12.3 



BRESCIA. 



BRESLAU. 



126 



of the great plain of Lombardy, and produces corn, rice, Indian corn, 

 flax, grass, and a great quantity of mulberry-trees. The land in this 

 part of the province is very carefully and skilfully irrigated. 



All through the province olive-oil is produced in less quantity than 

 formerly, the olive being supplanted by the mulberry, the produce of 

 which is constant, while that of the olive is abundant only in alternate 

 years. Within the last forty years the silk annually produced in ! 

 Brescia has increased from 1,900,000 Ibs. to above 3,000,000 Ibs., and 

 the quantity of oil has diminished from 400,000 Ibs. to 180,000 Ibs. 



Besides the Oglio, which skirts the province of Brescia to the west 

 and south, two rivers, the Mella and the Chiese, cross it from north 

 to south, and drain the two principal valleys of its northern division. 

 The Mella enters the Oglio near Ostiano ; the Chiese enters it below 

 Canneto. A canal issues out of the Chiese at Gavardo, passes close 

 to the town of Brescia, and enters the Oglio above Canneto, whence 

 the boats proceed by the Oglio into the Po. A steam-boat plies 

 between Riva and Desenzano, at the two opposite extremities of the 

 Lake ofGarda. 



The province is ordinarily administered by a delegate, each district 

 by a commissary, and each commune by a municipal officer called 

 ta. For the military there is a commandant at Brescia. For 

 judicial purposes there are civil, criminal, and mercantile courts, from 

 which there is an appeal to the superior courts at Milan. The eccle- 

 siastical jurisdiction is vested in the bishop of Brescia, Higher 

 instruction is afforded by the Lyceum and the gymnasium at Brescia, 

 the gymnasia of Desenzano and Sal6, the diocesan gymnasium and 

 seminary for clerical students, besides a college and several private 

 establishments authorised by the government. Female education is 

 given by the Ursuline nuns at Brescia, and by the nuns of St. Francis 

 de Sales at Sal5. For elementary education there are at least one 

 boys' and one girls' school in each of the 235 communes into which 

 the province is divided. 



Silk, linen, paper, leather, woollen and cotton goods, fire-arms, and 

 cutlery, are the most important manufactures of the province. The 

 minerals include iron (which is found in the Val Trompia), copper, 

 jasper, nlabnster, touchstone ; particles of gold are found in the Oglio. 



The province is traversed by the railway and electro-telegraphic 

 wires from Milan to Venice, but the section of the railroad that crosses 

 Brescia is not yet (December 1853) completed. The telegraphic wires 

 sweep round the head of the Adriatic from Venice to Udine and 

 Trieste, and thence to Vienna. 



The province of Brescia is divided into 17 districts and 235 com- 

 -. The chief town is Brescia, which is noticed in the next 

 article. [BRESCIA.] Among the other towns the following are the 

 most important : Bagolino, a small place, with 3500 inhabitants, iron- 

 works, and tan-yards, is 23 miles N". E. from Brescia. Cattenedolo, 6 miles 

 S. K. from Brescia, is a market-town, with a population of 4500. 

 Ctiiari, a town of 9000 inhabitants, is situated on the high road and 

 railway to Milan, 12 miles W. from Brescia. It is a well-built town, 

 with several churches and several silk and silk-twist factories. There 

 is a good trade in silk and cotton goods and in raw silk. The town 

 was formerly important as a fortress ; but its defences are now gone 

 to decay. Some Roman remains have been found here. Detenzano, 

 1 7 mile* E. by S. from Brescia, is situated at the south-western angle 

 of the Lago di Qarda, which here forms a small harbour for fishing 

 craft and the small steamers that ply on the lake. The town is 

 defended by an old castle built on a height above it. It has a con- 

 siderable commerce in corn, fish, &c., and about 3600 inhabitants. 

 Steamers ply to Riva at the northern end of the lake. To the east 

 of the town lies the promontory of Sermione, which, surmounted by 

 the castle built by the Scaligers, and by the remiins of an ancient 

 Roman palace (sometimes called the Villa of Catullus), forms a very 

 beautiful object from the lake. The western shore between Desenzano 

 ami Salo abounds in beautiful and picturesque scenery. Iteo, a small 

 town with 2000 inhabitants and extensive silk-works, is situated on 

 the southern shore of the beautiful lake of Iseo (which is named from 

 it), at a distance of 10 miles N.W. from Brescia. Lena, a market- 

 town to the south of Brescia, near the Mella, has 4000 inhabitants, 

 who manufacture silk, cotton, and linen. Lonalo, 16 miles E. by S. 

 from Brescia, and a few miles west from Desenzano, is a walled town, 

 defended also by a citadel. It is situated in a fine silk district and 

 has 6000 inhabitants. The principal church of Lonato is surmounted 

 by a noble dome. Montechari, 12 miles S.E. from Brescia, on the left 

 bank of the Chiese, has several silk-throwing establishments and 6000 

 inhabitants. In the environs is the plain of Monte Chari, in which 

 iry reviews are held annually. Orzinuovi, 20 mile* S.W. from 

 i, on the left bank of the Oglio, is a place of some trade, with 

 47'M) inhabitants. This town was formerly fortified. Ponterico, also 

 1 ..> left bank of the Oglio, is 20 miles S. from Brescia, having a 

 p'p|,iil:itirjn of above 5000. The town is defended by a citadel, and 

 has some trade in corn and wine. The Oglio becomes navigable for 

 baifceg at Pontevico. Rovato, between Brescia and C'hiari, has 

 uliai.itants and an old ruined castle. Timber, wroughtrsilk, tiles, 

 and ir'imii'rtigery, are the chief articles of trade in the town. Salo, 

 beautifully situated at the head of the Bay of Salo, an inlet of the 

 irrla, is 18 miles E.N.E. from Brescia, and has about 5000 

 The town is well built, part of it on piles. The town- 

 hall, the church of Ddme, and the hospital are the chief buildings. 



Mount San Bartolomeo rises above the town, and the neighbourhood 

 is all covered with plantations of olives, oranges, citrons, mulberries, 

 and vines. The chief articles of trade are wine, raw-silk, fruits, and 

 bleached linen thread, which is famous all over Italy. There are many 

 smaller towns of between 2000 and 3000 inhabitants each. 



BRE'SCIA (the Roman Brixia), the capital of the province of 

 Brescia, is situated on the Garza, in a plain between the river Mela, 

 or Mella, and the canal which joins the Chiese and the Oglio, in 

 45 32' N. lat., 10 13' E. long., and has, including the suburbs, 

 40,000 inhabitants. The city (which is described as it existed before 

 its late capture by the Austrians) is nearly square, surrounded by 

 walls, about four miles in circuit, and has a castle on a hill which is 

 inclosed within the walls in the north-east of the town. It is a well- 

 built town, has many fine churches embellished with numerous pictures 

 and frescoes by masters of the Venetian school, and by Moretto and 

 other native artists. The rotunda of the old cathedral was erected by 

 the Longobards in the 7th century. The new cathedral is a splendid 

 building ; it was commenced in 1604, but the cupola was finished 

 only in 1825. The dome of this church is the third in size in Italy. 

 The Broletto, or ancient Palace of the Republic, a vast brick structure, 

 surmounted by a deeply battlemented tower, and dating from the 

 latter end of the 12th century, forms with the two cathedrals one 

 side of the Piazza del Broletto. In the centre of the square is a statue 

 of an armed female, the allegorical representation of the city. The 

 town-house, the episcopal palace, and the palaces and picture galleries 

 of the nobility deserve mention. The public library, founded by 

 Cardinal Querini, a former bishop of Brescia, contains 90,000 volumes 

 and some rare manuscripts, including a copy of the Gospels written in 

 the 8th century. There are seventy-two public fountains in the streets 

 and squares, which are supplied with water from the hills in the 

 neighbourhood. Many ancient inscriptions and the remains of a 

 handsome temple have been found at Brescia. 



Brescia is the seat of a bishop, and of the governor of the province. 

 There are a lyceum, two gymnasia, a college, a valuable library, and 

 several other educational establishments in the town, besides the 

 Ateneo, a literary and scientific society which publishes its transac- 

 tions yearly, and has done much to illustrate the antiquities and 

 artistic monuments with which this city abounds. There is also a 

 handsome theatre, and outside of the town a large building for the 

 annual fair which begins on the 6th of August, and a cemetery (campo 

 santo), in which the tombs arc placed in rows one above the other 

 against the walls. Brescia is an important mart for raw silk ; it has 

 considerable iron-works, and its manufacture of arms and cutlery are 

 considered the best in Italy. It has also silk, linen, and paper fac- 

 tories, lanyards, paper and oil-mills, and a Monte-di-Pieta. 



Brixia was founded by the Cenomanni Gauls, whose capital it was 

 (Liv. v. 35, xxxii. 30). With the rest of Transpadane Gaul it was 

 subject to Rome, and under the empire it became an opulent and 

 flourishing town. Augustus, it appears from inscriptions, settled a 

 colony of citizens, not soldiers, in Brixia, which was hence styled 

 ' Colonia Civica Augusta.' Attila and his Huns plundered Brixia in 

 A.D. 452, but it soon recovered from this disaster, and subsequently 

 became the capital of one of the duchies of the Lombard kingdom. 



The ancient remains at Brescia are numerous, and the architectural 

 fragments are remarkable for beauty of design and skill of execution. 

 The most remarkable remains of buildings are those of a basilica, or 

 court-house, which is called however a ' Temple of Hercules ;' portions 

 of the theatre ; and some Corinthian columns, supposed to have 

 formed part of the forum. The cella of the so-called Temple of 

 Hercules has been converted into a museum, rich in ancient remains, 

 and particularly valuable for its collection of inscriptions, which 

 are either originals or fac-similes let into the walls. Among the 

 ancient works in bronze discovered in Brescia is a celebrated statue 

 of Victory. 



Brescia was taken by Charlemagne. In the middle ages it suffered 

 much from the feuds between the Guelphs and Ghibelines. It sub- 

 sequently in 1426 attached itself to the Republic of Venice, to which 

 it adhered with steadfast fidelity in all its fortunes till 1796. It was 

 stormed by Gaston de Foix, after an obstinate resistance by the 

 Venetian garrison, in 1512, when it is said 46,000 inhabitants of the 

 city perished in the indiscriminate slaughter that followed upon its 

 capture by the French, to whose lawless rapacity, unrestrained lust, 

 and ferocious cruelty upon this occasion, even the disinterested con- 

 duct of Bayard formed but a feeble counterpoise. The French again 

 took Brescia in 1796, when they turned the Broletto into a barrack, 

 having first plundered it of its works of art. At the peace of 1815 

 Brescia, with the rest of North Italy, came under Austria. Brescia 

 hardly ever recovered from its sack by Gaston de Foix. It revolted 

 against the Austrians in the late insurrectionary movements in Italy, 

 and its ruin has been all but completed by the bombardment anil 

 storming which it suffered from the Austrians under Marshal Hnyiiau, 

 March 30, 1849. 



(Antichi Monumenti nuoramrnte icoperti in Brescia, Brescia, 1829; 

 Guida per la Cittd di Bracia ; Macgregor, Statiatice.) 



BRESLAU, a large city at the confluence of the Ohlau and the 

 Oder, the capital of the Prussian province of Silesia, stands in 51 7' 

 N. lat., 1 7 4' E. long., 220 miles S.E. from P,erlin by the Berlin and 

 Vienna railroad, and has a population of 110,000. It has the form 



