VISIT BRESCIA
Located between Milan and Lake Garda, Brescia is often overlooked by the more cursory travel journals. Valentina Nicastro gives us ten good reasons to visit the ‘Lioness of Italy’…
Beautiful Brescia is one of those unsung Italian cities that promises an unforgettable experience to travellers who dare to take a diversion away from the standard tourist routes around northern Italy. Lombardy’s second largest city is hardly ever mentioned in travel literature, yet La Leonessa d’Italia is a great destination with lots of history and culture to offer the more intrepid traveller – not to mention a fine local cuisine and the best sparkling wine in Italy. (And it’s not just here that they say that!)
Different rulers have all left their mark on the city over the centuries, and the result is a unique blend of architectural styles and historical features. Among the highlights are two cathedrals, four very different piazze and the largest archeological complex in northern Italy.
Three thousand years of history
THE HISTORY OF BRESCIA dates back to 1200 BC, and it was already an important city by the time it first came under Roman rule, in 225 BC. Its inhabitants became Roman citizens in 89 BC and remained so until the fall of the Empire, after which the city passed in and out of the hands of
