Brescia

Prosperous and lively, Brescia is Lombardy’s second biggest city, a university town with a modern business area (Brescia Due). Located between two of Italy’s most famous lakes, Lake Garda and Lake Iseo, Brescia is often overlooked by visitors who bypass the city itself and head straight to the undeniably beautiful lakes. A great pity, as Brescia boasts one of the most beautiful historic centres in the region, and some of the best Roman and Lombard remains in northern Italy.

Since the beginning of the XX century, in the presence of vigorous industrial growth, the city has been expanding. The demolition of the city walls, which began towards the end of the previous century and the urbanization of the green areas which separated the old city centre from outlying villages, destroyed the original conformation of the town. The wide ring roads, built where the walls once stood, connect the different districts and ease the traffic in the town, which still has a historic city centre quite different from the newer parts.