More views of Brescia

Dwight Peck's personal website

Trento and Brescia, December 2013

A week's sightseeing in the Trentino-Alto Adige autonomous region and Brescia in Lombardy

You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

We've been over the Simplon Pass, made our way up along the river Adige to Trento, and taken in lots of the local attractions of the region. Now we've moved on to Brescia for a few days.

-- You make the salad, I'll throw on a couple of steaks, and we'll eat out on the patio.

Bike rentals near the Duomo Vecchio

The 11th century Old Cathedral in early evening

The circular interior, with an ambulatory running all the way round

At the front door, the pink marble sarcophagus of Berardo Maggi, Bishop of Brescia from 1275 to his death in 1308. He's still resting peacefully.

Views of the interior

Just behind the right pillar is the entrance down to the 9th-11th century crypt of San Filastrio

The crypt of San Filastrio, with columns taken from Roman ruins. St Philastrius was Bishop of Brescia from 377 to ca.397, a noted anti-heretic debater and friend of St Augustine, and his crypt remains from the basilica that preceded the present cathedral.

Kristin noticing odd things about the architecture of the arches

Complicated, and some of them seem to be shoring up others

For the contrast, we've stepped across to the 17th century Duomo Nuovo, which shouldn't detain us long.

Now we can say that we've seen it.

The Loggia by night (with its odd roof added in 1914)

The next day, an ambulance working its way through the crowds, happily with no siren blasting out

"I [heart] ICE".

Street scene: the Rua Sovera

A market in the Via Faustino

Kristin hunting for bargains in the Piazza Loggia

Southward on the Via X Giornate

Yikes. The Piazza della Vittoria and a monument to some sort of bygone Futurism

A memorial to the Ten Days of Brescia in 1849 -- the Dieci Giornate: "Brescia the Strong. Brescia, the Lion of Italy".

The Piazza della Vittoria was created in 1927-1932 after bulldozing an historic medieval quarter. The metro subway stop is there in the middle of this part of the L-shaped piazza.

When it's time to stock up on products of the terroir, find a Pam supermarket.

Street scene. Santa Maria del Carmine is peeking up over the roofs.

The interesting brick façade of the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, begun in 1429 and completed half a century later.

A sorry old lion, stuck onto the portal of Santa Maria del Carmine

Strange street scene

Another street market

Evidently an ethnic quarter -- a row of halal shops

In Brescia, city buses sometimes drive on the sidewalks.

The policeman and the kebab. The street markets are just closing up and getting back on the road.

We poked into this little vicolo to see where it went, and it didn't go anywhere.

We're just wandering lonely as a clod.

The sidewalk café culture

The restaurant Vasco da Gama -- our last night in town. Astonishing medievalish interiors and ambiance, decent food, iffy service at times. The police seem to be planning something down the street a ways.