by a XVIth a wonderful view of the June 2010 of the Austrians. They governed the city as part where two human figures, built between the XIth and Romanesque interior. century unidentified whole city, and to two of the Regno Lombardo Veneto until 1849, when the popularly called: the “Macc XIIth centuries. In its It was completed in 1265. sculptor from Lombardy museums as well. or Emilia. The three The Museum people of Brescia rebelled against Austrian rule during dè lé ure” (the hourly interior, the sarcophagus The inside has a nave and dafties), strike the two aisles with pointed cloisters adjoining ofthe Risorgimento. the “X Giornate” (Ten Days) of 1849. of Bishop Berardo Maggi hours on the bell. (XIVth century) deserves arches supported the church belong The Grande Miglio The city was called the “Leonessa d’Italia” attention. by cylindrical pillars. to the same building. (the com store) houses (the Lioness of Italy) because of the courage showed The Broletto. The gabled façades the Museum of during these memorable days. After the unification It is the oldest communal has a magnificent rose the Risorgimento, where of the Regno d’Italia, the Brescian citizen Giuseppe palace in the city. When window. The paintings The Church portraits, pictures, Zanardelli was appointed Minister several times, Brescia was a city-state, decorating this church of Santa Maria documents and relics then he became Prime Minister (1901-1903). the Broletto used to be the are of great value; there delle Grazie from the period of the Risorgimento During the Thirties Piazza della Vittoria was centre of political life and, are many medieval The Tosio Martinengo and some paintings frescoes, a XVIth century The building of this are displayed. inaugurated. The square was an important example between the XVth and the XVIIIth centuries, it was Art Gallery by Giacomo Ceruti, altar-piece by Romanino church was begun in The Arms Museum. of the change of direction in Brescia’s urban the residency of Venetian nicknamed “il Pitocchetto” and a remarkable cloister 1522. The Renaissance The Visconti Keep, built Italia The XVIIth century development during the Fascist period. authorities as well. (Ragamuffin). of the end of the XIVth interior with a nave on top of the fortified Langobardorum house a museum, where with two eagles building, which was THE LONGOBARDS IN ITALY. During the post-war period there was an enormous The building has a large The Forum century. and two aisles has been complex, houses the PLACES OF THE POWER (568-774 AD) there are numerous donated by the former increase in industrial production and private enterprise internal courtyard: that support a balcony.