Brescia

About the city

Brescia is a city in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy and is situated at the foot of the Alps. With a population of about 200 thousand inhabitants, it is the second largest city in the region and the fourth largest of North West Italy. The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy.

Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia has been an important regional center since pre-Roman times. Its old town contains the best-preserved Roman public buildings in Northern Italy, as well as numerous monuments, among are the medieval castle, the Old and New cathedral, the Renaissance Piazza della Loggia and the rationalist Piazza della Vittoria. The monumental archaeological area of the Roman forum and the monastic complex of San Salvatore-Santa Giulia have become UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Brescia is considered the industrial capital of Italy whose production of machine tools and firearms are of particular economic significance, along with mechanical and automotive engineering. Nicknamed the Leonessa d'Italia ("Lioness of Italy"), Brescia is the homeland of Italian caviar, and is known for being the original production area of Franciacorta wine and for the prestigious Mille Miglia car race that starts and ends in this city.

About the twinning agreement

In July 2007, Bethlehem Municipality approved the establishment of a twinning relationship between the two cities. This started a commitment for the cities to maintain permanent relations with each other through encouraging cultural exchanges between their inhabitants in order to develop fraternity and solidarity; and to provide a channel for sharing experiences and reciprocal knowledge in cultural, religious, economic, tourist, sporting and association-based activities in order to create long-lasting ‘bridges of peace and prosperity’ between the respective communities. Mr. Victor Batarseh, the then mayor of Bethlehem, and a bethlehemitte delegation visited Brescia in January 2008 to complete the agreement process.