Publication: Sunday lndependent (Dublin)

Date: 22/11/2015

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Type: National Weekly . [ Southern lreland ]

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TRAVEL

MAGICAL ITALY: Off the usual tourist trail, Brescia has lots of cafes and shops and places to see. It is a campact and easily navigated city

BRFSCIA Anna C-Oogan

W could say Brescia in

Northern Italy is a middle cltild, stuck as it is between the better known cities of Milan and Veona on the map. And no

doubt it hopes its time ofbeing overshadowed has been relegated to the past following its monastic complex of San Salvatore - Santa Giulia being registered on the Unesco World Heritage Llst in 2011.

Ta.ke that high fashion and Romeo and Juliet ....

I flew into Bergamo just outside Milan, and after a 4-0-minute journey by car I was in the heart of Brescia city, and deposited at the art nouveau style Hotel Vittoria, and into a cool (both style and temperature) bedroom with parquet flooring and chandelier hanging over my bed.

l'm in town primarily to check out the Unesco-blessed Santa Giulia Museum and Roman archaeological area, which turns out to be a short distance from the hotel -as are lots of cafes and shops. Brescia turns out to be a compact and easily navigated city.

The museum is housed in the forrner Benedictine monastery of San Salvatore and Santa Giulia, which was founded in 753 by Desiderius, who was Duke and later king of the Lombards. It's where his daughter Desiderata, the wife of Charlemagne, King of France, spent her exile after the annulment of her marriage in 771.

There's a huge amount to see here, and the many high!ights include The Nun's Choir, which was built in the late 15th century and has a grill through which the enclosed nuns could look into the chapel without being seen themselves.

It has stunning and joyous religious frescoes (why does God alw,zys look so happy in Italy?) which are attributed to the artists Floriano Ferramola and Paolo da Caylina.

Other memorable pieces of architecture are the gigantic columns of the Capitolium, which were built by the emperor Vespasian

in AD 73 as a re!igious site and as the centre of ancient Brescia. I learned a Capitolium is a tempie which has three parts, dedicated to the guds Jupiter, Minerva, and Juno.

The Wnged Vctory is a stop-in-yourtracks bronze statue which dates baci< to the third century BC in Greece, and which was reworked in the first century AD during the Roman Imperia! period. It was found in 1826 near the Capitolium in Brescia.

In fa.et, it's too much history to take in in one afternoon, and I would recommend that you spend a bit more time doing the rounds here. After a while it was hard to remember which preserved bits belonged to which century.

Before heading to the museum area we had a 'light' lunch in Hotel Vittoria, of meatfilled ravioli and grilled chicken with tasty potatoes roasted in garlic and rosemary. The following day our 'light' lunch was at Taverna Mille Miglia, and consisted ofpolenta, which is boiled cornmeal (I didn't know) and a plate of creamy risotto.

Our guide explained that such traditional 'light' lunches are mostly served by older generations these days. Yet when in Brescia, be prepared to do what the Brescians do and eat lots of tasty carbohydrates, as they were plentiful at dinner too.

We also visited the Museum Mille Miglia -one of the most popular tourist destinations in the area- and which is a museum dedicated to the open-road car race of the same name - the Mille Miglia which ran from Brescia to Rome and baci< again every year from 1927 to 1957.

Since 1977, the Mille Miglia has been taking piace every May and it is now a race for classic and vintage cars.

I bave zero interest in cars but thoroughly enjoyed this tour of a museum which is home

" The poKitwning qf a parasol over- ane

shoukler indicated an inter-est in a man "

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to many beautiful vintage cars. I couldn't make up my mind which was the nicest. The large collection includes a Bentley Type R 1971, an Anlcar CGSS 1926, a Fiat 508 Balilla 1934, and a Bugatti Type 37A 1927.

Also located a short spin outside Brescia city is the Villa Mazzucchelli, which is an impressive Palladian-style house built bacl