The city of Brescia, the second most populous city in Lombardy with almost 200,000 inhabitants, is rich in history and art.

Thanks to its Longobard and Roman monuments, it has been declared a UNESCO heritage site.  Amidst architectural treasures of different styles, which testify to the city's importance over the millennia, the many squares, often full of commercial activity, are very popular. On the east side of the centre, where the main ascent to the castle overlooking Brescia starts, a vast and elegant square was built in the 19th century and dedicated to Arnaldo, the Brescian friar who opposed the worldliness of the feudal church in the 12th century and was killed as a heretic for it. A few steps away from the statue dedicated to the clergyman, a scenic Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) grows, which with its large foliage greatly enriches the urban landscape.

The tree has a trunk circumference of more than 5 metres (diameter 165 cm) and a height of almost 20 metres. Its location leads to the beautiful square, which was created to host the grain market. The large, 111-metre-long neoclassical building flanking it was, in fact, a grain store and there were as many as 12 underground warehouses inside.

A green monument that is accessible to the public.

(Ph: Luca Pernechele)