LICEO VERONICA GAMBARA – BRESCIA, ITALY

Liceo Veronica Gambara is a pre university school with three different courses: Liceo Linguistico (specializing in foreign languages), Liceo Musicale (specializing in music) and Liceo Umanistico (specializing in social science). There are about 1200 students and their age is between 15 and 19.

Our school is located in the centre of Brescia. It is an old building dating back to the XVI century. Before becoming a school in 1860, it used to be a nunnery. The building was constructed on the remains of some Roman houses and it is still possible to see two very well preserved Roman floors. The school takes the name of an Italian poetess, Veronica Gambara, who lived near Brescia across the XV and XVI centuries.

All the students in class 3 (age 16/17) take part in a students’ exchange. We are currently involved in several exchanges with different European countries, namely Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden.

www.liceogambara.it

BRESCIA

Brescia is in northern Italy, in the region of Lombardy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps. With a population of around 197,000 it is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan. Brescia is known as the "Lioness of Italy" (Leonessa d'Italia) after ten days of popular uprising that took place in the city in the spring of 1849 against Austrian rule.

The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy, with about 1,200,000 inhabitants. The ancient city of Brixia, has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times and a number of Roman and medieval monuments are preserved, among the latter the prominent castle. The city is at the centre of a large industrial area, concentrating on mechanical and automotive engineering and machine tools. Its companies are typically small or medium-sized enterprises, often with family management. The financial sector is also a major employer, and the tourist trade benefits from the proximity of Lake Garda, Lake Iseo and the Alps.

The plan of the old town is rectangular, and the streets intersect at right angles, a peculiarity handed down from Roman times, though the area enclosed by the medieval walls is larger than that of the Roman town, which occupied the north-eastern quarter of the current "Centro storico" (the old town).