Treviso is a town in the Veneto region of Italy. It is the capital of province of Treviso. 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, and of the major appliance maker DeLonghi.
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.
History
Venetic Period
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".
Roman Period
Tarvisium, then a city of the Veneti, became a municipium in 89 BC after the Romans added Cisalpine Gaul to their dominions. Citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe of Claudia. The city lay in proximity of the Via Postumia, which connected Opitergium to Aquileia, two major cities of Roman Venetia during Ancient and Early Medieval times. Treviso is rarely mentioned by ancient writers, although Pliny writes of the "Silis," that is the Sile River, as flowing ex montibus Tarvisanis.
During the Roman Period, Christianity was spread to Treviso. Tradition records that St. Prosdocimus, a Greek who had been ordained bishop by St. Peter, brought the Catholic Faith to Treviso and surrounding areas. By the fourth century, the Christian population grew sufficient to merit a resident bishop. The first documented was named John the Pius who began his epsicopacy in 396 AD.
Barbarian Period
Treviso lay in the path of barbarians invading Italy. Treviso went through a demographic and economic decline similar to the rest of Italy after the fall of the Western Empire; however, it was spared by Attila the Hun, and thus, remained an important center during the 6th century. According to tradition, Treviso was the birthplace of Totila, the leader of Ostrogoths during the Gothic Wars. Immediately after the Gothic Wars, Treviso fell under the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until 568 AD when it was taken by the Lombard, who made it as one of 36 ducal seat and established 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 Frankish Empire. People from the city also played a role in the founding of Venice.
Carolingian Period
Charlemagne made it the capital of a border March, i.e, the Marca Trevigiana, which lasted for several centuries.
High Middle Ages
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 triumphant in 1283, date after which Treviso lived a significant economical reprise which lasted until 1312. Treviso and her 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.
Venetian Period
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. Venetian rule brought innumerable benefits, however, Treviso necessarily became involved in the wars of Venice. From 1381–1384, the city was captured and ruled by the duke of Austria, and then by the Carraresi until 1388. Having returned to Venice, the city was fortified and given a massive line of (still existent) walls and ramparts: 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.
French and Austrian Periods
Treviso was taken in 1797 by the French under Mortier (duke of Treviso). French domination lasted until the defeat of Napoleon, after which it passed to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The citizens, still at heart loyal to the fallen Venetian Republic, were displeased with imperial rule and in March 1848, drove out the Austrian garrison. However, after the town was bombarded, the people were compelled to capitulate in the following June. Austrian rule continued until Treviso was annexed with the rest of Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.
World War I
During the First World War, Treviso held a strategic position close to the Austrian front. Just north, the Battle of Vittorio Veneto helped turn the tide of the War.
World War II
During the Second World War, an Italian concentration camp was located there and was predominately used to imprison members of the Yugoslav resistance movement. The camp was disbanded with the Italian capitulation in 1943. At the end of 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.
Recent history
In recent times, at least two attacks by the so-called Italian Unabomber have taken place in the city.
Main sights
Sports
Treviso is home to several notable Italian sport teams, thanks to the presence of the Benetton family, who owns and sponsors:
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.
Sister cities
See also
External links
