An 8th-century Benedictine nunnery transformed into the city museum: eleven thousand objects spanning Roman Brescia, Lombard gold jewellery, medieval frescoes, and the spectacularly painted 16th-century Coro delle Monache (Nuns' Choir). The star piece is the Cross of Desiderius, a 9th-century processional cross studded with gems and reused Roman cameos. One of the best museums in northern Italy and part of Brescia's UNESCO listing.
Santa Giulia Museum
UNESCO monastery museum spanning Roman to Renaissance eras
| Address | Via dei Musei 81/b |
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A story
The Cross of Desiderius, the museum's centrepiece, is a 9th-century processional cross assembled from over 200 Roman cameos and intaglios — carved gems collected and repurposed by the Lombard king Desiderius as if setting a mosaic. Among them is a tiny portrait of a young Roman woman that scholars have tentatively identified as a likeness of Galla Placidia, the 5th-century empress. The cross was never meant to be read as a single image; it was designed to overwhelm with the accumulated weight of Roman prestige.