Travel Guide of Treviso Province, Veneto, Italy
The Province of Treviso is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Located a few kilometers from Venice, the province of Treviso is an extraordinary combination of landscapes, art, history, natural beauties, hospitality and good food, capable of making the traveler fall in love and remain in the heart of those who walk through its scenarios. constantly changing, passing from the harmony of the plain to the reliefs of the Treviso Pre-Alps, from the soft hills of Prosecco to the woods of Montello and Cansiglio, through large and small cities, which make the territory of the “Gioiosa et Amorosa” Marca a mosaic of beauties all to discover.
A charm born of a very ancient past, which has bequeathed a very rich artistic and cultural heritage, from the Paleoveneti to the present day, and which can be discovered in the many museums, churches, villas, palaces and villages with a heart ancient that dot the entire province.
Most of the province is flat, but the northern strip is characterized by the presence of hills. The province of Treviso is an area very rich in water, especially the lower-middle area, where springs are frequent.
Its capital is the city of Treviso, it flourished in medieval times and under the dominion of the Republic of Venice. The heart of the city is the Piazza dei Signori, around which there are numerous buildings, including the “Bell Tower” and the “Palazzo dei Trecento”. Giuseppe Mazzotti defined Treviso “the most frescoed city in Italy”.
The province is surrounded by Belluno in the north, Vicenza in the west, Padua in southwest, Venice in the southeast and Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the east. The river Piave passes through the province while the rivers Sile and Cagnan pass through the capital. Montello Peak is located in the province.
It has a prosperous economy and is an important producer of wine. Furniture, sport systems, textile, wine, shoes and machinery are some of the major commercial products in the province. The plateau of Cansiglio was given the name-Woods of the Most Serene Republic because it supplied wood for making many Venetian ships.
History
The province of Treviso was established by the Celts but flourished under Romans before it was subjugated to Hun, Ostrogoth, and Lombard control. During Roman rule, the province was called Tarvisium. During the first World War the province was badly damaged by the Army of Austria.
The events of the Middle Ages are marked by the presence of great fiefdoms such as that of the Ezzelini, who with their politics strongly marked the Piave right; no less important are the powerful families of the da Camino, the da Carrara, the Brandolini and the Collalto of which the imposing castle of San Salvatore, near Susegana, is still visible today, considered one of the most beautiful noble residences in Italy.
The history of the Marca Trevigiana is also inextricably linked to that of the Republic of Venice, which in these lands, especially on the Cansiglio, not surprisingly known as the “forest of the Serenissima”, procured the timber necessary for the construction of the powerful fleet which centuries it has dominated the Mediterranean. In more recent times, however, the top of the Grappa, Montello and the banks of the Piave were the scene of the heroic events of the Great War, the tragic conflict that ended with the final battle of Vittorio Veneto. In memory of those dramatic events, the military shrines of Grappa, Montello and Fagarè remain today, together with other commemorative monuments.
Main destination
Treviso
Treviso is a city in northeastern Italy, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the eastern part of the Veneto region, north of Venice and south of Belluno. Formerly a Roman municipality with the name of Tarvisium, it flourished in medieval times and under the dominion of the Republic of Venice. The heart of the city is the Piazza dei Signori, around which there are numerous buildings, including the “Bell Tower” and the “Palazzo dei Trecento”. Giuseppe Mazzotti defined Treviso “the most frescoed city in Italy”.
From the second half of the eighth century, Treviso also became one of the most important mints of the time. In the 12th and 13th centuries the city became more and more prestigious, extending its borders. He also became half of illustrious personalities, including Dante and Tomaso da Modena who were attracted by the desire for beauty that was breathed in this city: new churches and palaces were built and embellished or decorated in a surprising way, Treviso was also called “Urbs Picta ”, That is, a painted city.
In the era under Venice, the river Sile increased its importance: the course of the waters was exploited by building many mills, the activity of which will make the city “the granary” first of the surrounding territories, then of the Republic of Venice: the city was understood by this last in 1339 becoming a fundamental center. When in 1500 the League of Cambrai decided to fight the lagoon city, Treviso was fortified by entrusting the famous Fra ‘Giocondo with these works, succeeded by Lorenzo di Ceri and Bartolomeo d’Alviano. The appearance of the city changed by building the walls that still surround the historic center today and three gates were built: Porta Santi Quaranta, Porta San Tommaso and Porta Altinia. The Republic of Venice depended on Treviso not only for the agricultural production of the flour produced by the Sile mills.
In the nineteenth century with Napoleon and the Austrians many convents and churches were used as warehouses or barracks, causing enormous damage to the artistic heritage. A further catastrophe for the palaces of the painted city and for the churches was caused by the two world wars and above all by the bombing of 7 April 1944.
Conegliano
Conegliano is a town and comune of the Veneto region, Italy, in the province of Treviso, about 30 kilometres north by rail from the town of Treviso. The remains of a 10th-century castle are situated on a hill that dominates the town. Formerly belonging to the Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, what remains is a bell tower, which now houses a small museum, and outer walls. Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Conegliano is noted for its wine, chiefly the dry white Prosecco (made from the glera grape) which comes in three varieties: tranquillo (still), frizzante (slightly sparkling) and spumante (sparkling). It is also home to Italy’s oldest and most prestigious wine school called Scuola Enologica.
It is also home to the Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura where several Italian grape varieties have been bred, including Albarossa, Vega and Valentino nero. Additionally, viticulturalists at the institute have helped save many native Italian grape varieties from extinction, such as the Valpolicella grape Bigolona.
Every June, a special chess or ‘dama’ game where the pieces are represented by actual real people—known as the Dama Castellana—is performed in the historical center. This event is not the continuation of a secular tradition, but has been introduced only a few years ago, still managed to become a traditional event calendar coneglianese.
Castelfranco
Castelfranco Veneto is a town and comune of Veneto. The older part of the town is square, surrounded by medieval walls and towers constructed by the people of Treviso in 1211. The massive castle is noteworthy.
The town originates from a castle built here by the commune of Treviso in the course of its strife against Padua (1195). In 1246, it was captured by Ezzelino III da Romano, returning to Treviso after his death in 1259. In 1329, it was acquired by Cangrande I della Scala, lord of Verona. Ten years later, together with Treviso, it was handed over to the Republic of Venice, to which it belonged until 1797. Castelfranco then followed the history of Veneto.
Castelfranco Veneto was the birthplace of the painter Giorgione, and the cathedral (1723) contains one of his finest works, the Madonna with St. Francis and Liberalis (1504), but more commonly called Pala del Giorgione. The cathedral itself was designed by Francesco Maria Preti, over an ancient Romanesque church. Other artpieces include seven fragments of frescoes by Paolo Veronese.
Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto is a city and comune situated in the Province of Treviso, in the region of Veneto, Italy, in the northeast of Italy, between the Piave and the Livenza rivers. The city was the protagonist on the Italian-Austrian front in the battle. It was also the seat of the Austro-Hungarian command for the Italian front.
Main sights
Sights in Treviso include the Piazza dei Signori and the Palazzo dei Trecento. Barchessa di Villa Pola Pomini, Ca’ Corner della Regina and Villa Emo are located near Vedelago. Churches include the Cathedral of Castelfranco Veneto. The Rotonda in Badoere is also another tourist attraction. Northern Marca, Conegliano and Valdobbiadene are well known for their vineyards. Due to the presence of varying landscapes, Asolo is called “the city of a hundred landscapes.”
In addition to the Piave, the province of Treviso is crossed by two other main waterways: the sinuous Livenza and the Sile, the longest resurgence river in Europe, declared a Regional Natural Park for its extraordinary environment naturalistic it represents. The Treviso nature, with its continuous glimpses of exciting beauty, lends itself well to being discovered through the numerous sports that can be practiced there, starting from cycling – certainly the most loved activity so as to earn Treviso the nickname of “Italy’s most cycling province”, up to trekking, without forgetting golf, rowing and paragliding.
In the western part of the province, between the Pedemontana del Grappa and Castelfranco Veneto, some of the most valuable architectural excellences of the area are concentrated, starting with Villa Emo in Fanzolo di Vedelago and Villa di Maser, recognized among the masterpieces of Andrea Palladio: two structures that perfectly represent the ideal of harmony between building and countryside, between garden, avenues and agricultural land, typical of the Venetian villa.
The Marca also holds one of the pearls of Veneto: Asolo, the “city of a hundred horizons” so loved by the English traveler Freya Stark, by the actress Eleonora Duse and by the queen of Cyprus Caterina Cornaro, who in the beautiful town, dominated by the mighty profile of Rocca, had his own castle built. Not far away rises Possagno which gave birth to the sculptor Antonio Canova, whose works can be appreciated in the Gipsoteca, where his drawings, sketches and plaster casts are exhibited; nearby there is the beautiful temple, designed by Canova himself, but completed after his death. Another great man in the history of architecture rests in San Vito di Altivole: Carlo Scarpa is buried in the innovative and evocative Tomba Brion, which he himself designed.
The capital of the Marca is Treviso, with its characteristic canals where the Sile flows quietly, among splendid frescoed houses, arcades and ancient monuments. With its charming historic center it is one of the characteristic walled cities of the province, among which Castelfranco Veneto is worth a visit, in whose Cathedral the splendid altarpiece with Madonna Enthroned by Giorgione, Vittorio Veneto and Oderzo is preserved. Portobuffolé represents another of the jewels of the Treviso area, the famous homeland of Gaia da Camino.
And the other fortified sites, manors and defensive towers that rise throughout the province also refer to the troubled medieval and Renaissance history: the castle of Conegliano is exemplary in this sense, a center renowned above all for its excellent gastronomy and fine local wines. Also valuable are the ancient abbeys such as that of Vidor, Monastier or Follina, a splendid circestian building.
Castles
The province of Treviso is very poor in medieval castles as, with the conquest by the Republic of Venice, the latter decided to destroy most of the fortresses. The few remaining castles and ruins have survived because they are still owned by feudal families dependent on Venice, or because the “dismantling” work just mentioned was not finished.
As for the plain, only the ruins of a tower of the Rai castle remain, in the municipality of San Polo di Piave (10th century ) and another in Casale sul Sile. The fortified towns of Castelfranco Veneto and Portobuffolé, born as fortresses and eventually evolved into real inhabited centers. A separate discussion regarding Treviso itself, a walled city.
There two castles in the commune of Susegana: the one known as San Salvatore, is the best preserved; of the second, in the Collalto hamlet, the main tower and sections of the walls remain. The complex of Credazzo towers, in the municipality of Farra di Soligo, also belonged to the Collaltos, which had been looted several times and then fallen into ruin. The Castelbrando in Cison di Valmarino belonged to the Brandolini, which, once its military functions ceased, was adapted to a patrician residence in the style of the Venetian villas.
Even Conegliano is overlooked by a country house, rebuilt in part, if not demolished. One of the two remaining towers, home to a museum, preserves its original features.
In Vittorio Veneto you can admire two forts: in Ceneda there is the castle of San Martino, which for centuries has been the bishop’s seat; in Serravalle, on the other hand, there is a building of Roman origins, then enlarged in the Middle Ages and partly demolished in the eighteenth century; parts of the walls and other external structures remain. In nearby Cordignano there is Castelat, a Caminese castle devastated by the Turks.
For Asolo are preserved two bastie: the first, the palace of the Praetorian is of medieval origin, but it was radically modified to become known residence of Caterina Corner; the second is the fortress, an imposing construction of which the walls remain almost intact. In the locality of Sopracastello di San Zenone degli Ezzelini, the tower of an ancient castle of the Ezzelini remains.
Religious heritage
Church of San Francesco: Early Gothic church 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 chapel on the left. The next chapel has instead a fresco with Madonna and Four Saints from 1351 by the so-called Master of Feltre. The church, among others, houses the tombs of Pietro Alighieri, son of Dante, and Francesca Petrarca, daughter of the poet Francesco.
Monte di Pietà of Treviso and the Rectors’ Chapel: The Monte di Pietà was founded to house Jewish moneylenders. On the second floor is the Cappella dei Rectors, a lay hall for meetings, with frescoes by il Pozzoserrato
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. Also the Glorious Mysteries of Santo Peranda can be seen. Noteworthy is also the fresco of St Christopher on the eastern side of the church, which is the most ancient depiction in glass in Europe.
Cathedral of Treviso: 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 Santissimo and Mal Ink Chapels (1520). After the numerous later restorations, only the gate remains of the original Roman edifice. The interior houses works by Il Pordenone and Titian (Malinti Annunciation) among others. The edifice has seven domes, five over the nave and two closing the chapels.
Civil heritage
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.
Rinaldi Square: It is the seat of three palaces of the Rinaldi family, the first built in the 12th century after their flight 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.
Pria Bridge: Along the city walls, where River Botteniga divides into the three channels that cross the city center.
Nature reserves
Given the natural and landscape riches it boasts, in the province of Treviso there are many protected areas of different types. Overall, they extend over approximately 49,000 hectares. The most significant institution is the Sile Regional Park (4,159 ha) which, encompassing the entire course of the river up to the Venetian Lagoon, also touching the provinces of Padua and Venice.
Other small protected areas are found on the Cansiglio plateau: they are the Piaie Longhe-Millifret integral nature reserve (129.7 ha shared with the province of Belluno ) and the Campo di Mezzo-Pian di Parrocchia state reserve (667 ha). There are 22,000 hectares of protected forests, that is almost half of the forest resources of the province.
Wine industry
The food and wine excellences of the area deserve a separate note. Include The famous Prosecco, one of the most popular Italian wines abroad, or the precious Radicchio Rosso di Treviso and that of Castelfranco.
Also worth mentioning are the full-bodied red wines of the Piave and those produced in the area of the Asolo and Montello hills, then continuing with the cheeses, from the creamy Casatella to the formajo imbriago, the asparagus, the sausages, the cherries, the chestnuts, the mushrooms and the desserts. like the delicious Tiramisu.
Itineraries
The itineraries created by the Province of Treviso as part of the Territorial Tourist Plan, with particular attention to the historical, architectural and artistic heritage, to the places of historical memory, to the typical and food and wine products. Other themes are eco-museum itineraries and thematic itineraries between sport, nature and culture.
“Marca Storica” itinerary
Millennia of history have left indelible traces along the entire territory of the Marca Trevigiana. Roman roads, churches, castles, fortifications, villas, walled cities, areas of environmental interest: the signs of the passage of man have changed the Treviso area, and their understanding facilitates a better reading of the territory and of today’s society.
The Marca Trevigiana, a land of history and culture, an artistic and cultural heritage of incalculable value that begins with the Paleoveneti of prehistoric times and reaches our times. A treasure that sees – among other things – ancient evidence of the Roman domination, with an important connecting axis such as the Via Claudia Augusta that cuts the Marca from south to north. We have the memory of the great fiefs of the medieval era and of fortresses and castles, an age marked by the names of great families such as the Ezzelini, the da Camino, the da Carrara, the Brandolini and the Collalto: distant times of bloody duels and spiritual outbursts such as the abbeys and churches testify.
Treviso have all the beautiful things left by the Serenissima Republic, which in our woods such as the Cansiglio found an inexhaustible source for its ships that dominated the Mediterranean. With its thousand years of history, centuries of which are closely linked with these lands, Venice has enriched the Marca with works of art and magnificent villas, and finally the places that were the setting for the tragic and heroic events of the First World War: Cima Grappa, Montello and Piave – sacred river to the homeland, memories of an epic that marked the destiny of generations of men and the course of history around the world.
“Strada dell’Architettura” itinerary
In the western part of the Marca is concentrated “La Strada dell’Architettura”, a harmonious ensemble of churches, villas and palaces, villages, modern and industrial architectures which, through an evocative itinerary cover almost a thousand years of history, recalling prestigious names such as Palladio, Veronese, Vittoria, Canova and Carlo Scarpa.
The architecture road is divided into two circuits: a foothill itinerary and an itinerary across the plain, in the area between the Pedemontana del Grappa and the plain of Castelfranco Veneto. The itinerary focuses on this western part of the Marca where a succession of architectural “excellences” of indisputable value are integrated with the evocative environmental aspect.
In addition to the Palladian villas built for important patrician families such as the Barbaro or the Emo, we want to mention Villa Filippin Fietta in Paderno del Grappa, an elegant building renovated by Massari in 1700, or the imposing Villa Rovero that stands out in San Zenone degli Ezzelini, an important center of culture and science.
Another important Venetian family, the Badoer, commissioned the famous Piazza del Mercato which is located in the locality that bears their name, a particular “Rotonda” with characteristic arcades
The itinerary conclude the birthplace of one of the three patriarchs of Venice who ascended to the throne of St. Peter during the twentieth century: that Giovanni Sarto who from his native Riese who now remembers him with the name he assumed as pontiff in 1903, arrived in Rome, passing through Venice.
The “Great War” itinerary
The itinerary of the “Great War” ranges from Monte Grappa to Montello, in Vittorio Veneto, along what from 1917 to 1918 was one of the bloodiest fronts of the First World War. Warriors’s presence hovers over the steep banks of the bends and the peace of the pebbles which still show, among the stones, remains of weapons and fragments of war, transported by water like so many young lives.
Turbulent waters, boats laden with soldiers, slender wooden bridges destroyed by artillery, wefts of fences carried by the current: these are the images that history brings to our eyes as we follow the course of the Piave, visiting hidden bunkers in silent villages and built monuments from popular piety, museums born from the passion of the recoverers and fragments of walls with famous writings.
The memory of the terrible year of occupation of a large part of the province is associated with the memory of decisive actions such as the battle for Vittorio Veneto. The sufferings of the civilian population did not resolve the equally dramatic logistical situation of the Austro-Hungarian troops and today it is difficult to consider the history of the conflict without evaluating how the occupation changed the territory, the life and the memory of the inhabitants in a single blow. Streets carved into the rock, tombstones for the dead of hardship, parachuted spies and famous museums are the stages of an evocative and historically interesting itinerary.
Between 15 and 21 June 1918 the imperial and royal army of Charles of Habsburg carried out the last great offensive of a centuries-old history. Entire divisions moved on the gravels of the Piave and the dolines of Montello, opposed by strong-willed and motivated troops: countless signs remained in the environment and in the myths, between Francesco Baracca and Nervesa, which became “della Battaglia”, between small bunkers in the hedges and cannons facing the river, amidst imposing shrines and manicured British cemeteries. The pleasure of this itinerary lies in looking for places and imagining them animated by the desperate confusion of battle.
Rommel and the Arditi, Peter Pan and General Giardino, the craters and trenches, the military roads and the devotion of a future pope, the darkness of the tunnels and the whiteness of the snow: everything intersects on the Grappa massif, the place of more desperate heroism and the bravado of special troops. Among monuments and rusty remains you can read the plot of dramatic events, along an itinerary surrounded by silences so deep that they echo like the infinite explosions of a hundred years ago.
“Montello cycling” itinerary
The Province of Treviso, recognized as the most cycling in Italy, offers a series of routes, concentrated in the north of the territory, designed with different mileage and difficulty, which guarantee a fruition to cycling practitioners, in relation to their abilities and needs. This intertwining of roads offers various routes, thus adapting to various training needs.
Montello is the ideal place for cycling training. Its perimeter is called “Periplo” and along its north side, due to the magnificent view over the Piave valley, it is also called “Panoramica”. Along its summit, in an east-west direction, the “Dorsale” develops and a series of streets called “Prese” numbered in a progressive way, are grafted onto the Dorsale.
“Between Tastes and Flavors” itinerary
The itineraryis about food and wine excellences of the Marca Trevigiana, referring to the typical products of the province of Treviso. The province of Treviso, with its flavors to taste and its tastes to sip, is the home of eating and drinking well and living even better.
We can list all our wines, the variety of cured meats, the multiplicity of cheeses, the richness of desserts, the heritage of fruit and vegetables. A very rich basket made of flavors that are linked to the very strong traditions that this land expresses, a basket of products that bring back to the industriousness of these people: food and wine seen as a cultural value.
“Wine Roads” itinerary
The wine-growing vocation of the Province of Treviso boasts one of the oldest routes in Italy, the one that has always been referred to as the “White Wine Road”, reserves at every corner pleasant surprises and suggestions that capture the traveler.
Preferred destinations for the most attentive and demanding tourist, the “Wine Roads” constitute a new way of “vacationing”, a real journey into memory and local history, to the rediscovery of agricultural and peasant traditions where, in the presence of companies viticultural treasures are added to the environmental, artistic and cultural treasures.
Suggestive historical centers, rich in monuments and traces of the Roman and medieval past, ancient parish churches, sumptuous patrician residences of the Serenissima Republic. In this framework the “Strada dei Vini del Piave” unfolds, to the south east of the Marca Trevigiana, immersed in a landscape of luxuriant vineyards that give life to a highly emotional journey.
Activities
Luna Park Fairs of San Luca: The main event is the traditional Luna Park Fiere di San Luca which takes place in October in Prato della Fiera. Get in the “frescoed room” by Tommaso da Modena: on the wall, between others, there is the first monk painted with spectacles in the history of Painting.
Home Festival: For some years now, a music festival of all kinds has been held in the Customs area on the first weekend of September. The event in the last year has counted 100,000 entries, of young people from nearby provinces and beyond, also from other European countries modification Brand Sounds (Walls of Treviso, in the historic center).
Tiramisu: Tiramisu was created in Treviso, at Ristorante le Beccherie in Piazza Ancillotto. Unfortunately today there is no special place to eat Tiramisu. A Pasticceria near the Railway station has tiramisù made with savoyard biscuits, the original recipe.