Brescia

Sister cities

• Shenzhen
• Logroño
• Bethlehem
• Troyes
• Makhachkala
• Darmstadt
• Pescara
• Kaunas
• Biancavilla
• Bouaké
• Toluca de Lerdo
• Maringá

History

Various myths relate to the founding of Brescia: one assigns it to Hercules, while another attributes its foundation as ("the other Ilium") by a fugitive from the siege of Troy. According to another myth, the founder was the king of the Ligures, Cidnus, who had invaded the Padan Plain in the late Bronze Age. (Cidnus's Hill) was named after that version, and it is the site of the medieval castle. This myth seems to have a grain of truth, because recent archaeological excavations have unearthed remains of a settlement dating back to 1,200 BC that scholars presume to have been built and inhabited by Ligures peoples. Others scholars attribute the founding of Brescia to the Etruscans. The Gallic Cenomani, allies of the Insubres, invaded in the 7th century BC, and used the town as their capital. The city became Roman in 225 BC, when the Cenomani submitted to the Romans. During the Carthaginian Wars, 'Brixia' (as it was called then) was allied with the Romans. During a Celtic alliance against Rome the city remained faithful to the Romans. With their Roman allies the city attacked and destroyed the Insubres by surprise. Subsequently, the city and the tribe entered the Roman world peacefully as faithful allies, maintaining a certain administrative freedom. In 89 BC, Brixia was recognized as ("city"), and in 41 BC, 48 years later, its inhabitants finally received Roman citizenship. Augustus founded a civil (not military) colony there in 27 BC, and he and Tiberius constructed an aqueduct to supply it. Roman Brixia had at least three temples, an aqueduct, a theatre, a forum with another temple built under Vespasianus, and some baths. As Constantine I advanced against Maxentius in AD 312, an engagement took place at Brixia in which the…

Geography

Brescia is located in the northwestern section of the Po Valley, at the foot of the Brescian Prealps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with the Lake Iseo to the west and the Lake Garda to the east (but it has also other important lakes like Idro and Moro). The southern area of the city is flat, while towards the north the territory becomes hilly. The city's lowest point is above sea level, the highest point is Monte Maddalena at , while the centre of the town is . The administrative comune covers a total area of . Modern Brescia has a central area focused on residential and tertiary activities. Around the city proper, lies a vast urban agglomeration with over 600,000 inhabitants that expands mainly to the north, to the west and to the east, engulfing many communes in a continuous urban landscape. According to the Köppen climate classification, Brescia has a mid-latitude humid subtropical climate (Cfa). Its average annual temperature is : during the day and at night. The warmest months are June, July, and August, with high temperatures from . The coldest are December, January, and February, with low temperatures from . Winter is moderately cold, but not harsh, with some snow, mainly occurs from December through February, but snow cover does not usually remain for long. Summer can be sultry, when humidity levels are high and peak temperatures can reach . Spring and autumn are generally pleasant, with temperatures ranging between . The relative humidity is high throughout the year, especially in winter when it causes fog, mainly from dusk until late morning, although the phenomenon has become increasingly less frequent in recent years. Precipitation is spread evenly throughout the year. The driest month is December, with precipitation of , while the wettest…

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,080
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  946
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  880
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  872
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  822
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  800
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  774
• Great Cormorant/European Shag

  Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  704

Most recent

• M 3.2 — 2026-01-09
  4 km N of Gargnano, Italy
• M 3 — 2025-10-03
  1 km SE of Montescano, Italy
• M 2.7 — 2025-05-20
  2 km NE of Besenello, Italy
• M 3 — 2024-05-22
  1 km N of Collecchio, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2024-02-17
  3 km SE of Basilicanova, Italy
• M 4.2 — 2024-02-09
  1 km ENE of Pilastro, Italy