FULL DAY TOUR OF BRESCIA

Brescia, close to Iseo and Garda Lakes, can be easily reached by speed train from Milan, Verona, or Venice.

Brescia is a thriving industrial town, the second largest city of Lombardy after Milan. With a 3,200-year long history. Inhabited since the Bronze Age, due to its strategic position, wealth of minerals, and fertile lands, Brescia became Celtic, then Roman, then Lombard. Together with Bergamo 2’023 Capital of Italian Culture.

During the Middle Ages it shifted from being a free commune and the property of feudal lords. It became part of the Venetian dominion in 1426, remaining under the Serenissima Republic until Napoleon’s conquest in 1797. Later, under the Austrian rule, it struggled hardly against foreign occupancy, deserving the label of “Lioness of Italy”. Modern and ancient at the same time, Brescia is a surprising hidden treasure.

Walking the cobbled streets of Brescia, the multi-layered nature of its civilization reveals. Along Via dei Musei, the ancient Brixia’s ‘decumanus’, or main street, we find the best preserved Roman archaeological area of Northern Italy. After a short visit there, we enter the brightest gem of Brescia’s crown, the awesome complex of Santa Giulia Museum, an enormous area inscribed in the UNESCO world’s heritage list in 2011.

Santa Giulia is a veritable journey into time, showcasing well preserved ruins of Roman villas, extraordinary Lombard artifacts, splendidly frescoed and decorated Medieval and Renaissance churches – we loved the attractive complexes of San Salvatore and Santa Giulia. Your guide will help you to focus on the must-sees.

After this splurge into Brescia’s heritage, it will be time to recharge our batteries. Our lunch break will be – no need to say – a great chance to savor some of the local specialties, such as ‘casuncei’ (a type of stuffed pasta, Lake Iseo fish (such as grilled eel, fried carp), skewers with polenta, Bagoss cheese, chestnut cake, bossola’ (a sort of soft donut) and sip a good glass of Lugana wine or a sparkling chalice of Franciacorta.

The afternoon will be devoted to exploring the central squares and streets: Piazza della Loggia, jewel of Venetian architecture, starring a Renaissance Loggia and a colorful Clock Tower, with the two ‘Madmen’ on top beating the hours, reminding the famous Clock Tower of Venice’s Piazza San Marco. The nearing Piazza del Duomo, unusually boasting not one, but two Duomos, the Old and the New one, both worth a visit.

On the way to the Castle (on foot or by car) our eye will be attracted by a row of precious Medieval homes; we’ll stop at watching their bizarre, attractive ornaments. Just up above the old town, the Castle of Brescia welcomes its visitors with a monumental drawbridge, bearing the Winged Lion, symbol of the long Venetian dominion.

The views are spectacular. It will be a good occasion for your guide to point at the major city buildings.
A visit to the Museum of Arms here might be of interest to stress the accent on one of Brescia’s most traditional and successful industries, the production of firearms, from the Middle Ages to the XXI century.

It is now time to end our full day tour of Brescia, enchanting and unexpected, nestled at the heart of Lombardy.