MONUMENTS OF BRESCIA
Public Square Paolo VI (or of the Dome)
On the extended public square of medieval origin the civic Tower and the
Loggia of the grida show theirself from the east side comprised in the
Broletto, the New Dome and the Old Dome. The New Dome was begun in 1604 and concluded in 1825: the great
cupola dominates to the imposing facade in stone of
Botticino, while the inside with a central plant encloses numerous works of art. The Round neighbor, or Old Dome , the most important Roman building of the Lombardy with the singular circular structure, was built up between the XI and XII centuries. In the inside, much evocative, marks its magnificent grave of about the 1300 of bishop
Berardo Maggi. The Palace of the
Broletto is the most ancient public palace of the city; in communal age it was center of the civic magistracies and from the XV to XVIII centuries ti was residence of the venete authorities. It occupies an entire one isolated with an immense central court: three sides still conserve the medieval aspect, while the solemn arcade to north date back to the beginning of the ' 600. Currently the building accommodates the
Prefettura, a place of Police, the Provincial Administration and communal offices.
Public Square of the Loggia
The most beautiful public square of the city opened in 1433. It is dominated from the huge building of the
Loggia of the Reinaissance which was begun in 1492 and completed in the advanced part in 1570 with participations of
Jacopo Sansovino and
Andrea Palladio. The rich sculptural ornaments are of classical inspiration. At the south side of the public square there are the magnificent fronts of Mounts of Mercy (with the Turistic Information Office) of XV and XVI centuries, in which were inserted roman constituents registrations of stone. Above the oriental arcade , there is a great astronomical clock of the V century with the two automatons that strike the hours.
Public Square of the Forum
It was the religious and commercial center of
Brescia in roman age. In the northern part of the square appeared the
Capitolino temple, the old
Basilica (court), and two other colonnades with back shops. Today the Roman remains, the noble palaces and the old houses composes an urban environment of great suggestion. The
Capitolino Temple or Capitolium was built by the emperator
Vespasiano between 73 and 74 d.c. and it closed at north the Forum of the old Brixia. Between the IV and V centuries the temple was partially destroyed by an arson. From 1939 onwards it assumed the actual aspect. Inside of the three rooms there is a rich collection of epigraphs, commemorative roman graves from the province of
Brescia. The archeologic materials of the ex Roman Museum are shown at the new Museum of Saint
Giulia.
Martinengo Palace appeares on the square of the Forum and on the Museums street. It was composed of more buildings. The front, ended in 1663, presents two monumental doors with the coat of arms of the families of
Martinengo Cesaresco; the front of the VII century is make important by a door with two eagles that are under the balcony. The background of the courtyard with the fountain of
Nettuno is enriched by the statue of
Cesare IV Martinengo, who sponsored the palace. Today the imposing building, in part property of the Provincial Administration, is used as centre of culture and art expositions.
Church of Saint Francesco d’Assisi
One of the beautiful churches of Italy, typically Franciscan conserve the peace atmosphere and serenity in one simple and strict Roman style late. Finished in 1265, the basilican plant to three was erected second navate uniform from arches to sixth acute one resting on cylindrical pillars. The facade is to hut with a large one rosone centers them. To signal to the inside the antichi it frescoes medieval, the shovel of the greater altar of the 1515 of the
Romanino and evocative one
chiostro of the end of the '300.
The Castle
It rises on the
Cidneo hill which had been inhabited since the prehistory. In the Roman period a great temple rose here, whereas from the medieval period onward the top of the hill was fortified: the
Mirabella Tower, the
Mastio Visconteo were built and during the venetian domination the Bastions and the Warehouses. After have crossed the XVI century entrance, once a drawbridge, it is possible to enter in the panoramic gardens and in two museums: The
Risorgimento’s Museum, in the Big Millet, shows relics and documents of the Risorgimental period, interesting works of storical painting and portraits; The Weapons’ Museum, in the
Mastio Visconteo, on the top of the fortress, is considered one of the first in Europe; it picks ancient weapons and armours, narrowly bound with the story of the local economy, in the period between the XVI and XVII centuries. Between the numerous pieces shown, some armours and shelds of precious manifacture are important to be pointed out.
Church of Saint Maria of the Carmine
It was begun in 1429 and was finished in fifty years. The monumental facade, in view bricks, crowned by slenders pinnacles in clay. The wonderful door is surmounted by a half-moon with the “Annunciation” painted by
Floriano Ferramola. Inside, between the numerous works of art, the group of the “Lamented of Christ dead” has to be admired: the statues of tragic intensity, in policrom clay, are a masterpiece of a lombardian or emilian master of the XVI century. Three cloisters adiacent to the church belong to the monumental complex, next become centre of the Library of the University of Studies of
Brescia.
Monument to the X Days
The origin of the work dates back to the vote expressed by
Vittorio Emanuele II on the 19 June 1859, during his visit to the Castle, as a signal to commemorate the heroic deeds of wich the city had been theatre only ten years before.
Giovanni Battista Lombardi (Rezzato, 1823-1880) was charged of the project and on the 20 August 1864 there was the solemn inauguration in the place where once the column with the Lion of Saint
Marco rose that was knocked down by the Giacobians in 1797. The statue which is known to the brescians as the “Beautiful of Italy”, represents the Nation that crowns the martyrs of the 1849. Particularry valuable the small bas-relief of the base, that represents epic moments of the X Days. In origin the monumental complex had been protected by a valuable lock in beaten iron, a sort of great chain that prevented people approaching excessively to the monument that was eliminated later. Numerous imagines of that period still exist which document that closing.
Monument to SS Faustino and Giovita
The monument dedicated to the SS
Faustino and
Giovita is on the
Avogadro Street, the arterial road of the city, that from the Large Square
Arnoldo takes to the Castle. On this side of the munument there is a precious bas-relief which represents the two Saints patrons of the city. On the opposite side of the the monument, the side which looks towards the very frequented
Turati Street, there is a second bas-relief, about of the same dimension of the first, which was realized on a marble plate of
Botticino, representing the two Saints patrons with weapons. Also this representetion symbolizes the request advanced by the citizens of Brescia to avert the imminent and immanent dangers of the X Days. In the most dramatic moments in the struggle, the two Saints were invoked, as give evidence some writings of the period, to protect the city. The hope of the popular faith was perhaps that they will have risen again on the walls to stop the hostile bullets, as for the believed apparition during the ancient siege of the
NicolòPiccinino’s troops on the 13 December 1438.
