texts by Mariella Piscopo and photos by Claudia Marchi

The interior of the Monastery of Santa Giulia, in Brescia, a city called “the Lioness of Italy”

Brescia, the Capitolino Temple

The territory of Brescia, set between the two lakes of Garda and Iseo, is the perfect destination if you are an art lover and a wine connoisseur. Next to the sparkling wine from Franciacorta, you will be able to taste local cheeses, salami, lake fish specialties and pastries by one the best Italian confectioners. From piazza della Loggia, Brescia’s city center (a city called "the italian Lioness"), you can start an interesting historical itinerary. In this square, you can admire Palazzo della Loggia and the Clock Tower, while in the piazza del Duomo, nearby, two churches stand out: the baroque Chiesa Nuova and the beautiful Rotonda, as the old Cathedral is called. Farther on, in piazza del Foro, you'll find the great Roman ruins of the Capitolino Temple, the Basilica and the Theatre. The Civic Museum, in the Monastery of Santa Giulia, organizes interesting exhibitions. The one starting on the 11^th February 2011, "Matisse. Michelangelo’s Seduction”, will display more than 150 works by the French artist, side by side with several casts of Michelangelo's most important sculptures, such as the ones for the Cappella Medici (www.matisse brescia.it).

The interior of the Monastery of Santa Giulia, in Brescia, a city called “the Lioness of Italy”

Art appreciation can be followed by a walk along the Via dei Sapori, an itinerary to discover excellent, local food products. You can start from Ugo Bonazza‘s gourmet food store, in via Cremona, 67 (tel. 030.2422727) offering a selection of more than 50 cheeses, personally chosen by the owner with competence and passion. Here you will taste buffalo mozzarella from Brescia with chili pepper preserve; fresh goat cheese from the Persane Valley accompanied by pumpkin and ginger; mountain pasture cheese from the Trompia Valley with pear jam; Brescia robiola (a mild, creamy cheese) with prunes and, last but not least, “bagòss” with fig jam.

If you are in the mood for sweets, you cannot miss a visit to the Pasticceria Veneta of the master confectioner Igino Massari. Here you'll be delighted by a triumph of pastries, cakes, biscuits, like the “bussolà”, “panettoni” and 112 different types of pralines (via Salvo d'Acquisto, 8, tel. 030.381041). The town of Rezzato, nearby, is famous for the Macellerie Liberini, a butcher’s shop where you can buy all kinds of cold pork meat, such as bacon, seasoned pork shoulder, "Valverde culatello" and the delicious “guanciale baciato” (lard from the pig's cheek). Address: via Disciplina, 70 tel. 030.2791315.

The Brescia shore of Lake Garda

Vineyards in Valtenesi, in the “Garda Classico Consortium of Producers” territory

Here opportunities for gourmets and wine connoisseurs are plenty. At Desenzano del Garda, on the Brescia shore of the lake, there is an ice-cream parlor, the Agrigelateria sull'Aia, using only local ingredients. It is part of a holiday farm where you can also buy milk, yoghurt, fresh cheeses and delicious ice-cream in several different tastes (www.cortefenilazzo.it). Paolo Fabiani’s Tenuta Roveglia at Pozzolengo is an old farmhouse, just one and a half kilometer from the lake, with 65 hectares of Lugana and Garda Classico vineyards. This farmhouse is open to visitors and offers wine tastings, for example of the prizewinner Lugana Doc Superiore “Vigne di Catullo 2006” (www.tenutaroveglia.it). Driving along the shore of Lake Garda, you will discover small wineries producing high quality Lugana. A good address is Cascina Maddalena, run by the Zordan family who also owns a holiday farm with a small restaurant where you can taste very good meat on the spit. Booking in advance is requested ( www.cascinamaddalena.com).

At Moniga del Garda, Gardavino is a perfect place for gourmet shopping. Here you can find wines by the Garda Classico Consortium of Producers (www.gardaclassico.it) with three denominations of controlled origin or Doc: Lugana, Garda Classico and San Martino della Battaglia. You can also get salami by "De.co. Morenico di Pozzolengo”, spelt flour bread, Dop (Denomination of protected Origin) Grana Padano cheese, honey from the Valtenesi, jams and a delicate Dop extra-virgin olive oil from the Brescia shore of Lake Garda (www.gardavino.it). On the Brescia lakeside, driving through little villages among olive groves and citrus orchards, hills and natural terraces, you will reach Limone sul Garda (www.rivieradeilimoni.it). Here, in the old town centre, you can visit the 18^th century Limonaia del Castel, one of the oldest lemon groves on the lake, now restored and open to visitors. The Monte Baldo hotel restaurant, just opposite the little harbor, serves local dishes. Here you can taste raw lake fish, marinated with citrus and ground pink pepper, on buttered toast or “bigoli al torchio”, home-made pasta with lake fish sauce and Lugana wine (bill starting from € 35 www.montebaldolimone.it).

Franciacorta vineyards

“Pupitres” and sparkling wines in the “Guido Berlucchi Winery,” one of the most important Franciacorta brand

Franciacorta (www.franciacorta.net) is a wonderful area with hills covered by vineyards, little towns, medieval castles and ancient mansions. Here you can find the most prestigious wineries of the territory, such as the historical Berlucchi, at Borgonato di Corte Franca, founded, at the end of the Fifties, by Guido Berlucchi and Franco Ziliani. They were the first vintners to vinify with the classical method and they gave their wine the territory‘s name, taken from ancient maps. Today they own an 80-hectare vineyard with chardonnay and black pinot, plus 500 hectares belonging to minor vintners and a 15-thousand- square meter underground winery (www.berlucchi.it).

If you're looking for an hotel room, you can stop at Colombaro di Corte Franca, at the Relais Franciacorta: a farmhouse dating from 1670, surrounded by 60 thousand square meters of olive groves and meadows, with 50 elegant rooms, some of them with a view of Lake Iseo (www.relaisfranciacorta.it). In La Colombara restaurant, annexed to the hotel, the gifted chef Fabrizio Albini, offers traditional dishes such as classical Brescia style “casoncelli” (home-made pasta), or dishes that mix farm products and sea food, such as creamy artichokes and barbecued sardines or crusted charr fillet with dried fruit, green garlic and lettuce (tel. 030.9884234; bill starting from € 40). The Cantine Villa, at Monticelli Brusati, are also worth a visit. These three wineries, owned by the Bianchi family, are in a medieval village with a 35- hectare vineyard, cultivated on terraces on the slopes of the “Madonna della Rosa”  hill. The first winery is the original one dating back to the 16^th century, where red wines are now preserved. The second one is 900 square meters large and it is dedicated to the production of sparkling wine; the last one is used for pressing and vinification at a controlled temperature (www.villa-franciacorta.it). Tourists can be hosted in one of the 17 apartments in restored ancient country houses and they can taste traditional dishes at the Trattoria Borgo, a family restaurant serving homemade pasta: Brescia style “casoncelli” with nut-flavored butter and sage and “trofie” with saffron and sausages (tel.030.6852585; bill starting from € 25).

Art in the winery, at Cà del Vent

Contemporary art in the vineyards of the“Cà del Vent” estate at Campiani di Cellatica

Cà del Vent is a particular wine estate owned by Paolo Clerici and Massimo Fasoli at Campiani di Cellatica. The winery hosts one of the most important open air museums of contemporary art in Europe. There are installations of several artists such as Jannis Kounellis, Mimmo Paladino, Dan Graham, Arman, François Morellet, Daniel Spoerri, Vettor Pisani, Nagasawa and many others. The works are planned just for that place and have been installed by the artists themselves. The wine labels are related to the collection's most representative pieces, such as the three reserves: “Clavis” (from the work by Claudio Parmiggiani), “Ubiqua” (by Mario Diacono) and “Sospiri” (by Antonio Trotta), giving its name to the vintage wine. Info www.cadelvent.com.

The Monastery of Santa Giulia

The Monastery of Santa Giulia, in Brescia, apart from being the Civic Museum, is a complex of extraordinary historical and cultural importance. You can admire, in its interior, ruins of Roman villas, mosaics and churches in different styles: the Longobardic San Salvatore, the Romanesque oratory of Santa Maria in Solario and Santa Giulia, a Renaissance style church. (www.bresciamusei.com)

"Pappardelle” at Carlomagno Restaurant

Carlomagno is a fascinating restaurant at Collebeato, in an original building dating back to the 8^th century, where chef Beppe Maffioli proposes both traditional and reinterpreted dishes, using local and Mediterranean products. Some examples: creamy artichokes with goat cheese from Mompiano and “pappardelle”, a homemade pasta, with rabbit, mushrooms and “bagoss”, seasoned with sweet garlic and rosemary (via Campiani, 9 tel. 030.2511107; bill starting from € 50).