Castle of Brescia, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy, Europe

The first settlements on the hill Cidneo date back to the Bronze Age, ninth century BC, but the very first building was a small temple dedicated to the Celtic god Bergimus. The real riorganizzamento of the hill can be attributed to the Romans at the end of the first century BC I inserted the perimeter within the city walls. Always by the Romans in the first century A.D. was erected a monumental temple which was almost perfectly match the size of the keep Visconti: you can still see the old bulkheads and foundations of the steps within this area. With the passage of time and with the advent of Christianity, the area of ​​Cidneo increasingly assumed the role of sacred area: construct a martyrium early Christian dedicated to St. Stephen, later replaced by a large basilica, which was demolished in the eighteenth century after the explosion of a powder magazine, which had severely damaged. The basilica remains today one of the two towers of the facade, known as the Torre Mirabella, probably built in turn on a stair tower from Roman times. During the Middle Ages the news about the area are becoming increasingly rare, but in the year one thousand then they continue to increase, although there are no comprehensive information about the fortifications built. Between 1237 and 1254 is made enlargement of the walls which gave the appearance that he would Brescia characterized until the end of the nineteenth century. During this period the area was dotted with Roman walls and full of religious buildings, also took place there many markets and fairs. During the domination of the Visconti, are operated massive renovation of the city defenses: in 1337 it was the birth of the Citadel Nova, a wall that starts from the castle embraced inside the buildings of the civil and ecclesiastical power in the city, the area the Broletto and Strut, which at the time were the Old Cathedral and the Cathedral of St. Peter de Sun The only evidence of this extensive renovation work has come down to the present day is Mastio, for residential the captain of the garrison with rooms decorated with polychrome bands and geometric and floral motifs, only partly preserved.