Roman Brixia and the Santa Giulia museum
Brescia, the second largest city in Lombardy, hides one of the richest archaeological areas in northern Italy. Ancient Brixia was an important Roman city, and its monuments, together with the monastery of San Salvatore-Santa Giulia, are part of the UNESCO site "Longobards in Italy. Places of power".
The heart of the Roman city is the Capitolium, a temple built by Emperor Vespasian in AD 73, with its columns and restored cellae, beside the remains of the Roman theatre and the forum, now Piazza del Foro. Inside, an earlier Republican sanctuary preserves first century BC frescoes and floors in exceptional condition. In 1826 a famous bronze statue, the Winged Victory, was found here, a symbol of the city, now displayed in the Capitolium after restoration. A short walk away, the Museo di Santa Giulia, housed in a monastery founded in 753 by the Lombard king Desiderius, tells the history of the city from prehistory to the Renaissance, with Roman villas, the Lombard church of San Salvatore and the jewelled Cross of Desiderius.
Tip: the city centre also has the Old and New Cathedrals side by side and the Venetian-style Piazza della Loggia; the castle on the Cidneo hill offers great views.
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