Brescia Walking Tour of Must-Visit Brescia Sights

Brescia is a vibrant little Northern Italian city in the region of Lombardy. Once the Roman city of Brixia, it’s now a living-breathing-working town with a handsome historic centre boasting busy pedestrian-only shopping thoroughfares and lively interconnecting piazzas that are a delight to wander. There are also many splendid historic sights and atmospheric restaurants and bars.

Brescia must be one of Northern Italy’s most underrated little cities and yet it’s also one of Italy’s most beautiful with remnants of Ancient Roman Brixia and an architectural treasures, including an elegant loggia, an old Duomo and ‘new’ Duomo, the splendid Broletto, and a Visconti Castello, plus their ornate statuary, elaborate carvings and intricate details.

Located at the foot of the Italian Alps, Brescia is handily located between Milan and Verona if you’re travelling by train or between the Italian Lakes of Lake Como and Lake Garda if you’re doing an Italian Lakes road trip. And if you’re doing that drive in the busy summer season, Brescia provides a brilliant escape from the crowds.

While Brescia is a centre for industry and commerce, Brescia’s factories and warehouses are only visible on the drive in from the autostrada (freeway) – Brescia is a true hidden gem that gets by-passed by most travellers, even Italian travellers, who generally only visit on business.

Yet Brescia is one of Italy’s most vibrant cities, home to a multicultural population of immigrant workers from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It’s this gritty authenticity, ethno-Italian vibe, and lack of tourists that also makes Brescia so appealing and a visit here so refreshing.

This Brescia walking tour is part of a series of posts on Europe, starting with Italy, a country where we spent a lot of time over the years, for pleasure and work, researching, writing and photographing Italy travel guidebooks. Underrated Brescia was one of our favourite cities and these are Brescia’s must-visit sights easily visited on our walking itinerary.

Brescia Walking Tour Taking in Brescia’s Piazzas, Cathedrals and Roman Brixia

Our Brescia walking tour takes in Brescia’s must-see sights, from Brescia’s beautiful piazzas and splendid cathedrals to the remains of ancient Roman Brixia.

Brescia’s Piazzas

Our Brescia walking tour begins with Brescia’s piazzas and their historic cathedrals and handsome buildings, finely carved statues and cooling fountains.

Piazza della Vittoria

Brescia’s Piazza della Vittoria is as fine a piazza as any from which to begin to explore Brescia and starting here makes sense if you have a car, as there’s a public car park nearby. Piazza della Vittoria is surrounded by striking, colossal Novocento Italiano Fascist-era structures, including a monumental marble-striped post office.

Designed by Marcello Piacentini, the architect responsible for Rome’s impressive EUR district, Piazza della Vittoria is a must-visit for architecture and design buffs. Note the very cool off-centre clock on the white marble tower.

From Piazza della Vittoria, head north on Via Post to 15th-century Piazza Loggia, Brescia’s most attractive square.

Piazza Loggia

Piazza Loggia is home to the enormous, elegant Venetian Renaissance Palazzo della Loggia, a lovely spot to cool down on a summer’s day. Note the Roman stones embedded into the building on the square’s southern side, where the tourist office is.

The Torre dell’Orologio was inspired by Venice’s campanile in Piazza San Marco. Below the clocktower you’ll note a memorial to eight people killed, and a hundred-odd injured here, in the 1974 fascist bombing of a trade union rally. You can also see some damage to the pillar near where the rubbish bin was that the bomb was left in.

Note that the tiny lanes immediately north of Piazza della Loggia are interesting and worth a detour. The area is home to Brescia’s immigrant population. Corso Mameli is crammed with shops, delis, cafés and bars, there’s a cheap clothes market on Piazza Rovetta, while Contrada del Carmine is the city’s old red light district. Save this for later or return to Piazza della Loggia, when you’re done.

Back on Piazza della Loggia, take the bustling passage immediately east, Via Dieci Giornate (note the delicatessens under the arcades), to Piazza Papa Paolo VI, formerly Piazza del Duomo.

Alternatively, take the slightly longer and more interesting way around to the piazza through the medieval tower-gate of Porta Bruciata, in the northeast corner of the square, to Via del Musei, an atmospheric street.

There are several characterful restaurants here and along Via Beccaria, where there are also buzzy bars, which leads down to Piazza Papa Paolo VI. There are also good cafés and eateries on and around Piazzetta Tito Speri. See our Where to Stay, Eat and Drink in Brescia for tips. For now, head down to Piazza Papa Paolo VI.

Piazza Papa Paolo VI

Named after the Brescian-born Pope Paul VI (1897-1978), Piazza Papa Paolo VI is a picturesque square that’s presided over by the splendid 13th-century Broletto, still a working administrative centre, with a wonderful courtyard that’s worth wandering into to admire its carved reliefs and frescoes, and two Duomos (cathedrals).

Brescia’s Cathedrals

Brescia’s two main cathedrals are the Duomo Nuovo (New Cathedral) and squat Duomo Vecchio (Old Cathedral).

Duomo Nuovo

Rather unusually for Italian towns where a new church is normally built upon an old one, or reconstructed using materials of the former, the enormous Duomo Nuovo (New Cathedral) and squat Duomo Vecchio (Old Cathedral) sit side by side.

The old church is dwarfed by the imposing ‘new’ 17th century cathedral, which took 200 years to be built – which many locals argue was 200 years too long. The exterior has a restrained Late Renaissance façade with minimal ornamentation other than some elegant statues and carvings.

The interior of Duomo Nuovo hosts the tomb of Sant Apollonio, notable paintings and sculptures, and an enormous 80m-high 19th-century cupola, the third largest in Italy.

Duomo Vecchio

Many find the Old Cathedral, also called the Rotonda, far more intriguing than its neighbour. As Duomo Vecchio is sunk slightly below piazza level, the fine Romanesque structure and features of the circular 11th-century church aren’t easily appreciated.

Built on top of an early Christian basilica, which in turn was established upon Roman baths (viewed beneath glass inside), Duomo Vecchio houses the 13th-century red-marble tomb of Berardo Maggi, Bishop of Brescia, and fine medieval paintings.

The level you enter at was the matroneum, a prayer gallery reserved for women only. The dress code is strictly adhered to here too, so dress modestly.

The Broletto

One distinctive aspect of Northern Italian Gothic public architecture was the broletto, a splendid brick structure featuring spacious halls for meetings and inner courtyards or lower loggias for public gatherings. This was because most were constructed as town halls or administrative buildings.

Often decorated with frescoes and reliefs, you’ll notice that this type of Gothic architecture is very different to Gothic architecture in England or France, with rounded arches instead of pointed ones, for example – a practical concern considering the materials used, as well as a carry-over of tradition from the Romanesque era.

It was also very different to more traditional Italian Gothic architecture, such as the Duomo in Milan, which was more influenced by the Germanic Gothic style. Besides Brescia, there are fine examples of this genre of architecture in Como and Milan, with a particularly wonderful example of a broletto in the main square of Orta San Giulio.

You can exit Piazza Papa Paolo VI on the opposite side of the Broletto and turn left onto Via Mazzini to meet back up with Via dei Musei to take in Roman Brixia, and on the hill overlooking it, the Castello.

Il Castello

Overlooking Brescia’s remains of Roman Brixia, and once an early Roman site itself, written about by the ancient poet Catullus (and before that a bronze Age settlement), the 14th century Visconti castle is accessed from Via dei Musei via a lane that winds up to the wooded Cydnean Hill.

Adapted by the Venetians, French and Austrians, the fortress’ myriad drawbridges, ramparts, towers and courtyards are a mishmash of military styles with its most impressive structure being an imposing keep with a 22m high cylindrical tower, dating to the 13th century, known as the ‘Mirabella’.

While the castle’s labyrinth of rooms and passages house several small decent museums dedicated to weaponry, astronomy and the Italian Risorgimento, the best thing to do is simply enjoy the views and a picnic in the surrounding forested parkland. Via del Castello 9, Cidneo Hill

Roman Brixia

Remains of the important Roman city of Brixia, designated Colonia Civica Augusta in 27BC, are still in evidence in Brescia today.

Decumanus Maximus

You can begin a walk along the ancient Roman main east-west street, which is now Via dei Musei, beginning from Brescia’s Broletto.

Roman Forum

Brescia’s Piazza del Foro was built over the ancient centre of Brixia, the Roman Forum, thought to have been much larger in its day

Tempio Capitolino

The towering marble columns of the Capitolium, a partly-reconstructed Roman temple, built in 73AD by Emperor Vespasian, still stand and can be visited at Via Musei 55. The brick parts are from the reconstruction in 1939.

Teatro Romano

Frescoes from an older temple have been found at this partially excavated Roman amphitheatre just past Tempio Capitolino on the left.

Mosaic Floors from Roman Villas

Well-preserved mosaics are on display in the Museo della Città (Museo di Santa Giulia, Via Musei) along with other archaeological finds from Brixia.

Also see our guide to where to stay, eat and drink in Brescia.

If you’re heading to Verona, see our Verona walking tour.

Near Brescia – Franciacorta Wine Route

The Strada del Vina Franciacorta or Franciacorta Wine Route is a wine drive through the wonderful Franciacorta wine region between Brescia and Lake d’Iseo; look for the brown tourist signs.

For a tiny growing region, Franciacorta wines really pack a punch well above their weight. While wine has been made here for many centuries and was praised by Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79), it wasn’t until the 1960s when sparkling wines using the méthode champenoise were released that the area near Brescia became known internationally.

Since 1995, only the sparkling wines are Franciacorta DOCG, while the still wines qualify as DOC Terre di Franciacorta. The sparking wines are made from Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Gris grapes, and there is a sparkling Rosato (Rosé) as well.

The still wines are quite French in approach, with a Burgundy-style white based on Chardonnay or Pinot Bianco, or a blend, and a Bordeaux-style red made with Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc, with some local Nebbiolo and Barbera grapes in the mix.

Given that many of the producers are wealthy part-time winemakers based in Milan and Brescia they appreciate quality more than chasing the quick money (and long-term image problems) that come from producing cheap wines, so the quality of the wines is outstanding. Labels to look out for: Bellavista, Ca del Bosco and Cavalleri.

Travel Tips to Getting to and Around Cities in Europe

Travelling in Europe in summer can be chaotic, so as soon as you book your flights, buy travel insurance so you’re covered in case of flight cancellations, missed connections and lost luggage
For moving between many cities, either rent a car and do a road trip especially if the route between cities is scenic, to use the generally excellent European trains which will always be our preference over planes.
For getting to islands, either ferry or low-cost flights are your best bet.
We recommend Klook for buying European train tickets, ferry tickets, bus tickets, and flights.
Keep in mind that during the European summer accommodation can be booked out months in advance, so book accommodation as soon as you book flights. Grand hotels and B&Bs can be atmospheric but if you’re staying for more than a few days consider holiday rentals, whether apartment rentals or beach houses.
We like both Klook (link above) and Get Your Guide for booking local tours and hiring guides, as well as tickets to attractions, after-hours museum tickets, cruises, and so on.