Desiderius, the last Lombard king, founded in 753 AD the female Benedictine monastery of San Salvatore, together with his wife Ansa. To this monumental complex – in which Alessandro Manzoni set his dramatization of the death of Ermengarda, Desiderius’ daughter who was rejected by Charlemagne – churches and other buildings were added over the centuries. This UNESCO World Heritage site tells the story of Brescia through 12.000 works and remarkable buildings, such as an archaeological area with two Roman domus, the Lombard Cathedral of San Salvatore and its crypt, the Romanesque oratory of Santa Maria in Solario and the Nuns’ choir. In the last of these the nuns kept the monastery treasure, of which still remain the Lipsanoteca, a precious ivory container for holy relics, and the Desiderius’ Cross, decorated with 212 gems, masterwork of Carolingian jewellery.