![]() The earliest significant anthropization of the hilltop area dates back to this period, when the Celtic populations, the Ligurians at first and then the Cenomani, used it as a place of worship, perhaps dedicated to the god Bergimus.ĭuring the Roman period the hill continued to be used as a place of worship. The oldest finds unearthed during excavations date back to the Iron Age. The summit of the Cidneo Hill is the earliest Brescian settlement. – From geological formation to the first prehistoric settlements ![]() Rejoicing in the event Brescia received me,īrescia the strong, Brescia the iron-handed, The lion-like courage with which Brescia fought during the Risorgimento earned the city the title of Leonessa d’Italia, Lioness of Italy, coined by Aleardo Aleardi and taken up by Giosue Carducci in his Odi Barbare, Book V, a composition from May 1877, closing with these famous verses: He was hanged in Belfiore, Mantua, in 1853. Impatience with the Austrian rulers, however, was not abated, so much so that Tito Speri animated a new clandestine insurrectionary committee, a decision that would cost him his life. Insurgents taken prisoner were locked up in the Castle or in the prison of St. The insurrection was snuffed out in blood, with violent repression especially against civilians, who were bent by shootings that lasted until August 12, the date of the amnesty desired by Radetzky. On the night of March 31, in fact, taking advantage of the Strada del Soccorso, a secret and still existing safe-conduct connecting the top of the Castle to the city, new armed garrisons led by Haynau managed to reach the Cidneo hill. The surrender of the Brescian people did not occur until April 1, 1849, after Marshal Haynau had rushed to support the Austrian garrison barricaded in the Castle. The Brescians also engaged in violent clashes with the Austrians on the Ronchi and at Sant’Eufemia della Fonte. Barricades were erected at Porta Torrelunga, Contrada San Barnaba, Contrada Sant’Urbano and many other places. The insurgents, also led by Tito Speri, faced the Austrians in every corner of the city. Also targeted by Hapsburg shells were the most emblematic symbols of the municipality, such as the Loggia, in which the hole caused by an Austrian shell fired from the Castle still remains, at the base of one of the walls of the Vanvitellian Hall. The entire city became a theater of war: the city’s bell towers and towers were used as lookouts and as a base of operations for sharpshooters. In fact, misleading reports of victory for the Savoy troops arrived, mixed with royal dispatches about the Piedmontese defeat at Novara (March 23, 1849), which was followed by the abdication of Charles Albert and the signing of the armistice of Vignale (March 24, 1849) between the new king, Victor Emmanuel II, and General Radetzky.īrescia, which rose up trusting in Piedmontese help, chose not to surrender to the Austrians, engaging in resistance for ten very long days, with the involvement of the people, who fought strenuously house by house and behind barricades set up at key points in the city, while the Austrians, entrenched in the Castle, bombarded the urban perimeter. The spark was also ignited by the conflicting rumors coming from the front, in the second phase of the First War of independence (1848-1849), declared by Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, in an attempt to regain, after the events of 1848 freeing it from the Austrians. It was the news of the Austrians’ planned collection of a hefty fine imposed on the citizenry after the formation in 1848 of a Provisional Government that sparked the collective rebellion against the Hapsburg rulers on March 23, 1849. In the most delicate passage of the Risorgimento epic, 1848, the people of Brescia organized an underground committee headed by patriot Tito Speri and the curate of Serle Don Pietro Boifava.
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