Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli

The Old Cathedral is a Romanesque building erected in the 11th century on a previous basilica. Important works were carried out there between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century when the presbytery was enlarged, a transept was added, as well as the Chapel of the Holy Crosses. Following the sack of Brescia by the army of Gaston de Foix-Nemours in 1512, the cathedral was embellished. In 1571 the interior was reorganized according to the directives of the Counter-Reformation. Later, the restoration by Luigi Arcioni (1841-1918) led to the elimination of many Baroque additions and superstructures, restoring the imposing Romanesque volume to an essential part of its original appearance. At the end of the 20th century, the frescoes in the transept were cleaned and restored, in particular to remedy the constant and ever-present problems of humidity that afflict the building.

The new cathedral was erected between 1604 and 1825 on the site of the early Christian basilica of San Pietro de Dom (5th-6th century). The old cathedral, which was in an advanced state of deterioration, had to be replaced by a new one, more suited to the new architectural requirements dictated by the Counter-Reformation and more in line with the architecture of the time. Three phases of construction can be identified for the new cathedral: the first (1604 to 1611) was directed by the architect Giovanni Battista Lantana, who, seeing his initial project fundamentally revised, eventually left the building site. The second phase (1611 - 1630) was directed by Lorenzo Binago but was halted by the Brescia plague epidemic, which undermined the city for several decades. The third phase (1695 - 1825) is that of Antonio Biasio, who will hand over the task to his son in 1758 and will not be completed until the next century when the dome of the church is finally built.

The Church of Saints Faustinus and Jovita was probably founded as a monastery church in the 9th century. The present Baroque church was built between 1621 and 1711 when its façade was completed. However, the church was partially rebuilt from the second half of the 18th century after being damaged by a large fire in 1743. The church houses the remains of the two patron saints of Brescia, Saints Faustina and Jovita, as well as those of St. Honorius and St. Antigio, making the church a high place of devotion for the city.