Brescia is an Italian town of 195 058 inhabitants, capital of the
homonymous province in Lombardy. It is the second largest
municipality in the region by population, after Milan. An ancient
city whose origins date back to over 3 200 years ago, Brescia has a
conspicuous artistic and architectural heritage: its monuments from
the Roman and Lombard periods have been declared a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO. Active in the manufacturing, engineering, textile,
chemical and food sectors, it is one of the main economic-productive
centers of Italy and is known for the famous Mille Miglia vintage
car race and for the production of Franciacorta.
The city of
Brescia is nicknamed "La Leonessa", originally for the value and
attachment shown to the Venetian republic: in 1438, in this regard,
the Venetian Senate itself proclaimed the city of Brescia "Lioness
and worthy wife of the Lion", giving it the title of "Brixia Fidelis
fidei et Iustitiae", a title proudly shown on the front of the
Palazzo della Loggia.
IAT (Tourist Information Office), Piazza del Foro, 6 (Palazzo Martinengo), ☏ +39 030 374 9916, iat.brescia@provincia.brescia.it. Daily 10:00 - 18:00.
Brescia has only one train station, which is located at the gates of
the city center, to the south of it. From the station, the center can be
easily reached on foot in fifteen minutes. However, for the more lazy,
several bus lines connect the station to the centre, on all lines 1 and
12, as well as the underground with the two stops Vittoria (in the
square of the same name) and San Faustino (in the northern end of the
homonymous Street).
Center
Corso Giuseppe Zanardelli is one of
the main reference points and meeting places for many people from
Brescia. Named after one of the most important Italian politicians of
the early 1900s, the short avenue with a paved roof is distinguished by
the numerous shops on both sides which make it one of the busiest
streets for pedestrian traffic, especially on weekends, but also for the
its position which connects it directly to other important streets in
the center such as corso Magenta, corso Palestro, via X Giornate, via
Giuseppe Mazzini and via San Martino della Battaglia. One of the
landmarks of the course is the entrance to the Teatro Grande, the city's
main and second-largest theater in Lombardy, recognizable by the
characteristic staircase under the eighteenth-century portico.
Another point of reference is Piazza della Loggia, famous nationwide for
the fascist-style terrorist attack that killed eight people on May 28,
1974, wounding another hundred and two. From corso Zanardelli, the
square is easily reached by continuing under the arcades in via X
Giornate, about a hundred meters away from the corso.
The city
center constitutes one of the five districts into which the municipal
territory is divided, each consisting of different districts. In this
case, the districts of the center are:
Ancient Brescia
North
Historic Center
South Historic Center
Rose crucifix
Porta
Milano
Porta Venezia
Other neighborhoods
Excluding the
historic center, Brescia is divided into several other districts, all
well connected to the city center by at least one of the 18 bus lines
that circulate in the municipal area and in the hinterland, listed here
based on their geographical position, divided into five districts :
Northern District
Borgo Trento
Casazza
Mompiano
San Rocchino
St. Bartholomew
Sant'Eustacchio
Prealpine village
West
district
Closures
stream
First of May
Urago Mella
Badia
village
Violin village
Southern district
new church
Don
Bosco
Folzano
Furnaces
Lamarmora
Cremona-Volta gate
Serene village
Eastern District
Buffalora
Caionvic
San
Polo
Sant'Eufemia della Fonte
By plane
The closest airports to Brescia are:
1
Brescia-Montichiari Airport (Gabriele D'Annunzio), Via Aeroporto, 34,
Montichiari (BS), ☎ +39 030 9656599, fax: +39 030 9656514. Only charter
and private flights.
2 Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport (il Caravaggio),
Via Aeroporto 13, Orio al Serio, ☎ +39 035 326323.
3
Verona-Villafranca Airport (Valerio Catullo), Caselle di Sommacampagna
(VR), ☏ +39 045 8095666, fax: +39 045 8619074.
By car
Highways
A4 motorway exits:
West Brescia;
Brescia Centre;
East
Brescia;
A21 motorway exits:
Brescia Centre;
South Brescia
A35 : Castegnato barrier
ring roads
The ring roads that cross
Brescia are: the South ring road, or Alcide De Gasperi ring road is the
variant of the former Strada Statale 11 Padana Superiore, now managed by
the province, which bypasses the town to the south and the West ring
road is a municipal road, classified as urban, which bypasses the town
to the west.
The exits of the Tangenziale Sud are:
Travagliato - Junction for A35 Brebemi
Mandolossa
West Roncadelle
Roncadelle East
West Brescia
Val Trompia - Furnaces
Quinzano
Brescia Centre
Cremona - Highways
Castenedolo (exit only)
Castenedolo - San Polo
Rezzed
East ring road of Brescia
San
Marco bridge
The exits of the Tangenziale Ovest are:
Castel
Mella
Brescia Via del Mella
Brescia Via del Serpente
Southern
ring road of Brescia - A4 Milan - Venice
Brescia Via Orzinuovi
Brescia Via Rose di Sotto
Brescia Via Milano - SS11 Upper Padana
Brescia Via Volturno
Brescia Via Attilio Franchi
State and
regional roads
Brescia is crossed by the following state and regional
roads:
State road 11 Padana Superiore
State road 510 Eastern
Sebina
State road 235 of Orzinuovi
State road 45 bis Gardesana
West
State road 345 of the Tre Valli
On the train
Brescia
station, Viale della Stazione, 7. It allows connection with Rome, Milan,
Verona, Venice, Cremona and Florence, Parma, Paris and other Italian
cities. There aren't many shops in the station: a bar (Bricco Caffè),
some newsagents and a tobacconist's. Both the tobacconist and the
newsstand sell tickets for local public transport (metro and bus). The
main ticket office is located near the main concourse. In addition to
the main station complex, there is also the so-called Palazzina Ovest to
which the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo line of TRENORD refers, with an independent
ticket office.
By bus
There are many lines with Brescia
terminus, to get the complete list consult the website moving in
Lombardy.
By public transport
Brescia has a good network of bus lines that
serve the urban core and neighboring municipalities. From 3 March 2013
the new urban service consists of 17 bus lines:
2 - Pendolina -
Chiesanuova
3 - Mandolossa - Rezzato South/North (Virle)
4 -
Railway station - Folzano
6 - Largo Zanardelli - San Gottardo
(extended to La Maddalena during the summer months)
7 - Cain -
Roncadelle
8 - Metro Sanpolino - Serle
9 - Violin - Buffalora
10 - Concesio - Poncarale
11 - Collebeato - Botticino
12 -
Fiumicello - Verrocchio
13 - Gussago - Polyambulance
14 - Metro
Volta - Borgosatollo/Capodimonte
15 - Montini/Mompiano - Walnut
16
- Sanpolino - Onzato (Castel Mella)
17 - Hospital - Pzz.le C.Battisti
18 - Iveco (Via Volturno) - Castellini car park
19 - Costalunga -
Bresciadue Metro
Line 2 is called High Mobility Line (LAM). Since
March 2013, the month in which the subway came into operation, making
Brescia the seventh city in Italy to be equipped with this service, the
bus lines have been reformed to facilitate the use of the subway.
The ordinary ticket valid for 90 min costs €1.40 (January 2017) and
is valid on both city buses and the underground. If you are visiting the
city in a group and/or for more than a day, the 12-ride single
multi-user non-personal ticket and valid for twelve single rides,
therefore without changes (if you are traveling with several people, it
must obviously be validated several times) may be convenient. id cost
€10.50. For updated rates, consult the Brescia Mobilità website.
An interactive map of the lines is available on the Brescia Mobilità
website.
Subway
The Brescia metro is an automatic light rail
line, whose construction began in 2003, and was inaugurated on 2 March
2013, which connects the northern districts of the city to those of the
south-eastern area, passing through the historic centre. It uses a fully
automatic rapid rail transport system, conceived and built by
Ansaldo-STS, similar to the one already implemented for the Copenhagen
metro.
The route is currently limited to the municipal area only
and extends for 13 km. There are seventeen stations, of which eight in
deep tunnels, five in covered trenches, two located along the surface
section and two on the viaduct section.
The frequency varies from
4 minutes during peak hours to 10 minutes at night or less crowded. Each
station has automatic cash machines, but if you are in a hurry it is
advisable to buy your ticket in advance at a newsstand or tobacconist's.
There are no turnstiles, but the ticket must obviously be validated
before accessing the platform. The subway stations are (from north to
south)
Prealpine. at the northern terminus there is a free
parking lot with 450 spaces which is very useful if arriving from
Concesio or Val Trompia.
Casazza.
Mompiano (near the Rigamonti
Stadium.).
Europe (near the University of Brescia - Faculty of
Medicine and Engineering and the Satellite of the Brescia Spedali
Civili).
Hospital (at the main entrance of the Spedali Civili of
Brescia).
Marconi.
San Faustino (At the northern end of Via San
Faustino (university area - faculty of law and economics)).
Victory.
Railway station (Near the Trenitalia railway station).
Brescia Two
(BS2).
Lamarmora.
Time.
Poliambulanza (at the homonymous
hospital). in correspondence with the station there is a free exchange
car park with 250 spaces which is very useful if arriving from the A4 or
A21 (Brescia centro exit).
Park (San Polo (Park)).
San Polo.
Sanpolino.
Sant'Eufemia - Buffalora.
By taxi
Radio Taxi
Brixia, Villaggio Sereno traversa XVIII n.12/b, ☎ +39 030 3530541
(administration), +39 030 35111 (to call a taxi), fax: +39 030 3530473,
info@radiotaxibrixia.it. €7 + €0.98/km with a minimum of €4 (base rate),
€1.5/km with a minimum of €3 + a €2.5 night supplement (promotional
rate). Taxi cooperative operating since 1970, monopolist in the city.
On a historical-artistic level, Brescia concentrates its attractions in the city centre. Being a medium-sized city, it is easy to get around the center on foot, covering it in its entirety without having to resort to public transport.
It is one of the three main squares of the city, more often called
Piazza del Duomo by Brescians, due to the presence of the two city
cathedrals, the old and the new. The origin of the square is medieval,
as are some buildings that overlook it, above all the Broletto, which
today also includes the Torre del Pegol (the civic tower) and the Loggia
delle shouts.
1 Broletto. Palazzo Broletto, the medieval seat of
the lordships reigning over the city, today the seat of the provincial
administration, is located between Via Mazzini and Piazza Paolo VI. The
origin of the name derives from the fact that the land on which the
palace is now built was originally a vegetable garden, called "brolo",
hence the word "Broletto".
2 House of Camerlenghi. opposite the Duomo
Nuovo, therefore on the western side of the square, is the Casa dei
Camerlenghi, so called because it was the seat of the camerlenghi,
financial administrators during the Venetian domination, which has
particular fifteenth-century three-mullioned windows. Over the
centuries, especially after the fall of the republic in 1797, the
building lost its original function and was converted into a private
residence, distorting its original architecture. The private residential
use of the building still remains today. Also very important from a
historical point of view is the portico at the base, dating back to the
12th century: formed by five round arches on massive cylindrical pillars
with squared capitals, it rests on a lower level than the current street
level, a sign of its antiquity. The portico, in turn known as dei
Camerlenghi, represents the only fragment that has come down to us of
the urban planning of the medieval square, excluding the pure buildings.
3 Church of Sant'Agostino. The Church of Sant'Agostino is located in the
alley of the same name which serves as access to the square in the
north-east corner, contiguous to the facade of the Broletto. Of medieval
foundation, it was rebuilt in the Gothic era and in the following
centuries it underwent numerous hardships, including the annexation to
the Broletto itself in order to be able to use the premises as offices,
an annexation which also saw the insertion of a mezzanine floor which
divided the space in two internal. After decades of neglect, it was
recovered in 2001 together with the annexed rooms, restoring everything
and obtaining a conference room inside. Of the church remain the
beautiful terracotta façade, numerous 15th-century frescoes on the upper
floor and two Gothic arches with related pillars in the annexed hall to
the south.
4 New cathedral. The new cathedral, officially the summer
cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, is the main church of Brescia. It was
built between 1604 and 1825 on the site of the early Christian basilica
of San Pietro de Dom (5th-6th century). not being the result of a
centuries-old building but the result of a single, albeit very long,
construction site, it presents an overall homogeneous and coherent
structure, in architecture and decorations. The only element that
betrays the long duration of the building, which lasted about 230 years,
is the subtle union that can be perceived inside, but above all on the
façade, between Baroque taste and neoclassical style, the result of
which is a sort of diluted classical Baroque, practically a building
that started Baroque and ended up Neoclassical.
5 Old cathedral. the
old Cathedral, also called Rotonda due to its geometric shape,
officially the Winter Co-Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, is the
co-cathedral of Brescia, a title it shares with the adjacent new
Cathedral. Built starting from the 11th century on top of a previous
basilica, it has undergone more than one expansion over the centuries
but has kept the original Romanesque structure intact, which makes it
one of the most important examples of Romanesque rotundas in Italy. The
cathedral also contains numerous important works, among which a
sepulcher by Bonino da Campione, the organ by Giangiacomo Antegnati, the
marble sarcophagus by Berardo Maggi and the cycle of canvases by Moretto
and Romanino made for the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament stand out. of
the Basilica of San Pietro de Dom and moved here after its demolition.
Of great importance is also the crypt, dating back to the 6th century
but restored in the 8th century.
6 Pegol Tower. The Torre del Pegol
or Torre del Popolo is a stone building about 54 meters high, annexed to
the Broletto palace. Neither the exact date nor the origin of this
medieval construction is known, but there are some traces in some XII
century manuscripts, which underline the particular resistance of the
building which withstood a violent earthquake in 1159 which caused about
20,000 dead. It was used by the Austrians as a stronghold during the ten
days of Brescia. After some modern renovations, the tower can be visited
again by citizens in 2007. There is no longer any trace of the ancient
clock.
Piazza Loggia is one of the three main squares of Brescia, probably
the best known nationally following the massacre that took place on May
28, 1974, when a terrorist attack killed eight people, wounding one
hundred and two. Its shape is square, bordered by a series of buildings
from the Venetian era, among which the Loggia stands out, seat of the
municipal council of Brescia. The square immediately became the beating
heart of the city both for its position and for the presence of the
Loggia which was also completed in 1574, under the direction of
Filippino de' Grassi, which would become the seat of the city's
administrative life over the years.
7 Vender house. Casa Vender is a
palace located south of the Palazzo della Loggia. The building probably
dates back to the 15th century and for centuries remained the property
of the Vender family, wealthy merchants of fabrics and wool from
Brescia. It is one of the very few buildings in the historic city center
to preserve intact the typical elements of Brescian fifteenth-century
private architecture. It is spread over three floors plus the ground
floor and has simple frameless windows. Peculiarities of the time are
the small wrought iron balconies on the first floor and, in particular,
the so-called "baltresca" that crowns the building, once very widespread
and today almost disappeared. Another notable feature of the building is
the presence of fragments of frescoes, further evidence of that Brescia
"urbs picta" (painted city) where most of the street fronts of the
buildings, public and private, rich and poor, presented a continuous and
varied pictorial decoration, now largely lost and often preserved, as in
this case, only in the form of traces.
8 Church of San Giuseppe,
Vicolo San Giuseppe, 5. Built in the 16th century, it has a remarkable
artistic heritage inside, including paintings and chapels that house a
vast amount of canvases, wall frescoes, stuccos and other decorative
inserts, result of a centuries-old stratification. The fourteen stations
of the Via Crucis of San Giuseppe, executed in 1713 by Giovanni Antonio
Cappello, hang on the walls of the side naves. Inside there is also the
largest ancient organ in the world, the work of the Antegnati.
9 New
pawnshop. The new Monte di Pietà is a palace dating back to the end of
the 16th century, which extends along the eastern half of the south side
of the square, on the corner with via X Giornate. The shocks of May 29
due to the earthquakes in Emilia in 2012 caused a lesion in the upper
left corner of the front of the building on the square, which however
did not worsen.
10 Old pawnshop. The Monte di Pietà Vecchio is a
palazzo dating from the late 15th century, which extends along the
western half of the south side of the piazza. The palace was built
between 1484 and 1489 to a design by the architect Filippo de' Grassi in
elegant Renaissance lines of Venetian inspiration. A century later it
was enlarged with the construction of the new Monte di Pietà, which
joins it to the east through a fake loggia of clear late
sixteenth-century taste.
11 Monument to Bella Italia. The monument to
Bella Italia or Bell'Italia, officially a war memorial of the Ten Days
of Brescia, is a marble monument located in the north-eastern branch of
Piazza della Loggia. Dedicated to the fallen of the Ten Days of Brescia,
it is the work of Giovanni Battista Lombardi in 1864 and was donated to
the city by Vittorio Emanuele II. On the site where the monument stands
today there was originally the column with the Lion of San Marco on top,
a sign of the dominion of the Republic of Venice over the city. The
column was erected between 1454 and 1455 and at its base, for centuries,
the executions of those sentenced to death were held, with a great
concurrence of the public. Finally demolished in 1797 by the
revolutionaries of the Brescian Republic, it left an empty space in the
open space, which was filled a few decades later, in 1864, by the new
monument. The monument has a high base with a square plan, in turn
elevated on a short stairway at the base, on the sides of which there
are historiated, in bas-relief, the salient facts of the popular
insurrection: from the panel on the front, in an anticlockwise
direction, there are the Insurrection in Piazzetta Tito Speri, the
Combat at Porta Venezia, the Shooting of captured insurgents and the
Funeral of the fallen. At the top is a female figure who personifies
Italy, holding a large standard and, in the hand extended in front of
her, a laurel wreath. Between the base and the statue there is a low
plinth on which two inscriptions are affixed: the one on the front is
the dedication to the "people insurgent against the Austrian tyranny",
while the one on the back certifies the gift of Vittorio Emanuele II.
The two sides bear the city coat of arms.
12 Palazzo della Loggia. It
is a Renaissance palace which is now the seat of the municipal council
of Brescia, from which the square takes its name. It was designed in
1484 when the city authorities decided to donate a new building to the
citizens that was a grandiose expression of "good governance", thus
replacing the original loggia and increasing the monumentality of Piazza
della Loggia, which was being built at the time. The function of the
building, during the Venetian domination of Brescia, was to host the
hearings of the Venetian podestà, the City Council and the College of
Notaries, demonstrating the centrality that this building has always had
in city life; both geographically and politically.
13 Clock Tower.
The Clock Tower is a sixteenth-century building that stands out on the
east side of the square. Built between 1540 and 1550 to a design by
Lodovico Beretta, an architect from Brescia, one of the authors of
Palazzo della Loggia, it houses inside a complex mechanical device,
inserted between about 1544 and 1546, capable of marking the hours,
phases moon and zodiac signs on two different quadrants. The first,
which looks towards piazza della Loggia, has a quadrant and tympanum
painted by Gian Giacomo Lamberti in 1547, while the second side, which
faces via Beccaria, has a golden quadrant by an author not yet
specified. On the upper part there is a bronze bell, and two copper
automatons installed in 1581, depicting two men equipped with hammers
and called in Brescian dialect the "Macc de le ure", or "the madmen of
the hours", which through an appropriate connection with the clock
mechanism contained in the tower, mark the time by beating against the
bell. In the lower part of the tower in 1595 a long arcade with spans
was added single rooms in white Botticino stone, created by the Brescian
architect Piero Maria Bagnadore, which extends along via X Giornate, up
to corso Zanardelli, while passing under the vault of the tower, one
enters through a passage created in 1554 by Lodovico Beretta , in via
Beccaria, which connects piazza Loggia to piazza Paolo VI.
Piazza della Vittoria is one of the main squares of Brescia, built
between 1927 and 1932 on a project by the architect Marcello Piacentini
through the demolition of a part of the medieval historic centre.
Subject of strong controversies and acts of vandalism after World War
II, which still often drag on today, it is an emblem of architecture and
urban organization of the rational-fascist era.
Piacentini's
project is absolutely classical, full of clear-cut, squared volumes
covered in gleaming white marble, with many references to Roman times.
The square has an L shape, i.e. a rectangle with the long side parallel
to the north-south axis and, in the north-west corner, the remaining
portion of the area which forms the L. On the internal right angle there
is the high tower of the former INA, the National Insurance Institute.
In the northern background stands the large Palazzo delle Poste, with
its white-ochre two-tone cladding. The square is completed by the
Revolution Tower, with a clock and - in the past - a bas-relief
depicting Mussolini on horseback, and three other palaces with different
solutions and more reminiscent of classical architecture, with extensive
use of the Doric order and the serliana.
The scenery in the
square was completed by a large sculpture by Arturo Dazzi depicting a
naked young man slightly leaning forward, a valuable work located about
halfway along the west side, removed immediately after the war as it was
held up as a fascist symbol, and a terracotta high relief depicting the
episodes of the Annunciation made by the sculptor Arturo Martini, often
referred to as a poor work because it is very sloppy, destroyed during
the bombings of the Second World War which also saw the victim of
Palazzo Peregallo, which forms the southern background of the square.
Still present, however, under the Tower of the Revolution, the
arengario in red stone of Tolmezzo which served as a stage for the
speakers during the city meetings and was also used by Benito Mussolini,
who gave a speech there during the inauguration ceremony of the square
in 1932. The arengario is decorated with a cycle of nine marble slabs
worked in bas-relief each depicting, in chronological order, a moment or
a salient character in the history of Brescia: therefore, starting from
the back, the winged Victory commemorates the original Roman domination,
King Desiderio, Arnaldo da Brescia, Berardo Maggi, SS. Faustino and
Giovita, Romanino and Moretto, the Ten Days of Brescia, the First World
War and the Fascist Era, bearing the inscription, chiselled away after
the war but still legible, "FASCISMO YEAR X" in reference to the tenth
anniversary of the birth of fascism (Piazza Vittoria was inaugurated in
1932, ten years after the March on Rome). Between the bas-relief
dedicated to the painters Romanino and Moretto and the one dedicated to
the X Days, there is the large front of the arengario occupying the
space of two slabs, decorated in the center by the lioness, symbol of
the city, surrounded by the words "BRIXIA FIDELIS FIDEI ET JVSTITIAE "
on the right and "BRESCIA THE STRONG BRESCIA LEONESSA D'ITALIA" on the
left, thus recalling the verses of Carducci.
To the north-east of
the square, a large stairway, bordering the Palazzo delle Poste, bridges
the gap created between Piazza Vittoria and the level made up of Piazza
della Loggia and via X Giornate.
Corso Palestro is a pedestrian street that crosses the
central-southern area of the historic city centre, in an east-west
direction, over a distance of about four hundred metres. It begins in
the west from the clearing in front of the church of San Francesco
d'Assisi and ends at the crossroads between corso Giuseppe Zanardelli
and via Dieci Giornate.
The course is characterized by the
numerous shops, making it one of the busiest streets for the city's
pedestrian traffic.
14 Ottelli House. Casa Ottelli is a building
located in Corso Palestro, on the corner with Corso Martiri della
Libertà. Built in 1932, it has two bas-reliefs by Angelo Righetti on the
façade.
The building was designed in 1932 by the architect Gerolamo
Uberti on commission from the pharmacist Giuseppe Ottelli. In the same
year, once the construction site was completed, the façade was enriched
with bas-reliefs by Angelo Righetti, a sculptor from Brescia who had
recently gained a certain reputation in the city after the execution of
the plastic works in Piazza della Vittoria.
During the Second World
War it was touched by bombings, which instead destroyed the building
across the street. Later sold by the pharmacist Ottelli, the interior
was divided up and now houses a series of shops and apartments.
Shrimp Houses. The Gambero houses are a series of buildings located in
the historic center of Brescia, on both sides of Corso Palestro, south
of Piazza del Mercato. Built in the mid-sixteenth century probably by
Lodovico Beretta between 1550 and 1555, they have a vast cycle of
frescoes on the facades by Lattanzio Gambara, partly lost, partly
transferred to the Tosio Martinengo Art Gallery and partly still on
site, but in a state severely degraded. The name "del Gambero" comes, by
extension, from the proximity of the buildings to the centuries-old
Gambero hotel, which was located nearby, south of Corso Zanardelli.
15 Church of San Francesco d'Assisi. although it actually overlooks the
street of the same name, the Church of San Francesco d'Assisi is taken
as the point of reference for the beginning of Corso Palestro. It is
flanked by an ancient Franciscan convent dating back to the 1300s.
Built in the 13th century, it still maintains a strong medieval
connotation today. From 1400 the church was enriched with five altars,
two of which were made by Moretto and Romanino, in the midst of which
the remains of medieval frescoes depicting the Last Judgment and the
Pietà were found. Subsequently, the embellishment works of the
presbytery were completed, and from 1500, in the midst of the
Renaissance, the chapel of the Immaculate Conception was built in the
left aisle. With the advent of the French in 1797, the church and the
convent annexed to it underwent a phase of decline in which archives
were destroyed and many rooms were ruined, including a library, and only
in 1839, thanks to the Brescian architect Rodolfo Vantini, the church he
resumed his modernization works, also assuming some neoclassical
elements. In 1928 the minor friars returned to live in both the convent
and the church, and thanks to various restorations they managed to
recover ancient artistic heritage.
The church keeps an important
treasure, not exposed to the public, made up of various ancient
liturgical objects linked to the history of the monastery. Within the
collection, the Cross of San Francesco stands out, a great early
16th-century goldsmith's work by Giovanni Francesco delle Croci.
Piazza del Mercato is a square located southwest of piazza della
Vittoria along corso Palestro, at the north end of via Antonio Gramsci.
Formed starting from the fifteenth century, it underwent numerous
additions and modifications, especially in the buildings facing its
sides, until the first half of the twentieth century.
This has led to
a considerable typological and chronological variety of the buildings
that border the square and its monuments, with evidence from the
fifteenth century (the porticoes of the south elevation), sixteenth
century (palazzo Beretta), seventeenth century (church of the Madonna
del Lino), eighteenth century (palazzo Martinengo Palatini), from the
19th century (central fountain) and from the 20th century (buildings
from the 1930s and the former covered market from the 1960s).
16
Church of the Madonna del Lino (Church of Santa Maria del Lino). is a
church in Brescia, located in the southwest corner of Piazza del
Mercato. Built at the beginning of the seventeenth century by Pietro
Maria Bagnadore to house a highly venerated local votive image, the
building has always assumed the role of a sanctuary rather than a
church, also given its modest size. The name "del lino" comes from the
square it overlooks, where the linen market was once held. It contains
residues of the original seventeenth-century decoration and the results
of the many interventions carried out during the eighteenth century. It
is currently closed to the public, awaiting restoration.
17 Palazzo
Beretta. Palazzo Beretta is a palace in Brescia, located in Piazza del
Mercato, along the north front. It was built in 1558 by Lodovico Beretta
as a luxury residence for the flax merchants active here and still today
it is one of the distinctive architectural fronts of Piazza del Mercato.
18 Martinengo Palatini Palace. it is the main and monumental front of
Piazza del Mercato. Built in the 15th century by the Martinengo family
and completely rebuilt between the end of the 17th and the beginning of
the 18th century, it is one of the most elegant and harmonious Baroque
palaces in the city. After being destined for various uses starting from
1874, since 2000 it has been the seat of the rectorate of the University
of Brescia. The architect who designed it is not known.
19 Theophila
Tower. the Teofila tower is an ancient tower of which today only a piece
of wall remains incorporated in the back of Palazzo Martinengo Palatini,
at the corner between via Fratelli Porcellaga and vicolo degli Asini.
The tower dates back to the end of the 12th century and must have been
part of the fortifications of Porta Sant'Agata, within the first city
wall of the municipal era built starting from 1174. These walls fell
into disuse with the subsequent expansions of the city, in the second
mid-fifteenth century the tower, or what was already left of it, was
probably purchased by the Martinengos together with other land near
Piazza del Mercato, where the family built the aforementioned palazzo.
Starting in 1672, the fifteenth-century building was completely rebuilt
at the behest of Teofilo Martinengo, from whom the tower takes its name.
Piazzale Arnaldo is a square located on the eastern perimeter of the
historic city centre, at the end of via Tosio Martinengo and corso
Magenta. Born through a series of urban interventions during the
nineteenth century, it was the scene of a bloody clash during the ten
days of Brescia and of an attack in 1976.
The square is dominated
by the grain market, an imposing portico more than one hundred meters
long, and the monument to Arnaldo da Brescia, erected in 1882. The
square is today an important junction of the urban road network and,
thanks to the numerous bars and restaurants that overlook it , is also
one of the centers of the city's nightlife. The Ronchi, the hills of the
city, form the panoramic background, with a particularly direct view
towards the tomb of the dog.
20 Grain Market. The monumental
porticoed grain market was built on a project by the architect Luigi
Basiletti together with Angelo Vita from 1820 until 1823. The building
is a grandiose factory 112 meters long and 15 wide, with twenty arches.
The center is highlighted by a taller and more protruding body concluded
by a triangular pediment, in which originally there was an epigraph, now
disappeared, dedicated to the then recently married Archduke Raineri,
viceroy of the Lombardo-Veneto kingdom, and Maria Elisabetta of Savoy.
In its place is now the city coat of arms. At the ends of the building
there are two fountains, in Botticino marble, designed by the architect
Angelo Vita in 1823.
21 Monument to Arnaldo da Brescia. In the
background to the east of the square, in a central position, stands the
imposing monument dedicated to Arnaldo da Brescia, a 12th-century friar
who railed against the corruption of the clergy, preaching the poverty
of the Church. In 1155 he was captured in Rome, immediately tried and
sentenced to death. He is then strangled, burned and his ashes scattered
in the Tiber so that no one can venerate them.
The monument was
finally inaugurated on August 14, 1882, after about twenty years of
projects and controversies, to tangibly remember the figure of this
Brescian, recognizing in him values of civil and moral commitment in a
secular and libertarian sense, as proposed by some groups of politically
and culturally engaged citizens. The large bronze statue is the work of
sculptor Odoardo Tabacchi, as are the four bas-reliefs, depicting scenes
from the life of the friar, which decorate the four sides of the base.
The tall and elaborate pedestal in neo-Romanesque style is instead
attributable to Antonio Tagliaferri.
Via dei Musei, or more simply via Musei, is one of the main streets
in the historic center of Brescia, mainly known for the multitude of
monuments and cultural institutions that overlook it along its long
route of about 800 meters, from piazza della Loggia to the monastery of
Santa Giulia, including churches, palaces of the ancient city nobility,
medieval remains and ruins from the Roman era.
22 Monastery of
Santa Giulia. it is a convent complex that rises in via dei Musei,
incorporating the oldest monastery of San Salvatore built in the Lombard
age. The current appearance of the monastery derives mainly from the
renovations carried out between the 15th and 16th centuries. The whole
is part of the serial site "Longobards in Italy: the places of power",
including seven places full of architectural, pictorial and sculptural
testimonies of Lombard art, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
in June 2011. The monastery of San Salvatore was founded in 753 at the
behest of the Lombard duke Desiderio (future king of the Lombards) and
his wife Ansa. It was a female monastery and the first abbess was
Anselperga, daughter of the same ruler. The monastery owned huge assets
that went well beyond the Brescian border and was at the center of an
intense commercial exchange activity; both of these aspects find
justification in the fact that Santa Giulia covered the role of "royal"
monastery.
23 Santa Giulia Museum, Via dei Museo 81/b, ☎ +39 030
2977833, santagiulia@bresciamusei.com. whole: 10€. winter (10/1-15/6):
from Tuesday to Sunday 9.30-17.30, summer (16/6-30/9): from Tuesday to
Sunday 10.30-19.00 The ticket office closes one hour before the museum
closes .. is the main museum in Brescia, located in via dei Musei 55,
along the ancient decumanus maximus of Roman Brixia. It is housed inside
the monastery of Santa Giulia. The area below the Museum is full of
archaeological finds from various periods, mostly belonging to the Roman
era and excellently preserved, in particular the Domus dell'Ortaglia.
All the structures of the ancient monastery are part of the museum,
including the church of Santa Maria in Solario, the nuns' choir and the
church of Santa Giulia. The museum contains thousands of objects and
works of art ranging from the age of Bronze to the 19th century mainly
from the city context and from the province of Brescia, whose in-depth
themes mainly concern the history of the city of Brescia and its
territory. Among the numerous works of art, the Winged Victory, the
Croce di Desiderio, the Lipsanoteca and the "Collections and applied
arts" sector are especially mentioned, where all the private collections
donated to the museum between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
are kept.
24 Burned door. it is an ancient tower located at the
western end of via dei Musei, in the north-eastern corner of Piazza
della Loggia. Located on the decumanus maximus of Roman Brixia, it was
built in this period as a fortified gate for access to the city from the
west. Still in the early Middle Ages, in some documents it is identified
as "Porta Milanese", an indication of the original name of the
structure. In 1184, according to the chronicles of the time, the furious
fire started from here and destroyed this area of the city, from the
current Piazza Rovetta to even the old cathedral under construction. The
nickname of "Burnt" dates back to this episode. Today it serves as a
private residence.
25 San Faustino in Rest (Church of S. Rita). is a
church located in Vicolo della Torre, north of Piazza della Loggia, next
to Porta Bruciata. With its characteristic external cone shape, it was
built in the 12th century as a votive sanctuary on the site where, by
tradition, the bodies of the patron saints Faustino and Giovita had
stopped, "rested" during their translation. The alley at the bottom of
which the exterior of the building is visible represents one of the many
fascinating glimpses of medieval Brescia, usually little known to most.
26 Santa Maria della Carità (church of the Good Shepherd). also known as
the church of the Good Shepherd since it was governed until 1998 by the
adjacent monastery of the same name, it is a church located along via
dei Musei, at the intersection with via Gabriele Rosa. Set on a
characteristic octagonal plan, it houses a remarkable Baroque decorative
apparatus and some noteworthy works, including sculptures. The church
was built starting from 1640 on a project by the architect Agostino
Avanzo at the behest of the priest Pietro Franzoni, superior of the Pio
Istituto delle Penitenti, and thanks to the economic contribution of the
population: the building site will last until 1655. The structure
underwent major renovations from 1730 onwards thanks to the interest of
the sacristan Busi, again supported by the funds of the people. Palazzo
Maggi di Gradella is a 16th century building century located in via dei
Musei. The building owned by the Maggi di Gradella, the Cremona branch
of the homonymous noble family from Brescia, was built at the end of
1544 by Lodovico Beretta, and like Palazzo Uggeri, located in the
immediate vicinity, it contains some frescoes by Lattanzio Gambara.
Palazzo Uggeri (Palazzo Uggeri-Ganassoni, or simply Palazzo Uggeri). it
is a seventeenth-century building located in via dei Musei and the work
of the Brescian architect Lodovico Beretta. The palace, subsequently
restructured in a neoclassical key, contains some parts frescoed by
Lattanzio Gambara, while in the main facade you can admire the imposing
balcony adorned with small cherubs.
27 San Desiderio, Via
Gabriele Rosa. it is a minor church located at the northern end of via
Gabriele Rosa at the crossroads with vicolo Sant'Urbano, on the slopes
of Colle Cidneo, a short distance from the castle. Passing under the
ownership of various parishes and religious orders over the centuries,
it has always kept its role very small as well as its size. It is
currently deconsecrated and is the seat of a theater association.
28 Forum Square. One of the oldest squares in Brescia, born on the
forum of the Roman city in the 1st century AD. It is part of the Brescia
Antica district, in the heart of the historic centre, crossed to the
north by via dei Musei. It is rectangular in shape and contains most of
the Roman remains of the city, divided between the Capitolium, the civil
basilica and the archaeological excavations of Palazzo Martinengo
Cesaresco Novarino. Many have attributed to the ancient Roman forum the
role of center of civil and religious life in Roman Brixia, as evidenced
by the presence of the Capitoline temple, located in the northern part
of the square, which included two rows of side porticoes of which some
remains sign in the central part of the square, and of the Basilica (or
court), of which some finds are kept in the surrounding buildings. The
square houses the Capitolium or Capitoline Temple, a Roman temple.
Together with the theater and the remains of the city forum, it
constitutes the most important complex of ruins and remains from the
Roman era in Lombardy. The construction of the building can be
attributed to Vespasiano, between 73 and 74. His "paternity" is
confirmed by the original inscription on the pediment: IMP.
CAESAR.VESPASIANUS.AUGUSTUS. / PONT. MAX. TR. POWER III. EMP. X. P. P.
CAS. III / CENSOR. The temple was built on top of a previous republican
temple and its construction is due to the victory of the Emperor over
General Vitellio, in the plain between Goito and Cremona. Destroyed by
fire during the barbarian raids that plagued Europe in the 4th century
AD. and never rebuilt, it was buried by a landslide of the Cidneo hill
during the Middle Ages. The temple was brought to light only in 1823
thanks to the support of the Municipality of Brescia and the University,
which demolished the public housing and the small park (Giardino
Luzzaghi) built years earlier on the ground now leveled above the
building, bringing light the ancient center of Roman Brixia. Next to the
remains of the Capitolium, still in Piazza del Foro, is the Church of
San Zeno al Foro. Built during the eighteenth century on the previous
medieval church, it gradually appears in the background of today's Via
Musei for those who walk along it from Piazza della Loggia, so much so
that it is possible to glimpse it from Porta Bruciata. Together with the
Roman ruins it also dominates the scene of the square, aided by the
imaginative baroque railing of its churchyard. It preserves valuable
pictorial works by local authors of the time.
29 Tebaldo Brusato
Square. located south of the east end of via dei Musei, the square is
named after Tebaldo Brusato, Guelph hero of the defense of Brescia from
the Emperor Henry VII. It is rectangular in shape and there is a public
garden in the center. In 1173 it was established as the first municipal
square transforming the area near the monastery of Santa Giulia, used
for agricultural use, as an area for the sale of goods, favoring the
birth and growth of many craft shops; for this reason it was renamed
"New Market".
Other places of interest in Brescia are the Teatro Grande, located in
the middle of Corso Zanardelli, recognized as a national monument in
1912, whose construction dates back to the 17th century; the Teatro
Sociale, located in via Felice Cavallotti, the second city theater,
founded in 1851 as Teatro Guillaume and abandoned in the second half of
the twentieth century, only to be reopened to the public in 2000; the
municipal cemetery called Vantiniano, the first work of Rodolfo Vantini
and built between 1815 and 1864 and located in the eastern section of
via Milano, which houses the illustrious tombs of Vantini himself,
Giuseppe Zanardelli and Tito Speri among others, as well as a series of
works scattered in the various cells by artists such as Gian Battista
Lombardi, Abbondio Sangiorgio, Odoardo Tabacchi, Giovanni Antonio
Emanueli, Domenico Ghidoni and many others; the Tomba del Cane, popular
name by which the Bonomini tomb is known, a sepulchral monument located
on the Ronchi hills, along via Panoramica: built in 1860 to a design by
Rodolfo Vantini to house the remains of Angelo Bonomini and his partner
Giuseppe Simoni, benefactors of the hospitals Civilians of Brescia, in
the end he will never welcome the two bodies due to new municipal
ordinances concerning the rules on burial, which bound him to public
cemeteries. Popular tradition therefore has it that only one dog was
placed there, hence the usual denomination. The sepulcher is one of the
most singular Brescian monuments of the 19th century and still today,
being in a clearly visible position from the city, it plays a notable
role in the landscape, for example in the lucky optical telescope in
Piazzale Arnaldo.
30 Mille Miglia Museum, Viale della Bornata,
123 (District of Sant'Eufemia della Fonte, From bus station n° 3), ☎ +39
030 3365631, fax: +39 030 3366411, segreteria@museomillemiglia.it. €7.
10-18. The museum is open in the former monastery of St. Euphemia,
founded in the year 1008. It has been open to the public since November
10, 2004.
31 Brescia Castle, Via Del Castello, 9, ☎ +39 030 2400640,
info@bresciamusei.com. €5. Thu-Fri 9-16, Sat-Sun 10-17. It ranks first
among the ancient military architectures of Brescia that have come down
to us: built in the thirteenth century by the Viscontis on a previous
site, on the top of the Cidneo hill, it was first enlarged in the
fifteenth century and then completed in the sixteenth century. Having
ceased any strategic function in the mid-nineteenth century, the castle
is today a huge public park that offers interesting walks among the
ancient defense structures and a broad panorama of the entire city. The
interior of the fortress instead houses two museums. Inside is the
Museum of the Risorgimento.
CidneOn (c/o Castle of Brescia). free, but it is possible to buy a
magic key online for €8 (2018) to skip the queue. one week in
mid-February (more or less at the S. Faustino fair) - 18:30-24:00 (last
admission 22:30). International light festival with video projections
and light installations that illuminate the Castle of Brescia
accompanied by musical performances.
San Faustino Fair, some streets
in the city centre. February 15th. The fair hosts numerous stalls of all
kinds, over six hundred each year, which generally wind between via San
Faustino and corso Giuseppe Zanardelli. The fair hosts over 200,000
visitors each year (Brescia has 194,000 inhabitants), which makes
February 15th undoubtedly the busiest day in the city.
One thousand
miles. in the month of May. Initially an official long-distance race,
carried out on roads open to traffic, it was held 24 times between 1927
and 1957, definitively suspended following the death of the Spanish
driver Alfonso de Portago, his American co-driver Edmund Gurner Nelson,
and nine spectators, including five children. Since 1977, the Mille
Miglia has been revived in the form of a regularity race for vintage
cars. Participation is limited to cars, manufactured no later than 1957,
which had participated (or were entered) in the original race. The route
(Brescia-Rome round trip) follows, albeit in its variations, that of the
original race, keeping the starting/arrival point constant in Viale
Venezia (near the Rebuffone gardens). The event attracts numerous
vintage car enthusiasts to Brescia from all over the world, and the
entire city in the days immediately preceding the departure is covered
by vintage cars which mainly roam the central streets of the city.
The X days of Brescia. second half of September. Musical concerts in
Brescia and its province
For the complete and updated list of events
in Brescia, consult the dedicated page of the municipality of Brescia.
1 Attend a play at the Teatro Grande in Brescia, Corso Zanardelli 9/A
(Reachable by buses 3 and 12.), ☎ +39 030 2979333, fax: +39 030 2979342,
biglietteria@teatrogrande.it.
2 Attend a Brescia Calcio match at the
Mario Rigamonti Stadium. Home stadium of the city team (Brescia Calcio
1911).
3 Playing golf at the Brescia Golf Country Club, Via Stretta
48, ☎ +39 030 2006981, segreteria@bresciagolf.it. 9:00-18:30.
The
Delle 3 Valli Bresciane path starts and ends in Brescia, for information
on the 8 stages of the path, consult the page on the Bresciano paths.
Brescia rises in the high Po Valley at the
mouth of the Trompia valley, at the foot of Mount Maddalena and the
Cidneo hill.
The territory - bordered to the north by the
Brescia Prealps, to the east by the Gardesane Prealps and to the
west by the territories of Franciacorta - is mostly flat; however,
the whole southern slope of Monte Maddalena (including the top)
falls within the municipal territory, so that the municipality of
Brescia has an altitude range of 770 meters.
The historic
center is enclosed in the perimeter of the Venetian walls,
demolished between the second half of the nineteenth century and the
twenties of the twentieth century, and is dominated by the Cidneo
hill on which the castle of Brescia is clearly visible. The rest of
the city expands geographically and visually over the entire
surrounding area, enclosed by the surrounding pre-alpine mountains,
such as Monte Maddalena (to the east), and Monte Sant'Onofrio (to
the north), even if the latter does not geographically part of the
city territory, but of the municipalities of the hinterland Bovezzo,
Lumezzane, Concesio and Nave.
The seismic risk of Brescia
according to the PCM 3.274 ordinance of 20/03/2003 is attributable
to zone 3, ie of low seismicity; however, in past centuries there
was no lack of significant episodes that involved the city, among
these we remember the Brescia earthquake of 25 December 1222.
The main shopping street in Brescia is Corso Palestro, a continuation
of Corso Zanardelli, where there are numerous clothes shops, both
belonging to chains such as H&M and Benetton, and small Brescia shops.
Numerous shops can also be found under the arcades in Via X
Giornate.
From the centre, it is possible to walk to the Freccia
Rossa shopping centre, Viale Italia 31 (turn left from the station
square, then at the roundabout continue straight until you reach the
entrance to the shopping centre), ☏ +39 030 2817911, centro.commerciale@
red-arrow.it. Paid parking, with 3 hours free for at least one purchase.
Ticket and receipt to be delivered at the cash desk or in one of the
dedicated boxes. Mon-Sat 09:00-21:00, Sun 10:00-21:00. The shopping
center is located inside an old railway depot which has now been
redeveloped and still retains its structure. Inside there are numerous
clothing stores belonging to international chains such as H&M, Celio and
Zara, restaurants and fast food restaurants such as McDonald's or La
Piadineria and the Wiz cinema. The complete list of stores can be found
on the official website, in the "Shops" section ". Compared to a few
years ago, when there were around 120 stores, many are closed and now
around 50 stores remain open.
Coin, Corso Magenta, 2, ☎ +39 030
3775992. Department store on several floors where there are numerous
departments including clothing and perfumery. On the top floor there is
a restaurant with a terrace from which you can enjoy a good view of the
castle and the city skyline.
la Feltrinelli Libri e Musica, C.so
Zanardelli 3. Large and historic bookshop on several floors with books,
CDs and DVDs.
Media World, Via Orzinuovi ang. via Dalmatia, 90/d.
Subsidiary of the German retail chain of technology products and
household appliances.
Photo Studio Rapuzzi S.N.C., Via Bonomelli
Geremia, ☎ +39 030 362088.
Valleverde Calzature Di Negro Silvia & C.
Snc, Viale Venezia, ☎ +39 030 364736.
Supermarkets
In the city
there are shops of almost all the large chains linked to large-scale
distribution. Just a few are mentioned below:
Billa Ag, Via
Armando Diaz, 17. Branch of the Austrian supermarket chain.
Lidl, Via
Valcamonica, 11. Mon-Fri 8:30-20:30, Sat 8-21, Sun 9-13 15-19. Branch of
the well-known German chain of hard discounters, a few meters from the
Parish of San Giacomo.
Esselunga Della Volta, Via della Volta 33, ☎
+39 0303 542060, fax: +39 0303 532592. Mon-Sat: 8:00-21:00, Sun:
9:00-20:00. Large Italian chain supermarket.
Elnòs Shopping Mall, Via
Luigi Einaudi (in Roncadelle, about 5 km from the center of Brescia), ☎
+39 030 7828480. Shops: Mon-Sun 09:00-21:00. Restaurant area: Mon-Sun
09:00-21:30. In this shopping center there are 145 shops and
restaurants, the list of which can be found on the official website of
the shopping center.
Markets
A large market takes place every
Saturday in the Piazza della Vittoria area.
Shows
1 Cinema Wiz, Viale Italia 31 (C/o cc Freccia Rossa), ☎ +39
030 2403262. Multiplex cinema
2 Cinema Moretto, Via Moretto 71.
Cinema in the city center which usually also screens arthouse films.
3 Teatro Grande di Brescia, Corso Zanardelli 9/A (Reachable by buses 3
and 12.), ☎ +39 030 2979333, fax: +39 030 2979342,
biglietteria@teatrogrande.it.
4 Social Theater of Brescia, Via Felice
Cavallotti, 20, ☎ +39 030 2808600,
sociale.biglietteria@ctbteatrostabile.it.
5 Teatro Santa Chiara Mina
Mezzadri, Contrada Santa Chiara, 50/a (metro BS San Faustino), ☎ +39 030
3772134.
Night clubs
6 Punto Fermo Cafe' Di Capretti Davide,
Via Dalmazia, 111, ☎ +39 030 220680. Bar.
7 Mister'O, Via Pittori
Paglia, 2, ☎ +39 334 2393614. Bar.
8 Bar Tio Pepe By Fiorella
Bertoletti, Viale Venezia, 88, ☎ +39 030 47332.
9 Latte+, Via
Giuseppe Di Vittorio, 38, info@lattepiulive.it. Friday Saturday. Club
with live music from 11.00pm to 0.30am and DJ (after and before). Events
with Italian and international bands are periodically organized
Modest prices
1 La Bersagliera Restaurant Pizzeria, Corso Magenta
38, ☎ +39 030 3750569.
2 Locanda Dei Guasconi, Via Cesare Beccaria 11
h (Near Piazza Tito Speri), locandadeiguasconi@gmail.com. €9.50-17
(single dish), €23 (menu). +39 030 3771605. Medieval-style restaurant
3 Pizzeria Manuno, Via Zara, 49, ☎ +39 030 225434, fax: +39 030 225434,
info@pizzeriamanuno.it. €4-8 (pizza). Tue-Sun 10-14:30 18-23:30.
Neapolitan pizzeria, with ingredients from Campania.
4 Pizza
delivery, Via Massimo d'Azeglio, 44, ☎ +39 030 397890. Tue-Sun 18-22.
5 L'Altra Pecora, Via Gabriele Rossetti, 3, ☎ +39 030 3386615. Mon-Fri
7am-10.30pm, Sat-Sun 8am-11pm.
6 Pizzeria Il Piacere, Viale del
Piave, 53, ☎ +39 030 362082. An average of €20-25 per meal. Mon, Wed-Fri
12-14:30 18:30-24, Tue, Sat and Sun 18:30-24.
7 I Silvani Brescia,
Via Triumplina, 86/b, ☎ +39 0302040008, brescia@isilvani.it. At lunch
from Monday to Friday fixed price for: 1 first course + 1 second course
+ 1 side dish + water and bread at €9.50. Self-service restaurant,
pizzeria open for lunch and dinner on the first floor and lounge bar on
the ground floor. In the restaurant there is also a play area for the
little ones.
If you want to have a quick lunch/dinner, the best place
in the city center is probably the Freccia Rossa Shopping Centre, where,
in addition to the usual chains such as Mc Donald's, piadinerias and
pizzerias, there are also less popular restaurants. A few are listed
below.
8 GalloWay, Viale Italia, 31 (c/o Centro Comm.
Frecciarossa), ☎ +39 030 2943690. Fast-food restaurant offering grilled
meat such as chicken wings, hamburgers ...
Average prices
9
Ristorante Pizzeria Oltre la Via Lattea, Via Trieste 3 (Behind the Duomo
Vecchio), ☎ +39 030 40088. Closed on Mondays.
10 Vicolo Corto
Restaurant Pizzeria, Vicolo Sant'Agostino 3, ☎ +39 030 2808264. Small
restaurant located just above Piazza Duomo. In addition to the pizza,
you can also order a "shirt" (a kind of sandwich made with pizza dough).
11 Antica Trattoria Del Ponte, Via Indipendenza, 1, ☎ +39 0303 760740,
info@anticatrattoriadelponte.it. Tue-Fri and Sun 12-14:30 19-22:30, Sat
19-22:30. Present dishes for intolerant and vegetarians, offers
ceremonial service.
12 Fermento, Via Orzinuovi, 76, ☎ +39 030
3545290.
13 Zeng Yijun, Viale del Piave, 8, ☎ +39 030 3365492.
14
Ristorante Pizzeria Da Lucio Di Pingaro Lucietto, Viale del Piave, 2, ☎
+39 030 3367314. €25-40 (menu).
15 La Pastorella, Via Lunga, 24, ☎
+39 030 310815. Offers vegan cuisine.
16 Taverna Real Cazzimperio,
Via Milano, 138, ☎ +39 333 1151353 (mobile).
17 Pasticceria Papa
Fabio, Via Villa Glori, 34, ☎ +39 030 310863.
18 La Trattoria 1960,
Via Milano, 55 (A4 motorway, Brescia Ovest exit, Brescia Ovest ring
road, Via Milano exit), ☏ +39 030 314620, latrattoria1960@yahoo.it.
€40-60 (average, excluding drinks). Mon-Fri lunch and dinner, Sat
dinner. Restaurant with 80 seats, the staff speaks English, French and
German, the place is air conditioned and has parking, with organization
of events and catering and accepts the main credit cards; booking is
welcome.
19 Trattoria Amici Del Bafo Di Reboni Angiolina, Via Milano,
96, ☎ +39 030 313510.
20 Pizza Sole, Via Giuseppe Nicolini, 1, ☎ +39
030 8084065. Tue-Sat 11:30-14:30 18-22:30, Sun-Mon 18-22:30.
21 Nuovo
Giardino, Via Giosuè Carducci, 23, ☎ +39 030 3229374.
22 La Taerna
degli Artisti, Via Gorizia, 11b, ☎ +39 030 301121, +39 339 8464015
(mobile), info@taerna.it. €35-45 (menu). There is an inexpensive menu
(first course, second course, vegetables, drinks and coffee) at €10 for
lunch and €12/15 for dinner.
23 Spiller, Via Cefalonia, 49, ☎ +39 030
2422261. Sun-Thu 6.30pm-2am, Fri-Sat 6.30pm-2.30am. Tyrolean restaurant,
also serves Italian dishes.
24 La Polveriera+beach, Via Nicostrato
Castellini, 14, ☎ +39 030 3752271. Tue-Fri and Sun 12-14:30 19-24, Mon
12-14:30, Sat 19-24.
25 Elite Cafè, Via Crocifissa di Rosa 46, ☎ +39
030 300617. Gastronomy bar suitable for rich breakfasts, buffet
aperitifs, tastings and samplings. In the shop there is also a
"gastronomy" section where you can buy products.
26 Trattoria
Caprese, Piazza della Loggia, 11, ☎ +39 030 293018. Neapolitan trattoria
and pizzeria on the main square of the city, very popular with locals.
High prices
27 Pasticceria Veneto, Via Salvo D' Acquisto, 8,
pasticceria@iginiomassari.it. Tue-Sat: 7:45-20:00, Sun:
7:45-13:00-15:00-19:30. Pastry shop of the famous Brescian pastry chef
Iginio Massari particularly famous for the panettone. In the pastry shop
there is also a bar where it is possible to sit down and taste the
excellent products of the pastry shop.
Modest prices
1 Casa Marcolini Facella Father Marcolini
Foundation, Via delle Grazzine (A few meters from the Spedali Civili), ☎
+39 030 380290, fax: +39 030 3700727, info@casamarcolinifacella.it.
€20.5 per night per person (double with bathroom), €31 per night (single
with bathroom). Structure designed primarily for those who have to stay
in the city for work, study or for assistance to hospitalized people, it
has 45 double rooms with bathroom and 3 single rooms with bathroom, all
equipped with TV in the room, with common rooms for reading, television,
kitchen, vending machines vending machines and microwave in the common
room; it is possible to use the coin-operated laundry/dryer and iron at
a cost of €5 (detergent included).
Average prices
2 Hotel NH
Brescia, Viale Stazione, 15 (100 meters from the train station), ☎ +39
030 44221, +39 02 87368144 (bookings), nhbrescia@nh-hotels.com. Dogs and
cats (maximum height 40 cm) allowed for €20 per night. Guide dogs for
free. Check-in: 3pm, check-out: 12pm. Smoking rooms available.
3
Appartahotel Residence, Vicolo della Stazione, 31 (Near the railway
station), ☏ +39 030 2400684, +39 347 4596604 (mobile), fax: +39 030
47772, info@appartahotel.it.
4 Hotel Leonardo, Via Pietro dal Monte,
40, ☎ +39 030 397391, fax: +39 030 383212, info@hotel-leonardo.com.
€50-60 per night (average). It offers the following services: pay TV in
room (Sky), Internet connection via Internet point and Wi-Fi, admission
of pets in room with balcony, fax services, laundry, bicycle and car
rental and shuttle bus, breakfast buffet and half board/full board
service in a partner restaurant, supply of ironing board and relative
iron.
5 Regal Hotel & Residence, Viale Europa, 2/b, ☎ +39 030
2008506, fax: +39 030 2008766, info@regalhotel.it. It offers special
rooms for customers with pets. Services included: swimming pool (from
May to September), parking, Internet connection via Internet point and
Wi-Fi, concierge, breakfast buffet, bicycle rental and pay TV (Mediaset
Premium).
6 Hotel Impero, Via Triumplina, 6, ☎ +39 030 381483.
€55-150 per night (depending on the service and type of room). Breakfast
and Wi-Fi included in every booking.
7 Residence Costalunga, Via
Valbarbisona, ☎ +39 030 3385360, fax: +39 030 3386550,
info@residencecostalunga.it. There are eleven two-room apartments with
armored doors, air conditioning, satellite television, Internet
connection, washing machine and safe; offers cleaning every 7 days.
High prices
8 Best Western Hotel Master, Via Luigi Apollonio, 72,
☎ +39 030 399037, fax: +39 030 3701331, info@hotelmaster.net. Average of
€99 per night.
9 Ambasciatori Hotel Brescia, Via Santa Maria
Crocifissa di Rosa, 92, ☎ +39 030 399114, fax: +39 030 381883,
info@ambasciatori.net.
10 Villa Valeria Bed and Breakfast in Brescia
Centre, Via Massimo d'Azeglio, 16 (2.5 km from the central station and
1.5 km from Piazza della Loggia), ☎ +39 030 396052, +39 335 440084
(mobile ), info@villav.it. €80-140 per night.
Brescia Police Headquarters, Va Sandro Botticelli, 2, ☎ +39 030
37441.
Provincial Fire Brigade Command of Brescia (Fire Brigade), Via
Scuole 6, ☎ +39 030 37191, fax: +39 030 3719203,
Comando.brescia@vigilfuoco.it.
Guardia di Finanza (Brescia Provincial
Command), Via Milano 9, ☎ +39 030 3750662, +39 030 3750664, +39 030
3750666.
Spedali Civili di Brescia, P.le Spedali Civili (By
underground: Hospital stop for the entrance on the side of Piazzale
Spedali Civili and the Pediatric emergency room; Europa stop for the
Satellite entrance and the adult emergency room.), ☎ +39 030 39951, +39
030 39961.
Carabinieri (Provincial Command), Piazza Tebaldo Brusato,
19, ☎ +39 030 28801, fax: +39 030 28801.
To find out the position of
the other Carabinieri stations in Brescia, consult the carabinieri.it
website.
Post
In Brescia there are many post offices, to find out their
location and their hours consult the website poste.it. The main one is
located in Piazza della Vittoria, in an imposing fascist-style building.
poste 30 Post Office Brescia Centro, Piazza della Vittoria 1, ☎ +39
03045016. Large post office with free WiFi and many counters. edit
Internet
In several areas of the city it is possible to connect to
internet wifi for free.
Brescia rises in the upper Po Valley at the mouth of Val Trompia, at
the foot of Mount Maddalena and Colle Cidneo.
The territory –
bounded to the north by the Brescian Prealps, to the east by the
Gardesane Prealps and to the west by the territories of Franciacorta –
is mostly flat; however the entire southern slope of Monte Maddalena
(including the summit) falls within the municipal territory, so that the
municipality of Brescia has an altitude range of 770 metres.
The
historic center is enclosed within the perimeter of the walls of the
Venetian era, demolished between the second half of the nineteenth
century and the twenties of the twentieth century, and is dominated by
the Cidneo hill on which the castle of Brescia is clearly visible. The
rest of the city expands geographically and visually over the
surrounding area, enclosed by the pre-Alpine mountains, such as Monte
Maddalena (to the east) and Monte Sant'Onofrio (to the north), even if
the latter is not geographically part of the city territory, but of the
municipalities of the hinterland Bovezzo, Lumezzane, Concesio and Nave.
The seismic risk of Brescia according to the ordinance PCM 3.274
dated 20/03/2003 is attributable to zone 3, ie low seismicity; however,
in the past centuries there was no lack of important episodes involving
the city, among these we remember the earthquake of Brescia on 25
December 1222.
Brescia enjoys a humid sub-continental climate, characterized by
uniformly distributed rainfall in all seasons with very hot summers and
fewer days of cold and fog than in the nearby Po valley. The presence of
typically Mediterranean plants (such as the olive tree, the holm oak,
the laurel, the alaterno and the caper), which grow on the hills
surrounding the city, are indicators of the fact that the climate of
Brescia is sub-Mediterranean, i.e. transitional between the
Mediterranean climate and the sub-continental one of the Po Valley.
Precipitation is concentrated in the periods between May and August,
with a slight decrease in the months of July and September, and an
exacerbation in the period between October and late November.
Winter, generally between the end of November and the end of March, is
characterized by a very low percentage of rainfall.
The western area of the municipal territory is crossed longitudinally
by the river Mella, which has its source in the Maniva area: after
crossing the Val Trompia, it reaches the city from the north. It is an
unnavigable river and also has pollution problems.
There are also
torrential watercourses, among them the Garza born halfway between the
centers of Lumezzane and Agnosine; after crossing the valley of the same
name, it reaches the city from the north-east and crosses its entire
length with a mixed open and underground route.
The Naviglio di
Brescia is instead a canal, deriving from the Chiese river, which
crosses the city in the east and then touches the municipalities of the
lower eastern Brescia area.
Mount Maddalena (formerly Mount Denno) is a mountain belonging to the Brescian Pre-Alps that rises close to the city and more precisely in its north-eastern part. Due to its proximity to the city it is called the mountain of the Brescians. 874 meters above sea level, La Maddalena is a real green lung for the city. Another important hill is the Cidneo hill, above which stands the castle of Brescia.
The toponym "Brescia" initially appears in Venetian treatises and
derives from the probable venetization of the Lombard "Brèsa" or
"Brèssa", which in turn originates from the cenomane and then Roman name
of the city, named by Augustus as "Colonia Civica Augusta Brixia" . In
the early Middle Ages, the variant "Brexia" is attested alongside the
form "Brixia".
The Latin name "Brixia" (and also the Greek
variant "Βρηξία") is well documented in the classical era (Catullus,
Livy, Pliny the Elder and others). It is usually traced back to the
Celtic term brik/bric/brig (summit, hill, height, fortress, fortress) or
to the Celtic goddess Brig/Brigid wife of Bres (from A.M. Ardovino) with
various findings in other areas of Celtic influence (Bressa in Gaul,
Brexa in Spain, Bressanone, Bresso and Brianza in Italy). Also in the
local dialect the term bréc means steep and bumpy path.
The
"Lioness of Italy"
«Glad with fate Brescia picked me up,
Brescia
the strong, Brescia the iron,
Brescia lioness of Italy
drunk in
enemy blood."
(Giosuè Carducci, Alla Vittoria, vv.37-40, 14 - 16
May 1877, Odi Barbare)
"From one of your mountains fertile with
swords,
Warrior Niobe of my lands,
Lioness of Italy,
Brescia
great and unhappy.
(Aleardo Aleardi, Canti Patrii, 1857)
The
city was given the nickname "Lioness of Italy" by Aleardo Aleardi, in
his Canti Patrii. However, the success of the expression is due to
Giosuè Carducci, who wanted to pay homage to Brescia for the valiant
resistance against the Austrian occupiers during the insurrection of the
Ten Days, in the ode Alla Vittoria. Among the ruins of the temple of
Vespasian in Brescia, contained in the Barbarian Odes.
The origins of Brescia date back to 1200 BC, when a population,
probably Ligurians, built a settlement near Colle Cidneo.] In the 7th
century BC. the Cenomani Gauls settled and made Brescia their capital.
Subsequently, at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd century BC, following
clashes between the Insubres, Gauls and Romans, Brixia began the process
of annexation to the Roman Republic, which culminated in 42 BC. when the
inhabitants obtained Roman citizenship.
From 402 to 493 it
underwent numerous barbarian invasions, including those of the Visigoths
of Alaric, the Huns of Attila, the Heruli of Odoacre and then passed
under the domination of the Ostrogoths of Theodoric; just under the
latter the city acquired a key importance in the Ostrogothic kingdom.
From 568 it became an important duchy of the Lombard kingdom.
Proclaiming itself an independent municipality as early as the 12th
century, it came under the domination of the Visconti and then gave
itself, with the dedication of 24 November 1426, to the Domini di
Terraferma of the Republic of Venice and will remain linked to it until
the end of 1797.
In February 1512, during the war of the League
of Cambrai, the French troops commanded by Pierre Terrail de Bayard and
Gaston de Foix-Nemours conquered and sacked the city: this dramatic
event led to the draconian decision by the Venetian authorities to
demolish any building within a kilometer and a half of the city walls,
in order to be able to protect the city more effectively from any other
besiegers.
Francesco Duodo, captain of Brescia, in the report
dated 23 January 1579, estimates that the city of Brescia in the past
contagion (epidemic of plague) has lost twenty thousand souls.
Annexed to the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, during the Risorgimento it
was the scene of the ten days of Brescia, to then arrive at the
annexation to the Kingdom of Italy in 1860.
The 3rd Fighter
Squadron arrives at Campo di Marte (or Piazza D'Armi) on 2 October 1915,
which on 15 April 1916 becomes the 72nd Fighter Squadron, which remains
there until February 1917.
In 1932, through the demolition of the
Pescherie district, on behalf of the Duce Benito Mussolini, Piazza della
Vittoria was built in fascist style by the architect Marcello
Piacentini, who built the first skyscraper in Italy, the Torrione, which
is among the very first skyscrapers in Europe.
On July 13, 1944,
the city center was bombed by the Anglo-Americans who dropped 124 tons
of explosives, killing more than three hundred people.
During the
Second World War, with the creation of the Italian Social Republic,
informally known as Salò, Brescia became the seat of some ministries.
In the institutional referendum of 1946 in the municipality of
Brescia, 62.6% voted in favor of the Republic against 37.4% who opted
for the monarchy.
On May 28, 1974, the attack took place in
Piazza Loggia, while a demonstration against neo-fascist terrorism
called by the trade unions was underway, causing the death of eight
people and the wounding of more than a hundred others.
The coat of arms of Brescia is marked by the blue lion on silver,
recalling the city lion, a symbol attributed to it before the Venetian
era. The blazon of the coat of arms was issued with a ministerial decree
of June 25, 1925:
"Argent a lion azure, armed, tongued and tailed
gules. Motto: "Brixia Fidelis". The shield will be surmounted by a crown
with five flowers and four jeweled points.
Contrary to what is
commonly believed, due to the title Lioness of Italy (attributed to the
city of Brescia by Giosuè Carducci), the one that appears on the coat of
arms of Brescia is a male lion.
The banner, on the other hand, is
made up of a cloth divided vertically into two white and blue sheets,
with the municipal coat of arms in the centre. On the reverse there are
the depictions of the saints Faustino and Giovita, patrons of the city.
Coat of arms of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy
The coat of arms
of Brescia introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte envisaged the replacement of
the blue lion with a red leopard although defined as "illeonito" or in
the typical rampant position of the lion. The Napoleonic coat of arms
did not last long since less than a year later, with the return of the
Austrians, the Municipality of Brescia asked for the reintroduction of
the previous coat of arms. This request was listened to and on 28 June
1816, General Saurau restored the previous coat of arms with the
addition of the patrician crown and the Austrian double-headed eagle
with a decree in the name of Francis I. Only in 1859, with the expulsion
of the Austrians, were the patrician crown and the double-headed eagle
abolished, making way for the crenellated walls as in use in various
Italian cities.
Coat of arms blazon
«The good city of Brescia
bears in silver the leopard untethered in red with its tail upturned
finished by the head in green with the letter N in gold placed in the
heart and flanked by three roses with six leaves of the same. Topped by
the mural crown with seven gold merlons, surmounted by the natural
rising eagle, holding a golden caduceus in its claws, all accompanied by
two intertwined gold and oak festoons of the last one, divided between
the two hips rejoined and hanging from the tip»
(From a letter from
Napoleon Bonaparte - Dated July 9, 1813.)