Brescia Province

Brescia Province
State :	Italy
Region :	Lombardy
Area :	4,784.36 km² ( 15. )
Residents :	1,268,455 (Dec 31, 2019)
Population density :	265 inhabitants / km²
Number of municipalities:	206
License plate :	BS
ISO-3166-2 identification :	IT-BS
Website:	official page

The province of Brescia , Italian Provincia di Brescia , is the largest province in the Italian region of Lombardy . Its population is 1,268,455 (as of December 31, 2019). Its capital is Brescia .

Location and landscape

The province is located in northern Italy on the southern edge of the Alps , about halfway the length of the Alpine arc. The capital itself is on the edge of the Po Valley .

To the south of Brescia, the province still includes the flat land around Verolanuova , Manerbio and Leno , between Oglio and Chiese up to its confluence with the Oglio, and borders the provinces of Cremona and Mantua . It shares Lake Garda with the Province of Verona and the Autonomous Province of Trento , and Lake Iseo with Bergamo .

The foothills of the Alpi Bresciane e Gardense stretch to the north, and the northern part of the province is formed by the Adamello Group , with the Presanella ( 3556 m slm ) as the highest peak and the Adamello and Adamello-Brenta nature reserves , as well as the eastern foothills of the Bergamasque Alps (Alpi Orobi) , and the southern roofs of the Sobretta-Gavia Group and the Ortler Group . There it borders on the provinces of Sondrio and Trento .

The main valleys of the mountain area are the Val Camonica des Oglio, the Val Trompia des Mella and the Val Sabbia des Chiese with Lake Idro . At the northeast end of the Valcamonica lies the important Tonale Pass ( Passo del Tonale , 1884 m slm ).

history

Originally, the area of the province of Brescia was inhabited in the mountain valleys by Rhaetian tribes and in the lowlands of the foothills of the Alps by Ligurian tribes. The Celts , especially the Cenomanians , settled here in the 5th century BC. And, thanks to the friendly relationship with Rome , retained their own political identity until the end of the 2nd century BC. Chr. At. Under Emperor Augustus , the inhabitants of the ancient "Brixia" became Roman citizens. 16 BC In BC Rome subjugated those mountain peoples in battle, especially the Camuner tribe, who had engraved their everyday, warlike and religious life on the rocks of Valcamonica for thousands of years.

Empire of the Longobards

After the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476 and the beginning of the Great Migration , Alboin stayed in Italy (AD 568) and founded the Lombard Empire . Brescia was the capital of a duchy. The Duke of Brescia Rothari was elected King of the Lombards in 636, and an edict issued seven years later codified the laws of his people.

Carolingian times

During the Carolingian era , the Brescians built numerous castles to defend themselves against Hungarian invasions.

Ansa, a noble Brescian woman and wife of the last Lombard king Desiderius , founded the monastery of San Salvatore in Bresca, to which her daughter Desideria, better known as Ermengarda, withdrew after she had been rejected in 771 by her husband, the Frankish king Charlemagne .

Communes against Barbarossa

In the struggle for supremacy between the Lombard communes and the Hohenstaufen emperor Barbarossa , the Augustinian canon Arnold von Brescia intervened, who denounced the corruption of the clergy and in 1145 led the Roman Senate to rebel against Pope Adrian IV . Barbarossa arrested the Canon Regular the following year, handed him over to the Pope, who burned him at the stake.

The disputes between the Guelphs , who defend the autonomy of the free municipalities, and the Ghibellines , who support the empire, had just flared up again when the rulership of Brescia was entrusted to Bishop Bernardo Maggi . He reconciled the two warring parties.

Rule of the Visconti

In 1337 a time of stability, but also of oppression, began when the Visconti family came to power. They had the castle of Brescia rebuilt and ruled, with the exception of the time of Pandolfo Malatesta (1404–1421) from Rimini, until the Venetians came to power in 1426.

Rule of Venice

The rule of the Republic of Venice opened up new markets for the Brescia people for the sale of arms, paper, thread and fabrics. The Valle Trompia region supplied cannons to the Arsenal (Venice) , and the quality of the paper made in Toscolano was appreciated even in the Ottoman Empire

In 1508 France , the papacy, the Spanish empire and the Italian mansions of Este , Gonzaga and Savoy decided to put an end to the Venetian expansion of power. A long war ensued in which Brescia had to endure the terrible pillage of 1512. The French were particularly involved in this; Their commanders Gaston de Foix and Pierre du Terrail stood out in particular .

In 1516, Brescia fell back to Venice and remained there until Napoleon imposed a new system of rule on the countries of Europe in 1797, which he derived from the French Revolution . Against the major power interests that dominated from then on, the Venetians were lost and had to give up their independence.

restoration

In 1815, the Congress of Vienna created the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia , which was part of the Austrian Empire . Therefore, Emperor Franz I was King of Lombardy-Veneto in personal union. The Risorgimento saw the Brescians in the lead when they erected barricades during the famous ten days from March 23 to April 1, 1849 and wrested control of the city from the Austrians. However, the Austrians managed to break the resistance and they could rule for ten more years.

In June 1859 , the decisive battle of the second Italian War of Independence took place near San Martino and Solferino , in the hills around Lake Garda. Victor Emanuel II of Savoy and his ally Napoleon III. succeeded in liberating Lombardy and Veneto from Austrian rule.

Italian social republic

On October 10, 1943, Benito Mussolini settled near Gargnano on Lake Garda and founded the Italian Social Republic .

Largest communities

(As of May 31, 2005)


local community	Residents
Brescia	191,564
Desenzano del Garda	25,839
Lumezzane	24,058
Montichiari	20,681
Chiari	18,114
Palazzolo sull'Oglio	18,064
Ghedi	16,935
Rovato	15,784
Gussago	15,599
Darfo Boario Terme	14,505
Lonato del Garda	13,778
Leno	13,594
Concesio	13,428
Rezzato	13,402
Manerbio	13,124
Sarezzo	12,423
Ospitaletto	12,298
Bagnolo Mella	12.001
Travagliato	11,896
Calcinato	11,764
Orzinuovi	11,748
Carpenedolo	11,348
Gardone Val Trompia	11,295
Gavardo	10,863
Nave	10,791
Villa Carcina	10,392
Bedizzole	10,351
Cazzago San Martino	10,334
Mazzano	10.305
Salò	10.182
Botticino	10.139
Castenedolo	10.093

Mountain passes in the province of Brescia

The mountain passes are located in the mountainous northern part of the province.

Surname	height	from	to
Passo dell'Aprica	1,176 m.	Edolo (Valcamonica)	Teglio
Passo della Foppa	1,852 m	Monna (Valcamonica)	Grosio
Col Carette di Val Bighera	2,100 m	Passo della Foppa
Passo di Gavia	2,618 m	Santa Apollonia (Valle di Pezzo)	Santa Caterina Valfurva
Passo del Tonale	1,884 m	Ponte di Legno	Vermiglio Val di Sole
Passo del Vivione	1,828 m	demo	Schilpario (Valle di Scalve)
Passo di Croce Domini	1,892 m	Breno	Bagolino
Goletto delle Crocette	2,070 m	Passo di Croce Domini	Maniva
Passo delle Berga / Passo del Mare	1,527 m / 1,418 m	Maniva	Anfo
Passo Tremalzo	1,830 m	Valle d'Ampola	Tremosine

Individual evidence

↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
^ Rudolf Lill : History of Italy from the 16th century to the beginnings of fascism . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-534-06746-0 , pp. 94-95.

literature

Antonio Fappani: Achille Grandi - vita e opere . Modena, Ed. Paoline, 1960, 262 pp. + 16 pp. “Ills. out of text “(Italian), dans la serie Biographie di contemporanei, Volume 17.
Antonio Fappani: Giuseppe Zanardelli e Geremia Bonomelli: corrispondenza inedita . Brescia, Società per la storia della Diocesi di Brescia, 1968 ( Fonti e documenti, 1).
Antonio Fappani: La Campagna garibaldina del 1866 in Valle Sabbia e nelle Giudicarie . Brescia 1970.
Antonio Fappani: Mons. Pietro Capretti, 1972.
Antonio Fappani: La Valle di Vestino. Appunti di Storia locale . Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana, Brescia 1993.
Danilo Fappani: Enciclopedia bresciana . Brescia 1975.
Danilo Fappani: Enciclopedia Bresciana . Brescia, 1981.

[1] Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.

[2] Rudolf Lill : History of Italy from the 16th century to the beginnings of fascism . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-534-06746-0 , pp. 94-95.