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Old and New Cathedral
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Brescia
The ancient city of Brixia, Brescia has been an important
regional center since pre-Roman times and a number of Roman and medieval
monuments are preserved, among which is the prominent castle.
The city is at the center of the third-largest Italian
industrial area, concentrating on mechanical and automotive engineering and
machine tools. Its companies are typically small or medium- sized
enterprises, often with family managements. The financial sector is also a
major employer, and the tourist industry is important as well, given the
proximity of Lake Garda, Lake Iseo and the Alps.
Ancient history
Different mythological versions of the foundation of Brescia exist: one
assign it to
Hercules,
while another says that it was created as Altilia ("the other Ilium")
by a fugitive from the siege of
Troy.
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According
to a further one, the founder was the king of the Ligures
Cidnus, who had invaded the Padan Plain
in the late
Bronze
Age. Other scholars attribute the foundation to the
Etruscans.
Invaded by the
Gauls
Cenomani, allied of the
Insubri, in the
4th century BCE, it became their capital. During the
Carthaginian Wars Brixia was usually allied of the Romans:
in 202 BCE
it was part of a Celt confederation against them, but, after a secret
agreement, changed side and attacked by surprise the Insubri, destroying
them. Subsequently the city and the tribe entered peacefully in the Roman
world as a faithful allied, mantaining a certain administrative freedom.
In 89 BCE it was recognized as civitas ("city") and in
41 BCE received the Roman citizenship. The Roman Brixia had at least three temples,
an aqueduct, an amphitheater, a forum with a further temple built under
Vespasianus, and some baths.
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Foro Romano
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When
Constantine advanced against
Maxentius
in 312, an engagement took place at Brescia in which the enemy was forced to
retreat as far as
Verona. In
402 the city was ravaged by the
Visigoths
of
Alarich I. During the invasion of the
Huns under
Attila, the
city was again besieged and sacked (452) while, some forty years later, it
was one of the first conquests of the Goth general
Teoderich the Great in his war against
Odoacer.
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Medieval history
In 568 or 569 Brescia was occupied by the
Lombards,
who made it the capital of one of their semi-independent duchies. First duke
was one Alachis, who died in 573. Later dukes included the future king Rotharis
and Rodoald,
and Alachis II, a fervent anti-Catholic who was killed in the batte of
Cornate d'Adda (688).
The last king of the Lombard, Desiderius, had been also duke of Brescia. In 774
Charlemagne captured the city and ended the existence of the Lombard
kingdom in northern Italy.
Notingus was the first (prince-)bishop (in 844) who bore
the title of
Count (see
Bishopric of Brescia). Later the power of the bishop as imperial
representative was gradually defied by the local citizens and nobles,
Brescia becoming a free commune around the early 12th century.
Subsequently
it expanded in the nearby countryside, first at the expenses of the local
landholders, and later against the neighboring communes, notably Bergamo
and Cremona.
Brescia defeated the latter two times at Pontoglio,
and then at the Grumore (mid-12th century) and in the battle of the
Malamorte (1192).
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In the successive struggles between the Lombard cities and
the emperors, Brescia was implicated in some of the leagues and in all of
the uprisings against them. In the
Battle of Legnano the contingent from Brescia was the second in size
after that of
Milan. The
Peace of Constance (1183) that ended the war with
Frederick Barbarossa confirmed officially the free status of the
commune. Memorable is also the
siege laid to Brescia by the emperor
Frederick II in 1238 on account of the part taken by this city in the
battle of Cortenova (27
November 1237).
Brescia came through this assault victorious. After the fall of the
Hohenstaufen, republican institutions declined at Brescia as in the
other free cities and the leadership was contested between powerful
families, chief among them the Maggi and the Brusati, the latter of the
(pro-imperial, anti-papal)
Ghibelline party.
In 1311
Emperor Henry VII laid siege to Brescia for six months, losing
three-fourths of his army. Later the
Scaligeri
of Verona, aided by the exiled Ghibellines, sought to place Brescia under
subjection. The citizens of Brescia then recoursed to John of Luxemburg, but
Mastino II della Scala expelled the governor appointed by him.
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His
mastery was soon contested by the Visconti of Milan, but not even their rule
was undisputed, as Pandolfo Malatesta in 1406 took possession of the city, but in 1416
bartered it to
Filippo Maria Visconti, who in 1426 sold it to the Venetians.
The
Milanese nobles forced Filippo to resume hostilities against the Venetians,
and thus to attempt the recovery of this city, but he was defeated in the
battle of
Maclodio (1427), near Brescia. In 1439 Brescia was once more besieged by
Francesco Sforza, captain of the Venetians, who defeated
Niccolò Piccinino, Filippo's
condottiero. Thenceforward Brescia acknowledged the authority of Venice,
with the exception of the years between 1512 and 1520, when it was occupied
by the French armies. It subsequently shared the fortunes of the Venetian
republic until 1796.
Modern history
After the end of the
Napoleonic
era, Brescia was annexed to the Austrian puppet state called
Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. It distinguished for the revolt called the
Ten Days of Brescia (march 1849), for which the poet
Giosuè Carducci called it "Leonessa d'Italia" ("Italian Lionesse").
Brescia was annexed to Italy in 1859.
The city was awarded a Gold Medal for its resistance against Fascism, in
the late
World War II.
On May 28,
1974, it was
the seat of the bloody
Piazza della Loggia bombing.
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Piazza della Loggia - Photo (c)
AG
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Main sights
- Piazza della Loggia, an noteworthy example of
Renaissance piazza, with the omonymous loggia built in 1492 by
the architect Filippino de' Grassi.
- The Duomo Vecchio ("Old Cathedral"), erected
in the 11th century and containing works by Palma the Younger,
Alessandro Bonvicino, Romanino and others.
- The Duomo Nuovo ("New Cathedral"). The main
attractions is the Arch of Sts. Apollonius and Filastrius (1510).
- The Broletto, formerly the Town Hall.
- In Piazza del Foro is the most important array of
Roman remains in Lombardy. These include the Capitoline Temple,
built by Vespasianus in 73 CE.
- The Basilica of San Salvatore, dating from the
Lombard age but later renovated several times. It is one of the best
example of High Middle Ages architecture in northern Italy.
- Santa Maria dei Miracoli, with a fine façade
decorated with bas-reliefs and a Renaissance peristilium.
- The Romanesque-Gothic church of St. Francis.
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
All text above is available under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License. (See
Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Brescia Province
The presence of the lakes in the eastern zone of the territory provides for a specially moderate climate,
notwithstanding the latitude and allows the
cultivation of vines, olive-trees and citrus fruits, specially on the
shore of Garda Lake; it achieves a dainty and renowned production of wines (Franciacorta,
Classic Garda, Lugana, San Martino of the Battaglia) and of extra-virgin
olive-oil (Oil of Garda DOP) that are accompanied with the other products
and typical dishes: cheeses, cold cuts, polenta, casoncelli (ravioli with
different stuffed from zone at zone), fish of fresh water, frogs and snails.
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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