Treviso
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Comune di Treviso | |
|---|---|
 Municipal coat of arms |
|
| Country |  Italy |
| Region | Veneto |
| Province | Treviso (TV) |
| Mayor | Gian Paolo Gobbo (since 2003) |
| Elevation | 15 m |
| Area | 55 km² |
| Population | |
| - Total (as of December 31, 2004) | 82,112 |
| - Density | 1,452/km² |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | |
| Gentilic | Trevigiani or Trevisani |
| Dialing code | 0422 |
| Postal code | 31100 |
| Frazioni | Monigo, San Paolo, Santa Bona, San Pelajo, Santa Maria del Rovere, Selvana, Fiera, Sant'Antonino, San Lazzaro, Sant'Angelo, San Giuseppe, Canizzano |
| Patron | San Liberale |
| - Day | April 27 |
  Location of Treviso in Italy |
|
| Website: www.comune.treviso.it | |
Treviso is a town in the Veneto region of Italy. It is the capital of Treviso province. The municipality has 82,112 inhabitants (December 2004): some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city hinterland has a population of some 170,000.
It is the home of the headquarters of designer clothing company Benetton.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
The city is situated some 15 km south-west the right bank of the Piave River, on the plain between the Gulf of Venice and the Alps, at the confluence of the Sile with the Botteniga.
[edit] History
[edit] Ancient times and High Middle Ages
For some scholars, the ancient city of Tarvisium derived its name from a settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Taurusci. Others have attributed the name instead to the Indo European root tarvos, meaning "bull".
Tarvisium, then a Veneti city, became a municipium when the Romans added Cisalpine Gaul to their dominions. The city laid in proximity of the Via Postumia, which connected Opitergium to Aquileia, the two main Roman centres of Veneto in ancient and Early Middle Ages times. It is hardly mentioned by ancient writers, though Pliny speaks of the Silis as flowing cx montibus Tarvisanis. Treviso went through the same decline as the rest of Italy after the fall of the Western Empire; however, it remained an important centre during the 6th century AD. According to tradition, it was the birthplace of Totila, the leader of Ostrogoths during the Gothic Wars. It was then briefly under Byzantine domination and eventually, in the second half of that century, fell to the Lombard, who made it a ducal seat and an important mint. The latter was especially important during the reign of the last Lombard king, Desiderius, and continued to churn out coins when northern Italy was annexed to the Frank empire. People from the city also played a role in the founding of Venice.
Charlemagne made it the capital of a border march marquisate (Marca Trevigiana) which lasted for several centuries.
[edit] Commune, seignories and the Venetian rule
Treviso joined the Lombard league, and gained independence after the Peace of Constance (1183). This lasted until the times when seignories started to impose in northern Italy: among the various families who ruled over Treviso, the Da Romano reigned from 1237 to 1260. Struggles between Guelph and Ghibelline factions followed, with the first triumphants in 1283, date after which Treviso lived a significant economical reprise which laster until 1312. Treviso and his satellite cities, including Castelfranco Veneto, founded by the Trevigiani in contrapposition to Padua, had become appetible for the neighbouring powers, including the da Carrara and Scaligeri. The Marca became a possession of the Da Caminos, and was the site of continuous struggles and ravages in the period 1329-1388. After a Scaliger domination in 1329-1339, the city gave itself to the Republic of Venice, becoming the first Serenessima mainland possession. From 1318 it was also, for a short time, the seat of a university.
Involved in the wars of Venice, the city was momentanously ruled by the duke of Austria in 1381-1384 and then by the Carraresi until 1388. Returned to Venice, it was turned into a fortress and given a massive line of walls and ramparts (still existent): these were renewed in the following century under the direction of Fra Giocondo, two of the gates being built by the Lombardi. The many waterways were exploited with several waterwheels which mainly powered mills for milling grain produced locally. The waterways were all navigable and "barconi" would arrive from Venice at the Port of Treviso (Porto de Fiera) pay duty and offload their merchandise and passengers along Riviera Santa Margherita. Fishermen were able to bring fresh catch every day to the Treviso fish market, which is held still today on an island connected to the rest of the city by two small bridges at either end. Treviso was taken in 1797 by the French under Mortier (duke of Treviso). In March 1848 the Austrian garrison was driven from the town by the revolutionary party, but in the following June the town was bombarded and compelled to capitulate.
During the Second World War it suffered an Allied bombing on 7 April 1944. A large part of the medieval parts of the city centre including part of the Palazzo dei Trecento (then rebuilt) were destroyed, causing the deaths of over 7,000 people.
In recent times, at least two attacks by the so-called Italian Unabomber have taken place in the city.
[edit] Main sights
- The Late Romanesque-Early Gothic church of San Francesco, built by the Franciscan community in 1231-1270. Used by Napoleonic troops as a stable, it was reopened in 1928. The interior has a single nave with five chapels. On the left wall is a Romanesque-Byzantine fresco portraying St. Christopher (later 13th century). The Grand Chapel has a painting of the Four Evangelists, by a pupil of Tommaso da Modena, to whom is instead directly attributed a fresco of Madonna with Child and Seven Saints (1350) in the first left chapel. The successive chapel has instead a fresco with Madonna and Four Saints from 1351 by one Master from Feltre. The church, among the others, houses the tombs of Pietro Alighieri, son of Dante, and Francesca Petrarca, daughter of the poet Francesco.
- The Loggia dei Cavalieri, an example of Treviso's Romanesque influenced by Byzantine forms. It was built under the podestà Andrea da Perugia (1276) as a place for meetings, talks and games, although reserved only to the higher classes.
- Piazza dei Signori (Lords' Square)), with the Palazzo di Podestà (later 15th century).
- Church of San Nicolò, a mix of 13th century Venetian Romanesque and French Gothic elements. The interior has a nave and two aisles, with five apsed chapels. It houses important frescoes by Tommaso da Modena, depicting St. Romuald, St. Agnes and the Redemptor and St. Jerome in His Study. Noteworthy is also the fresco of St. Christopher in the eastern area of the church, which is the most ancient depiction of glass in Europe.
- The Duomo (Cathedral), dedicated to St. Peter. It was once a small church built in the Late Roman era, to which later were added a crypt and the Chapels of the Santissimo and the Malchiostro (1520). After the numerous later restorations, only the gate remains of the originary Roman edifice. The interior houses works by Il Pordenone and Titian among the others. The edifice has seven domes, five over the nave and two closing the chapels.
- Piazza Rinaldi. It is the seat of three palaces of the Rinald family, the first built in the 12th century after their flee from Frederick Barbarossa. The second, with unusual ogival arches in the loggia of the first floor, is from the 15th century. The third was added in the 18th century.
- Ponte di Pria (Stone Bridge), at the confluence of the Canal Grande and the Buranelli Channels.
- Monte di pietà and the Cappella dei Rettori. The Monte di Pietà was founded to house Jew moneyleaners. At the second floor is the Cappella dei Rettori, a lay hall for meetings, with frescoes by Pozzoserrato.
[edit] Sports
Treviso is home to several notable Italian sport teams, thanks to the presence of the Benetton family, who owns and sponsors:
- Sisley Treviso (volleyball), one of Italy's leading teams, winner of 8 scudetti, playing at the Palaverde. (NB: Sisley is a brand owned by Benetton.)
- Benetton Rugby Treviso (rugby union), winner of 11 scudetti, playing at the Monigo stadium.
- Benetton Basket, winner of 5 scudetti, playing at the Palaverde.
The local football team, Treviso F.B.C. 1993, played for the first time in the Italian Serie A in 2005. Its home stadium is the Omobono Tenni.
Treviso is a popular stop on the professional cyclo-cross racing circuit and will serve as the site of the 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.
[edit] Sister cities
[edit] External links
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
