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Date: 22/11/2015

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32

Novemlrer 22 2015 SUNDAY INDEPENIIENT UVJNG

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

could say Brescia in

Northern Italy is a mid
dle cltild, stuck as it is be
tween the better known
cities of Milan and Ve
ona 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 ofcafes 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 ofCharlemagne, 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 fres
coes (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-your
tracks 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 meat
filled 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 ofthe 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

"

ThepoKitwning 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 Bres
cia city is the Villa Mazzucchelli, which is
an impressive Palladian-style house built
bacl<in the 17th century by Federico Mazzuc
chelli, a businessman and scholar, and com
pleted by his son Giammaria in the 18th
century.
Franca Meo is an Italian romantic novelist
and poet who had the good fortune to live in
the villa for some time, and who created a per
manent costume and fashion museum there.
There are displays of dresses dating from the
19th century right up to the styles ofthe 1960s,
1970s and 1980s, including pieces by Emanuel
Ungaro, Gianni Versace and Moschino.
There are lots of parasols and our guide
explained that women were forbidden to talk
to men in public baci< in the 19th centurY, and
so used parasols to communicate. Positioning a
parasol over one shoulder indicated an interest
in a gentleman, while holding it a certain way
told a passing man to keep guing.
We also visited the stunning Teatro Grande
in the heart of Brescia city, which was built in
the early 18th century and has been redesigned
alongthe way. It's the theatre where Puccini's
masterpiece Madame Butter;fty found fame
after being slammed in Milan, an experience
which forced the composer to totally rewrite
the opera. Our evening meals were in two locai
trattorias, where we ate with the locals - Os
teria Al Bianchi and Trattoria Porteri - and
the latter also has a deli to lose yourselfin and
has been run by the same familyfor 140 years.
Service was leisurely, with lots of time in
between courses, and so it seems that eating
at an unhurried pace is as much Italian as an
antipasto of cured meats, followed by plates
of pasta, and then by beef with vegetables,
which were served in both restaurants, and
were absolutely delicious.
Because Brescia is a little bit off the tourist
track, a guod command of English is not the
norm with locals. And speaking English in a
very slow voice doesn't cut the mustard at ali.
So do yourself a favour and have a few words
of Italian.

GETTING THERE

j
o

Milan

1
Il.ml

BRESCIA

- o

Verona

o!'

!b
o

Venice

Bologna

'

ANNA travelled with Brescia Tourlsm

(bresciatourism.lt). She stayed al Hotel Vittoria
(hotelviltoriacom). She visiled Santa Giulia
Museum (bresciamusei.com/santagiulia.asp),
and Brixia Archaeological Area (bresciamusei.
com/capitolium.asp). Her tourist guide was
Elisa Bassini (guidaartistica.com).
She visited Villa Mazzucchelli (villamazzuchelli.
il), Museo della Mille Miglia (museomillemiglia.
il), Teatro Grande (teatrogrande.il), and ate
al Trattoria Porteri (trattoriaporteri.com).
She flew with Ryanair (ryanair.com). Her car
transfer was with Stornati (stornati.com).

MEMORABLE: One memorable piece of

architetture in Brescia is the gigantic
columns of the capltollum, above, whlch
were built by the emperor Vespasian
in AD 73 as a religious site and as the

centre of ancient Brescia