40 m. W. of Verona by rail. Pop. (1901) town,
42,495; commune, 72,731. The plan of the city is rectangular, and the
streets intersect at right angles, a peculiarity handed down from Roman
times, though the area enclosed by the medieval walls is larger than that
of the Roman town, which occupied the eastern portion of the present one.
The Piazza del Museo marks the site of the forum, and the museum on its
north side is ensconced in a Corinthian temple with three _cellae_, by some
attributed to Hercules, but more probably the Capitolium of the city,
erected by Vespasian in A.D. 73 (if the inscription really belongs to the
building; cf. Th. Mommsen in _Corp. Inscrip. Lat._ v. No. 4312, Berlin,
1872), and excavated in 1823. It contains a famous bronze statue of
Victory, found in 1826. Scanty remains of a building on the south side of
the forum, called the _curia_, but which may be a basilica, and of the
theatre, on the east of the temple, still exist.

Brescia contains many interesting medieval buildings. The castle, at the
north-east angle of the town, commands a fine view. It is now a military
prison. The old cathedral is a round domed structure of the 10th (?)
century erected over an early Christian basilica, which has forty-two
ancient columns; and the Broletto, adjoining the new cathedral (a building
of 1604) on the north, is a massive building of the 12th and 13th centuries
(the original town hall, now the prefecture and law courts), with a lofty
tower. There are also remains of the convent of S. Salvatore, founded by
Desiderius, king of Lombardy, including three churches, two of which now
contain the fine medieval museum, which possesses good ivories. The church
of S. Francesco has a Gothic facade and cloisters. There are also some good
Renaissance palaces and other buildings, including the Municipio, begun in
1492 and completed by Jacopo Sansovino in 1554-1574. This is a magnificent
structure, with fine ornamentation. The church of S. Maria dei Miracoli
(1488-1523) is also noteworthy for its general effect and for the richness
of its details, especially of the reliefs on the facade. Many other
churches, and the picture gallery (Galleria Martinengo), contain fine works
of the painters of the Brescian school, Alessandro Bonvicino (generally
known as Moretto), Girolamo Romanino and Moretto's pupil, Giovanni Battista
Moroni. The Biblioteca Queriniana contains early MSS., a 14th-century MS.
of Dante, &c., and some rare inc