Brescia

Brescia (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Italian: [ˈbreʃʃa] ⓘ, locally Italian: [ˈbreːʃa]; Lombard: Brèsa, Lombard: [ˈbrɛsɔ, ˈbrɛhɔ, ˈbrɛsa]; Latin: Brixia; Venetian: Bressa) is a city and comune (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. With a population of more than 200,000, it is the second largest city in Lombardy and the fourth largest in northwest Italy. The urban area of Brescia extends beyond the administrative city limits and has a population of 672,822,[3] while over 1.5 million people live in its metropolitan area.[3] The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy, with over 1,200,000 inhabitants. Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia (in antiquity Brixia) has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times. Its old town contains the best-preserved Roman public buildings in northern Italy[4][5] and numerous monuments, among these the medieval castle, the Old and New cathedral, the Renaissance Piazza della Loggia and the rationalist Piazza della Vittoria.