Brescia Local Customs

In Via dei Musei is the monastery of Santa Giulia, a huge group of buildings with three Renaissance cloisters and several churches. Formerly called San Salvatore, the monastery was founded by the Lombard king Desiderius in 753 on the site of a Roman edifice.
Part of the complex houses today the Museo della Citta (the City Museum) with displays covering all periods of the city's history.

Still talking cheese, this time from the area dominated by the Adamello massif: the Casolèt. It is derived from the transformation of butter and fresh milk; the result is a raw paste, from the curious parallelepiped shape with a triangular base. It is a cheese to be eaten at the table, being delicate and low in fat. Typical of the Brescia mountains and Begrime, is the Formable, which are small cheeses of around two kilos, in a cylindrical shape, white and soft with a sweet, delicate and, most importantly, unique flavor which bring to mind the taste of alpine herbs.

Other typical flavours today come from artichokes, Mediterranean fruit, once very common here, now abandoned. We can also find delicious truffles in the hilly areas, especially white ones, which can be tried in the autumn-winter period.

The tradition surrounding the areas oils has its roots in medieval times, a period in which the abbeys and powerful families were disputing the land and the olive groves, because oil was a valuable commodity, with curative properties and a religious function. Even today, the mild climate, which is ideal, and the extensive cultivation of olives along the shores of Lake Garda, and Iseo, make olive oil one of Lombardys most typical products. The extra virgin olive oil, produced on Lake Garda, has an exceptional and really unique taste and aroma, which has been recognised by the European Union.
From the areas near to the city and then in the rest of the province, there is vineyard after vineyard. In Brescia, next to the castle walls, there is the biggest productive vineyard in Europe. But every flat area, every hill facing the right direction, with the right slope, and favourable climate is cultivated with vines. An enormous quantity of wine is produced, much of it is top quality. You will be sure to find a bottle to suit, among the white, red and rose wines to accompany the maricond, a traditional soup with flour and breadcrumbs or the brofadei, cubes of wheat and maize flour.