Brescia

Brescia, a city of Italy, in Lombardy, 51 miles E. of Milan by rail. It is romantically situated on the rivers Mella and Garza, in a wide fertile plain, at the base of several hills, on the summit of one of which is an old castle formerly known as the Falcon of Lombardy. The city is for the most part regularly built, and besides two cathedrals—the old (dating from the 7th century), and the new (1604-1825)—it has numerous ancient churches, and the Tosi Gallery or Town Museum, adorned with pictures and frescoes, including many by masters of the Venetian school. The old Broletto Palace dates from the 12th century. A valuable public library, the Biblioteca Quirriniana, was founded and nobly endowed in 1750 by Cardinal Quirini; it contains 40,000 volumes, with many rare manuscripts. The Temple of Hercules, built by Vespasian, and excavated in 1822, forms a repository for classical antiquities. The cemetery, founded in 1810, is regarded as the finest in Italy. A statue of Arnold (q.v.) of Brescia was unveiled in 1882. Brescia has manufactures of woollens, silk, leather, paper, arms, cutlery, &c., and its wine is of good quality. Brescia, whose old name was Brixia, is supposed to have been founded by the Etruscans; it was a town of the Cenomani, and its inhabitants were allied with the Romans when Hannibal crossed the Alps. It was captured by the Huns, and passed through the hands of Lombards, Charlemagne, the Franks, the Germans, and was taken by the French under Gaston de Foix in 1512. The republic of Venice held it till its own downfall in 1797. In March 1849, Brescia, as the only important town opposed to Austrian rule in Lombardy, was besieged by Haynau, and forced to capitulate. The city and province were incorporated with the kingdom of Italy after the war of 1859. Pop. (1892) 66,500.