Duomo Square is the heart of Brescia because of important historic buildings and it is as well a hangout place for many city youths.
The medieval square is surrounded by historic buildings, such as the Broletto Palace, built in 1200, on the north-eastern side of the square, which today hosts the Prefecture, the provincial administrative office and some council offices. The name of the square comes from the two cathedrals on the eastern side: Duomo Nuovo, built between 1604 and 1825 with different architectonic styles – from late Baroque to rococo, and Duomo Vecchio, or Rotonda, built in the XI century, an example of a medieval circular stone building. In front of Duomo Nuovo there is a neoclassical palace, built in 1809, and, not far from there, you find Camerlenghi’s House (Camerlenghi were financial administrators during Venetian dominion). Another important building is the neo-renaissance palace of Agrarian Credit of Brescia, built in the early 1900s, that absorbed the sixteenth-century Negroboni palace.
On the northern side of the square there is a fountain, put there in 1921, with a copy of the neoclassical marble of Minerva, also known as “Brescia armata”. On the western side of the square there are some ruins of a medieval portico, and in the basement there are some mosaics of the Roman thermal baths.
From the square you can go to the colonnades of X Giornate street, crossing a medieval arch, under the palace of Agrarian Credit of Brescia.
Today the square is becoming more and more a place for hangout of young people, thanks to new pubs and restaurants.
PDF file download: Paolo VI Square (Duomo Square)
Web site: http://www.turismobrescia.it/it/punto-d-interesse/piazza-paolo-vi-gia-piazza-duomo
