BRESSANONE (formerly Brixen), an urban district, prov ince of Bolzano, Italy. Pop. (1921) 4,853 (town) ; 6,845 (com mune) ; at the confluence of the Isarco and Rienza, with a station on the Brenner railway, 34m. S.E. of that pass, and 24m. N.E. of Bolzano. The aspect of the city is picturesque and very ecclesi astical; it is still the see of a bishop, and contains an 18th-century cathedral, an episcopal palace and seminary, 12 churches and five monasteries. The see was founded at the end of the 8th century (possibly 6th century) at Sabiona on the rocky heights above the town of Chiusa (some way south), but in 992 was transferred to Bressanone which, perhaps a Roman station, had become a royal estate, under the name of Priclisna, and in 901 had been given by Louis the Child to the bishop. In 1027 the bishop received from the emperor Conrad II. very extensive temporal powers, which he lost to Austria only in 1803. The town was surrounded in 1030 by walls. In 1525 it was the scene of the first outbreak of the great peasants' revolt. About 51-m. north of it is the great fortress of Franzensfeste, now called Fortezza, built 1833-38, to guard the route over the Brenner and the way eastward up the Val Pusterla.