Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Brescia (Italy). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Church of San Salvatore, Monumental Cemetery, and Tempio Capitolino. Also, be sure to include Old Cathedral in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Brescia (Lombardy).
Table of Contents
Church of San Salvatore
Also known as: Chiesa di San Salvatore
Monastery in Italy. San Salvatore is a former monastery in Brescia, Lombardy, northern Italy, now turned into a museum. The monastic complex is famous for the diversity of its architecture which includes Roman remains and significant pre-Romanesque, Romanesque and Renaissance buildings.
In 2011, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of a group of seven inscribed as Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.).
The monastery is traditionally considered the place where Desiderata, wife of Charlemagne and daughter of the Lombard King Desiderius, spent her exile after the annulment of her marriage in 771.[1]
Address: Via Giovanni Piamarta, 4, 25121 Brescia
Monumental Cemetery
Cemetery in Brescia, Italy. The Monumental Cemetery of Brescia is one of the first and most ancient monumental cemetery in Italy. It was the first construction project by the Neoclassical architect Rodolfo Vantini, who started its erection in 1813 and dedicated his whole life to its creation.[2]
Address: Via Milano 17, 25126 Brescia
Tempio Capitolino
Also known as: Capitolium
Museum in Brescia, Italy. The Capitolium of Brixia or the Temple of the Capitoline Triad in Brescia was the main temple in the center of the Roman town of Brixia, in Northern Italy, in the modern region of Lombardy. It is represented at present by fragmentary ruins, but is part of an archeological site, including a Roman amphitheatre and museum in central Brescia. It forms part of the Longobards in Italy: Places of Power UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2011.[3]
Address: Piazza Del Foto, 25121 Brescia
Old Cathedral
Also known as: Duomo vecchio
Cathedral in Brescia, Italy. The Duomo Vecchio or Old Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Brescia, Italy; the rustic circular Romanesque co-cathedral stands next to the Duomo Nuovo of Brescia. It is officially known as the Winter Co-Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, while the adjacent main cathedral is known as the Summer Cathedral.
It is one of the most important examples of Romanesque round church in Italy.
While some claims for an earlier construction exist, the earliest documents state that construction of the cathedral started about 1100 on the site of a prior church with a basilica layout. It has a circular shape that became rare after the Council of Trent, and is one of the most prominent round churches of the period still remaining. There are 13th century frescoes on the interior walls, and a large canvas by Francesco Maffei showing the church with a bell tower, which has since collapsed.
In the 19th century, many additions to the original medieval building were removed. The entrance portal is one later addition remaining. It contains the medieval Crypt of San Filastrio, in honor of the beatified Brescian bishop.
Near the entrance, rests the sarcophagus of Bishop Berardo Maggi (1308) made of red marble. The Duomo Vecchio contains l'Assunta (1526) and St. Luke, St. Mark and the sleeping Elijah (1533–1534) by Moretto da Brescia. It contains a Gathering Manna by Gerolamo Romanino and a Translation of the Bodies of Saints by Francesco Maffei.[4]
Address: Piazza del Duomo 1, 25121 Brescia
Stadio Mario Rigamonti
Stadium in Brescia, Italy. Stadio Mario Rigamonti is a soccer stadium located in Brescia, Italy. It is currently the home of Brescia Calcio.
It is dedicated to Mario Rigamonti, a defender of the Grande Torino, born in Brescia, who died in the Superga air disaster in May 1949.[5]
Address: Via Giovanni Novagani, 25126 Brescia
Broletto
Building in Brescia, Italy. The Broletto or Broletto Palace of Brescia has for centuries housed the civic government offices of this city found in the region of Lombardy, Italy. The term Broletto refers to a buildings equivalent to the town hall or town assembly.[6]
Address: Via Broletto, 2, 25100 Brescia
New Cathedral
Also known as: Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Cathedral in Brescia, Italy. The Duomo Nuovo or New Cathedral is the largest Catholic church in Brescia, Italy.[7]
Address: Piazza Paolo VI, 25121 Brescia
Sant'Afra
Catholic church in Brescia, Italy. The church of Sant'Afra in Brescia, also known as the church of Sant'Afra in Sant'Eufemia, is located on Corso Magenta, near Piazzale Arnaldo.[8]
Address: Corso Magenta, 68, 25121 Brescia
Castello di Brescia
The Luigi Marzoli Weapons Museum, located in the Mastio Visconteo of Brescia Castle, displays collections of ancient weapons of Europe.
This collection is the result of a bequest in his will on January 26, 1965, by which entrepreneur Luigi Marzoli of Palazzolo sull'Oglio bequeathed to the city of Brescia his private collection of antique arms, gathered over fifty years of research. The collection is one of those recalled by Douglas Cooper in his 1963 volume, Great Private Collections, alongside the collections of the Rotschilds and Sir Denis Mahon.
Opened in 1988 on an arrangement by Carlo Scarpa and Francesco Rovetta, completely posthumous work. 580 pieces (part of the 1090 pieces of Luigi Marzoli's bequest). Another 300 pieces belonging to the Civic Collections, especially firearms from the 19th century, are also added to the core of the collection. Ten exhibition rooms.
Address: Via del Castello, 9, 25121 Brescia
Museo Mille Miglia
Also known as: Museo della Mille Miglia
Museum in Brescia, Italy. The Museo Mille Miglia is an automobile museum founded on 10 November 2004 at the initiative of the Automobile Club of Brescia and of some private enthusiasts of the famous Mille Miglia race. It is located in the ancient monastery of St. Euphemia in Via delle Rimembranze in Brescia, and more precisely on the outside of the neighborhood is Saint Euphemia.
The route is divided into nine sections of time, seven dedicated to the Mille Miglia races from 1927 to 1957, one at Mille Miglia from 1958 to 1961 and one at the Mille Miglia contemporanea, and in each of these sections there are historic cars, periodically replaced to allow their participation in various historic car racing, including Mille Miglia.[9]
Address: Viale della Bornata 123, 25123 Brescia
San Francesco
Catholic church in Brescia, Italy. San Francesco is a Romanesque-Gothic style, Roman Catholic church and Franciscan monastery located on Via San Francesco d'Assisi in central Brescia, region of Lombardy, Italy.[10]
Address: Tresanda S. Nicola, 13, 25122 Brescia
Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo
Museum in Brescia, Italy. The Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo is a public art museum in Brescia, Lombardy.
Established in 1851, the museum exhibits mainly paintings by local artists dated from the Thirteenth through the Eighteenth century. The museum's current collection includes over 800 works of painting and sculpture, displayed in 21 galleries.
The museum reopened on 17 March 2018 after a major nine-year-long renovation project.[11]
Address: Piazza Moretto 4, 25121 Brescia
Museo di Santa Giulia
The church of Santa Maria in Solario is a church in Brescia located on Via dei Musei, within the Santa Giulia monastery complex. Built in the mid-12th century, it features a remarkable fresco decoration executed by Floriano Ferramola in the early 16th century. It is now part of the visiting itinerary of the Santa Giulia Museum and houses the "treasures" of Santa Giulia: the Brescia Lipsanoteca and the Cross of Desiderio.
Santa Maria dei Miracoli
Catholic church in Brescia, Italy. The church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli is located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Brescia.[12]
Address: Corso Martiri della Libertà, Brescia
Chiesa di San Pietro in Oliveto
Catholic church in Brescia, Italy. San Pietro in Oliveto is a Roman Catholic church located at the end of via del Castello in central Brescia, region of Lombardy, Italy.[13]
Address: Via del Castello, 25121 Brescia
Palazzo della Loggia
Palazzo della Loggia is a Renaissance palace situated in the eponymous piazza in Brescia.[14]
Address: 1 Piazza della Loggia, Brescia
Piazza della Loggia
Piazza della Loggia, or more simply Piazza Loggia, is one of Brescia's main squares and a symbolic place of the Brescian Renaissance.
Built from the 15th century onward, it has an overall rectangular shape, bordered along its perimeter by a series of historic buildings including the 16th-century Palazzo della Loggia, seat of Brescia's municipal council, as well as the two monti di Pietà old and new. On the eastern side of the square, however, stand the arcades and the tower with the 16th-century astronomical clock.
Sant'Agata
Catholic church in Brescia, Italy. Sant'Agata is a 15th-century, Roman Catholic church located on Corsetto Sant'Agata at Piazza della Vittoria in Brescia, region of Lombardy, Italy.[15]
Address: Sant'Agata, 31, 25122 Brescia
Sant'Angela Merici
Sant'Angela Merici is a Renaissance style, Roman Catholic church located on Via Francesco Crispi, in central Brescia, region of Lombardy, Italy.[16]
Sant'Alessandro
Catholic church in Brescia, Italy. Sant'Alessandro is a Baroque style, Roman Catholic parish church located on Via Moretto, 73/A in Brescia, region of Lombardy, Italy.[17]
Address: Via Moretto, 25121 Brescia