A northern Italian city with ancient ruins, a UNESCO monastic complex, and even a castle!
Brescia is a large city in Northern Italy. First settled around 1200 BCE, Brescia has had a very long life. The city has all the trappings of a modern city. Yet, it’s historic center still has Roman ruins, medieval churches and castle and buildings from the Renaissance to the early modern period.
I visited Brescia on Good Friday and Saturday. The holiday didn’t really affect my explorations all that much thankfully. Brescia is amazing and requires two posts to do the city justice. (It really requires three, honestly.)
Wandering Jana Starting at Piazza Paolo VI, one of Brescia’s large plazas. It was a bit rainy that day as well.
Wandering Jana Brescia has two cathedrals. The Old Cathedral’s construction started around 1100. It’s a great example of a Romanesque round church, a style that fell out of fashion. I was unable to get inside at first because of the holiday. I decided to check again before going to the train station on my second day. I’m glad I did.
Wandering Jana The awesome church is multi-level. The church is entered via a balcony.
Wandering Jana The balcony you enter at with the baptismal area underneath.
Wandering Jana The baptismal font/storage area.
Wandering Jana The sanctuary is on another raised area.
Wandering Jana The crypt under the sanctuary. There are so many different levels in this church.
Wandering Jana Some of the frescos from the 13th century still remain.
Wandering Jana The 17th century New Cathedral, which I was able to get into later on the first day.
Wandering Jana Gorgeous church, but I definitely like the Old Cathedral more.
Wandering Jana Some Easter decorations.
Wandering Jana Next door to the New Cathedral is the Torre del Pegol, and a city government building, the Broletto.
Wandering Jana Which had an interesting courtyard.
Wandering Jana Part of the Ancient Roman Forum of Brixia (the Roman name for Brescia).
Wandering Jana The partially reconstructed Capitolium of Brixia from 73 CE. It was dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, known as the Capitoline Triad.
Wandering Jana That temple was built on top of another temple called the Republican Sanctuary, which was a series of temples from the 1st century BCE.
Wandering Jana A chamber with a much different decoration.
Wandering Jana Inside of the reconstructed upper temple is a bronze statue, the “Winged Victory”. It’s one of the few Ancient Roman bronze statues to survive in such great condition. Much of Ancient Roman bronze was melted down in late Antiquity.
Wandering Jana Not much remains of the Ancient Roman theater. The theater, like many others, was used as a stone quarry in the Middle Ages and beyond.
Wandering Jana Some of the theater was incorporated into later buildings.
Wandering Jana Heading up to San Cristo.
Wandering Jana I can see why San Cristo has been referred to the “Sistine Chapel of Brescia.”
Wandering Jana The entire church is covered in frescos.
Wandering Jana The cloister also had frescos. So many frescos.
Here is where I headed into the Santa Giulia Monastery Complex. It is no ordinary monastery complex/museum. So, it deserves its own post. Moving on to the rest of Brescia. (This post is still going to be long regardless.)
Wandering Jana Back out in the rain again.
Wandering Jana Part of the Ancient Roman Basilica was incorporated into a later building.
Wandering Jana Piazza della Vittoria was constructed in the Italian Rationalism style from 1927-1932. It’s a sub-genre of International Style popular from the 1920s-1970s (post WWII-1970s was a sad era for architecture). International style is known for its obsession with functional and utilitarian designs. The Italian version used Renaissance architecture for inspiration, making it less horrible.
Wandering Jana Santa Maria dei Miracoli and its elaborate Renaissance era facade.
Wandering Jana The interior seems normal at first.
Wandering Jana Both sides of the church had these fancy columned side aisles. These may be because of a later expansion.
Wandering Jana The dome is also awesome.
Wandering Jana Cute commercial area.
Wandering Jana Torre della Pallata, a 13th century tower that once was part of the city walls.
Wandering Jana Very cute.
Wandering Jana Palazzo della Loggia, current town hall.
Wandering Jana Which sits on the Piazza della Loggia, an example of Renaissance piazza.
Wandering Jana A closer look at the clock tower, the 16th century Torre dell’Orologio.
Wandering Jana A university building on the Piazza del Mercato.
Wandering Jana Walked into a random church, was not disappointed. Sant’Agata.
Wandering Jana The ceiling is insane.
Wandering Jana Amazing sanctuary.
Wandering Jana Finally officially on the second day.
Wandering Jana The richly decorated Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Wandering Jana It wouldn’t be a Baroque church without being insane.
Wandering Jana Just insane.
Wandering Jana Jumping ahead by a lot, Castello di Brescia is one of the largest fortresses in Italy.
Wandering Jana The outside portions of the castle and the surrounding park are free to explore.
Wandering Jana It was fun to explore on this not currently raining Spring day.
I was seriously impressed by Brescia. The town itself looked like a normal Northern Italian city with some grand buildings littered about online (not that there is anything wrong with that). However, I kept finding cool little gems once I got off the train, from an unique round church, to a castle open to explore, to random gorgeous churches and even an amazing UNESCO site (next post). I skipped so many cool places in this post.
Brescia is a perfect place to spend a couple days. It is also centrally located to see other cities in the area.
Check out my next update where I explore Brescia’s Museo di Santa Giulia!
or
Start at the beginning of this adventure.
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