The Duomo Vecchio or Old Cathedral (also called "La Rotonda" because of its round layout) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

; the rustic circular Romanesque co-cathedral stands next to the Duomo Nuovo (New Cathedral) of Brescia. It is officially known as the ''Winter

Co-Cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

of Santa Maria Assunta'', while the adjacent main cathedral is known as the ''Summer Cathedral''. It is one of the most important examples of Romanesque

round church A round church is a church with a completely circular plan, thus a rotunda in architectural terms. There are many Nordic round churches in Sweden and Denmark (notably the island of Bornholm); round churches were popular in Scandinavia in the ...

in Italy. While some claims for an earlier construction exist, the earliest documents state that construction of the cathedral started about 1100 on the site of a prior church with a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

layout. It has a circular shape that became rare after the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

, and is one of the most prominent round churches of the period still remaining. There are 13th century

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es on the interior walls, and a large canvas by

Francesco Maffei Francesco Maffei (1605 – 2 July 1660) was an Italian painter, active in the Baroque style. Biography He probably trained in his birthplace of Vicenza with his father, and painted mostly in the towns of the Veneto (Venetian mainland). He di ...

showing the church with a bell tower, which has since collapsed. In the 19th century, many additions to the original medieval building were removed. The entrance portal is one later addition remaining. It contains the medieval Crypt of San Filastrio, in honor of the

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

Brescian bishop. Near the entrance, rests the sarcophagus of Bishop Berardo Maggi (1308) made of red marble. The Duomo Vecchio contains ''l'Assunta'' (1526) and ''St. Luke, St. Mark and the sleeping Elijah'' (1533–1534) by

Moretto da Brescia Alessandro Bonvicino (also Buonvicino) (possibly 22 December 1554), more commonly known as Moretto, or in Italian Il Moretto da Brescia (the Moor of Brescia), was an Italian Renaissance painter from Brescia, where he also mostly worked. His da ...

. It contains a ''Gathering Manna'' by Gerolamo Romanino and a ''Translation of the Bodies of Saints'' by

.Turismo Brescia
website.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brescia Cathedral 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Brescia Romanesque architecture in Brescia Centralized-plan churches in Italy Round churches

See also

References