The city was founded in the 2nd century BC by a Roman called Bassianus, hence the name, as an agricultural estate. However, an ancient bronze sword (called "spada di Riccardo"), found in 2009[4]and dating back to the 7th century BC, possibly between the 18th and 15th century BC, suggests that the area of Bassano was already inhabited not just in thepre-Roman period, but possibly even in thepre-Venetic period, as confirmed by some artifacts found in a necropolis located in the neighbourhood of San Giorgio diAngarano.[5]
The first news of the existence of the medieval city dates from 998, while the castle is mentioned first in 1150. In 1175 Bassano was conquered byVicenza, but the city maintained a semi-autonomous status as a free comune in the 13th century also, when it was home to the family of theEzzelini, who first unified the various territories ofVeneto.
In 1404, Bassano became a part of theStato da Tera 'Mainland State' of theVenetian Republic, which granted the Bassanese district the status of autonomouspodesteria, "free and separate from whatever city and from the jurisdiction of whatever city" (sit ipsa terra exempta et separata a quacumque civitate et iurisdictione cuiuscumque civitatis[9]) and subordinate only to Venice. The autonomous district included Bassano properly and the villas ofCartigliano,Cismon and Primolano,Rossano,San Nazario,Pove,Solagna plusCassola (on lands previously belonging to Pove and Solagna) andTezze andRosà (on lands previously part of Bassano). In addition to this,Valstagna andCampese (then belonging to Vicenza and the Seven Communes) andRomano andMussolente (then belonging to Treviso) had strong commercial and political ties with the district as they were located very close to Bassano and its port on the river Brenta connected with Venice. In 1760 DogeFrancesco Loredan granted Bassano the title of City, subsequently retained under the Austrian and the Italian States. The Serenissima did not alter the town's magistratures, limiting itself to impose a Captain chosen by the Venetian Senate. The city became home to a flourishing industry producing wool, silk, iron and copper, and mainly for ceramics; in the 18th became especially famous in all Europe for the presence of theRemondini [it] printer company.
Until 1928 the name of the town was Bassano Veneto. After the terrible battles on Mount Grappa in World War I, where thousands of soldiers died, a decision was made to change the name of the town. In 1928, the name was changed to Bassano del Grappa, meaning Bassano of Mount Grappa, as a memorial to the soldiers killed.Ernest Hemingway during his days as an ambulance driver in the war spent many days in Bassano and eventually settled there part of his novelA Farewell to Arms. Also otherAmerican writers spent some days in Bassano during World War I such asScott Fitzgerald andDos Passos.
DuringWorld War I Bassano was in the front area, and all industrial activities were halted.
In the last days ofWorld War II, Bassano del Grappa was bombed by USAF B-24s and B-17s.[10]
The symbol of the town is the coveredPonte Vecchio, which was designed by the architectAndrea Palladio in 1569. The woodenpontoon bridge was destroyed many times, the last time during World War II. The Alpine soldiers,Alpini, have always revered the wooden bridge and Bassano del Grappa. After the destruction of the bridge, they took up a private collection and had the bridge completely rebuilt. Soldiers often flock to the bridge to remember and sing songs from their days as alpine soldiers. Thegrappa shop ofNardini Distillery is located on the bridge, known as Ponte degli Alpini.
Bassano del Grappa is also the long residence town ofRenzo Rosso, the founder and President ofDiesel. Since Diesel began to expand in the mid-1980s, the company has become an important source of business for the city and its surrounding region. As thanks for the support that Rosso has received locally, he has invested personally in the city's professional soccer team,Bassano Virtus 55 S.T.
Bassano is located at 129 m (423 ft)above sea level and has an area of 46.79 km2 (18.07 sq mi). Its highest point is at 1,421 m (4,662 ft), whereas the lowest point is at 84 m (276 ft). The city lies at the foothills of theVenetian Prealps, where riverBrenta comes out the southern end of Canal di Brenta (also called Valbrenta 'Brenta valley') and flows in the lowlands at the borders of Vicenza, Treviso and Padua provinces.
The wooden covered bridge, built on theBrenta River, known asPonte Vecchio orPonte degli Alpini, was designed in 1569 by the architectAndrea Palladio to replace a pre-existing construction existing from at least 1209. The bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1748, and was rebuilt three years later. TheNardini tavern on the bridge is unchanged since 1779.
Palazzo Michieli-Bonato, with a façade frescoed byJacopo da Bassano.
ThePalazzo del Municipio (Town Hall), erected from 1404. It has a Renaissance-style loggia and a fresco attributed toJacopo da Bassano.
TheMonte di Pietà, a Renaissance edifice with 15th-century coats of arms.
The municipal statute (art.6, par.2) of Bassano, recognizes only Rubbio asfrazione and defines Campese, Marchesane, San Michele, Sant'Eusebio and Valrovina as contrade. The other existing neighbourhoods of Bassano are not mentioned in the statute. However, in practice, all the administrative subdivisions have the same prerogatives and are namedquartieri.
Rubbio is afrazione and quartiere located at an altitude of 1,057 m (3,468 ft) on theAsiago plateau. This hamlet is contiguous with another hamlet, also named Rubbio, which is part of the commune ofLusiana Conco. Thus, in practice, the two hamlets form one village (named Rubbio), even though they belong to two different communes from the administrative point of view.
Officially, thecontrade (in ven.contrae) are Campese, Marchesane, San Michele, Sant'Eusebio and Valrovina. From an administrative point of view these are alsoquartieri. However, in practice, some of these neighbourhoods themselves contain smaller inhabited areas (as streets, groups of houses) also called contrade: there are thus contrade within contrade. Besides, some places known as contrade exist also within other neighbourhoods which are officially simply defined asquartieri, but not contrade.
All the administrative subdivisions (quartieri) of Bassano del Grappa are: Centro Storico, Margnan, San Marco, San Vito, Ca' Baroncello, Firenze, San Bassiano, San Lazzaro, San Fortunato, Borgo Zucco, Marchesane, Rondò Brenta, Angarano, XXV Aprile, Sant'Eusebio, San Michele, Valrovina, Rubbio, Campese, Merlo, Pré, Santa Croce.
Rubbio, with an area of 6.833 km2, is the largestquartiere of Bassano del Grappa, but also the least populated (65 inhabitants in 2023).
Quartiere Prè (an old venetian plural meaningmeadows, the modern ven. plural isprai), located in the southern lowland of Bassano del Grappa, is the second least populatedquartiere (248 inhabitants in 2023). Part of it hosts an industrial zone that also falls in the nearbySan Lazzaro, but it also contains a considerable rural area which falls within theParco rurale sovracomunale Civiltà delle Roggeregional park.
San Vito, in the north-eastern part of Bassano del Grappa, is the most populatedquartiere (6278 inhabitants in year 2023). It merges with the built-up areas of the bordering comunes Romano d'Ezzelino, Cassola and Pove del Grappa.
Until 1928, the official name of Bassano del Grappa was simply Bassano (as it is still informally called today).In 1878, the neighbourhood of Campese, previously belonging to the commune ofCampolongo sul Brenta, was detached from Campolongo and aggregated to Bassano. In 1938, the commune of Valrovina, which also comprised Rubbio, was suppressed and aggregated to Bassano.
^Gina, Fasoli, ed. (1988). "Bassano del Grappa XVI century map" (Map).A.S.V. – Raccolta Terkuz 55. Scale not given. Bassano del Grappa – Atlante storico delle città italiane – Veneto. Bologna: Grafis Edizioni. p. 72. Castelo de Basan inset.
^Scuro, Rachele (2012).Bassano: società ed economia in una terra autonoma della Terraferma veneta del 15. secolo (in Italian). Siena: Ph.D. dissertation. Università degli studi di Siena. p. 16.
^Scuro, Rachele; Comitato per la Storia di Bassano (2013). "Bassano nel Quattrocento". In Berti, Giampietro (ed.).Storia di Bassano del Grappa (in Italian). Bassano del Grappa – Romano d'Ezzelino: Grafiche Fantinato. p. 358.ISBN97888-909531-0-1.
^Scuro, Rachele (2012).Bassano : società ed economia in una terra autonoma della Terraferma veneta del 15. secolo. (Ph.D. Dissertation). Siena: Università degli studi di Siena. p. 17.
^Combat Chronology, 1941-1945, ed. Kit C Carter, Robert Mueller
