Treviso - Geography, History, Main sights, Sports

45º40N 12º15E, pop (2002e) 82 100. Capital town of Treviso province, Veneto region, NE Italy; located in a fertile plain at the junction of the Botteniga and Sile rivers, 27 km/17 mi from Venice; birthplace of Paris Bordone and Giovanni Comisso; town is surrounded by well-preserved 15th-c walls and a circuit of canals and moats; paper, machinery; cathedral (15th–16th-c), with paintings by Titian and Bordone; Gothic church of San Nicolo (13th–14th-c).

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	45°40′N 12°15′E
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.

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

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.

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.

Charlemagne made it the capital of a border march marquisate (Marca Trevigiana) which lasted for several centuries.

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. 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.

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. 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 recent times, at least two attacks by the so-called Italian Unabomber have taken place in the city.

Main sights

The Late Romanesque-Early Gothic church of San Francesco, built by the Franciscan community in 1231-1270. 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.

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.

The local football team, Treviso F.B.C.

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.