The monastic complex of San Salvatore, known as the Santa Giulia and located in Brescia, today turned into a museum. He is known for its architectural components, which include fragments of Roman buildings and a large number of buildings pre-Romanesque, Romanesque and Renaissance styles. In 2011 the complex was included in the list of World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO as part of the nomination "The Lombards in Italy. Places of power (568-774 th years BC). " Moreover, it was this monastery has traditionally been considered the very spot where the desideratum, the wife and daughter of Charlemagne Lombard king Desiderius, was kept in exile after the dissolution of her marriage in the 771 th year.

San Salvatore was founded in 753, the year Desiderius, the future king of the Lombards, and his wife Ansoy as a convent. First abbatessoy was the eldest daughter of Desiderius - Anselperga. After the Lombards were defeated by the army of Charles the Great, of San Salvatore has retained its privileges and even expanded ownership. In the 12th century most of the buildings were rebuilt or restored in the Romanesque style, it was built the chapel of Santa Maria in Solario. In the 15th century there was a reconstruction of another, and at the same time the monastery was attached sleeping rooms - dormitory. Finally, in 1599, the year built the church of Santa Giulia.

After the French invasion of the territory of Lombardy in 1798, the year the monastery was abolished and its premises turned into a barracks. The whole complex is in poor condition until 1882, the year when it housed the Museum of Christianity. However, large-scale restoration work, during which the San Salvatore has been carefully restored, have been carried out only in 1966, when it was created by the Museum of Santa Giulia.

Today the monastery complex includes several buildings. Actually the Basilica of San Salvatore, dating from the 9th century, consists of a central nave and two apses and stands on the site of an ancient church, which in turn was built on the foundations of an ancient Roman building of the 1st century BC The bell tower, rebuilt in the 13-14 th centuries, frescoes Romanino, and the interior of the basilica is decorated with frescoes by Paolo da Kailina Jr. and other masters of the Carolingian era. The above-mentioned chapel of Santa Maria in Solario, built in the 12th century, has a square shape with a small lancet loggia. The second floor is decorated with scenes from the life of Christ.

Of particular note is the museum, which displays antique finds, dating the Bronze Age and the period of ancient Rome. Among the exhibits - the famous bronze statue "Winged Victory" plan, where you can see how the look of Brescia during the reign of Emperor Vespasian, the crucifix, which, according to legend, belonged to King Desiderius, the frescoes of the Broletto (the old Town Hall of Brescia), the statue of St. Faustina and the cycle of frescoes by Moretto da Brescia. The complex also seen some fragments of Roman buildings, where nuns once created greenhouses.