Brescia is a Lombard city located between the lakes Lago di Garda and Lago d’Iseo. It is a city that was founded in pre-Roman times, and which in 89 BC. became a Roman city named Brixia. The Romans expanded Brixia with temples, a forum, a theater and other structures that made the city characteristically Roman, of which you can see finely preserved remains today.

In the 560s, Brescia was conquered by the northern Italian Lombards, who established a duchy with its seat in the city. Later, power in the city changed, and under Emperor Louis II, Brescia was considered the Holy Roman capital in the years 855-875. The changes of power continued for many centuries before Brescia became subject to Venice and then became part of modern Italy.

Today there are many sights in Brescia, where you can take some lovely walks in the old town. You will find beautiful squares, cozy streets and many interesting buildings from large parts of the city’s history in the area. Among other things, there is much to see from Brescia’s Roman era, which, together with the monastery complex of San Salvatore-Santa Giulia, has been included in UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritage.

You can walk to the preserved parts of the Roman Forum, located as an archaeological complex with some of Northern Italy’s best preserved public Roman buildings. You can see the Capitolium, which was the primary temple in the Roman city. The temple was built in the year 73, and from the same period you can see the Roman theatre, which originally had room for 15,000 spectators.

Close to ancient Brescia, you can visit Brescia’s castle, Castello di Brescia, and the Museo di Santa Giulia, housed in the San Salvatore-Santa Giulia monastery. At the museum you can explore a large collection of works of art and archaeological finds as well as the buildings themselves. In the complex are the churches of Basilica di San Salvatore, Chiesa di Santa Maria in Solario and Chiesa di Santa Giulia, which date from different centuries, and they are all worth seeing.

On a stroll you should also look at the square Piazza della Loggia, where the town hall Palazzo della Loggio from the 15th and 16th centuries is located. This is also where the Torre dell’Orologio tower with the city’s famous astronomical clock from the 16th century stands. From here you can go to Piazza Paolo VI, where Brescia’s two cathedrals are located: Duomo Vecchio and Duomo Nuovo. Next to the cathedrals you can see the Palazzo del Broletto, which is the city’s old town hall from the 12th-13th centuries.

A short walk from the cathedrals, the square Piazza della Vittoria was created from 1927 to 1932, which stands in rationalistic contrast to the rest of the old town. It was the architect Marcello Piacentini who designed the square in contemporary architecture. To the north are the post office and the Torre della Rivoluzione, while the Torrione INA stands to the west. Torrione INA was built 1930-1932 as Italy’s first skyscraper.

There are many other buildings worth seeing in Brescia, and it is also worth a trip to visit the Cimitero Monumentale di Brescia, a neoclassical monumental cemetery built by the architect Rodolfo Vantini from 1813. The central element is the 60-meter-high lighthouse Il Faro from 1870. The lighthouse also provided inspiration for Johann Heinrich Strack’s design of the Siegessäule in Berlin.