"Top": Church of San Nicolò; middle: Buranelli Canal and Via Palestro (left to right);"bottom": Cloister of Santa Caterina and Treviso City Hall (left to right).
Treviso (US:/treɪˈviːzoʊ/tray-VEE-zoh;[3]Italian:[treˈviːzo]ⓘ;Venetian:Trevixo[tɾeˈvizo]) is a city andcomune (municipality) in theVeneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of theprovince of Treviso and the municipality has 87,322 inhabitants (as of December 2024).[4] Some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls (le Mura) or in the historical and monumental center; some 80,000 live in the urban center while the city hinterland has a population of approximately 170,000.
Treviso is also known for being the original production area ofProsecco wine andradicchio,[5][6] and is thought to have been the origin of the popular Italian desserttiramisù.[7]
The first mention of Treviso, albeit indirect, can be found in the third book of theNaturalis historia byPliny the Elder, where the "Fluvius Silis ex montibus Tarvisanis" is cited.De vita sancti Martini byVenantius Fortunatus includes the first citation of the toponym "Tarvisus", followed, shortly after, by the Anonymous Ravennate with "Trabision". Numerous are also the references in theHistoria Langobardorum byPaul the Deacon: "Tribicium seu Tarbision", "apud Tarvisium" etc. The most probable hypothesis is that Tarvisium, decomposable in Tarv-is-ium, is ofCeltic origin: in fact, tarvos "bull" and the formant -is- typical ofGallic toponyms are recognized. Another theory is that it derives from the combination of two Roman terms, Ter- and -visi, in relation to the three hills (in Latin, precisely, visi), corresponding to the current Piazza Duomo,Piazza dei Signori and Piazza Sant'Andrea, on which the city was built.[8][9]
Some believe that Treviso derived its name from theCeltic word "tarvos" mixed with theLatin ending "isium" forming "Tarvisium", of the tarvos. Tarvos means bull in Celtic mythology, though the same word can relate to the lion, or Leo, in Eastern astrology. Others believe it comes from a word from the language of a tribe who first came to Treviso.[10]
Tarvisium, then a city of theVeneti, became amunicipium in 89 BC after theRomans addedCisalpine Gaul to their dominions. Citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe of Claudia. The city lay in proximity of theVia Postumia, which connectedOpitergium toAquileia, two major cities of Roman Venetia during Ancient and early medieval times. Treviso is rarely mentioned by ancient writers, althoughPliny writes of theSilis, that is theSile River, as flowingex montibus Tarvisanis.
During the Roman period, Christianity spread to Treviso. Tradition records that St.Prosdocimus, a Greek who had been ordained bishop bySt. Peter, brought the Catholic faith to Treviso and surrounding areas. By the 4th century, the Christian population grew sufficient to merit a resident bishop. The first documented bishop was John the Pious[11] who began his episcopacy in 396 AD.
Treviso went through a demographic and economic decline similar to the rest of Italy after the fall of theWestern Empire; however, it was spared byAttila the Hun, and thus, remained an important center during the 6th century. According to tradition, Treviso was the birthplace ofTotila, the leader ofOstrogoths during theGothic Wars. Immediately after the Gothic Wars, Treviso fell under the ByzantineExarchate of Ravenna until 568 AD when it was taken by theLombards, who made it one of 36ducal seats[12] 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 theFrankish Empire. People from the city also played a role in the founding ofVenice.
Charlemagne made it the capital of a border march, i.e. theMarca Trevigiana, which lasted for several centuries.
Treviso joined theLombard League, and gained independence after thePeace of Constance (1183).[13] This lasted until the rise of thesignorial rulers in the towns of northern Italy.[12] In 1214, Treviso was the scene of theCastle of Love that turned into a war between Padua and Venice. Among the various families who ruled over Treviso, theDa Romano reigned from 1237 to 1260. Struggles betweenGuelph and Ghibelline factions followed, with the first triumphant in 1283 withGherardo III da Camino, after which Treviso experienced significant economic and cultural growth which continued until 1312.[12] Treviso and its satellite cities, includingCastelfranco Veneto (founded by the Trevigiani in contraposition toPadua), had become attractive to neighbouring powers, including theda Carrara andScaligeri. After the fall of the lastCaminesi lord,Rizzardo IV, the Marca was the site of continuous struggles and ravages (1329–1388).
Treviso notary and physicianOliviero Forzetta was an avid collector of antiquities and drawings; the collection was published in a catalog in 1369, the earliest such catalog to survive to this day.[14]
After a Scaliger domination in 1329–1339, the city gave itself to theRepublic of Venice in consequence of theScaliger War,[13] becoming the first notable mainland possession of the Serenissima. 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. In 1381 the city was given to the duke of Austria, and between 1384 and 1388 it was ruled by the despotic Carraresi.[12] Having returned to Venice, the city was fortified and given a massive line of walls and ramparts, still existing; these were renewed in the following century under the direction ofFra 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.
Gate San Tomaso, with the Lion of Saint Mark, emblem of theVenetian Republic
Treviso was taken in 1797 by the French underMortier, who was made duke of Treviso. French domination lasted until the defeat ofNapoleon, after which it passed to theAustrian 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 on the following 14 June. Austrian rule continued until Treviso was annexed with the rest ofVeneto to theKingdom of Italy in 1866.[12][15]
DuringWorld War I, Treviso held a strategic position close to the Austrian front. Just north, theBattle of Vittorio Veneto helped turn the tide of the War.
Treviso stands at the confluence ofBotteniga with theSile,[13] 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of Venice, 50 km (31 mi) east of Vicenza, 40 km (25 mi) north-east of Padua, and 120 km (75 mi) south ofCortina d'Ampezzo. The city is situated some 15 km (9 mi) south-west the right bank of thePiave River, on the plain between theGulf of Venice and theAlps.
The Late Romanesque–Early Gothic church ofSan Francesco, built by theFranciscan 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 theFour Evangelists by a pupil ofTommaso da Modena, to whom is instead directly attributed a fresco ofMadonna with Child and Seven Saints (1350) in the first chapel on the left. The next chapel has instead a fresco withMadonna and Four Saints from 1351 by the so-calledMaster of Feltre. The church, among others, houses the tombs of Pietro Alighieri, son ofDante, and Francesca Petrarca, daughter of the poetFrancesco.
TheLoggia dei Cavalieri, an example of Treviso'sRomanesque influenced by Byzantine forms. It was built under thepodestà 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 thePalazzo di Podestà (later 15th century).
Church ofSan Nicolò, a mix of 13th-century Venetian Romanesque and French Gothic elements. The interior has a nave and two aisles, with fiveapsed chapels. It houses important frescoes by Tommaso da Modena, depictingSt Romuald,St Agnes and the Redemptor andSt Jerome in his Study. Also theGlorious Mysteries ofSanto 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 inglass in Europe.
Cathedral is 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 Malchiostro Chapels (1520). After the numerous later restorations, only the gate remains of the original Roman edifice. The interior houses works byIl Pordenone andTitian (Malchiostro Annunciation) among others. The edifice has seven domes, five over the nave and two closing the chapels.
Palazzo dei TrecentoVia Calmaggiore (Maine street)Palazzo dei Trecento, built in the 13th–14th centuries.
Piazza Rinaldi. It is the seat of three palaces of the Rinaldi family, the first built in the 12th century after their flight fromFrederick 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), along the city walls, where RiverBotteniga divides into the three channels that cross the city center (Cagnan Grande, Cagnan di Mezzo, Roggia).
Monte di Pietà di Treviso and theCappella dei Rettori. The Monte di Pietà was founded to house Jewish moneylenders. On the second floor is the Cappella dei Rettori, a lay hall for meetings, with frescoes byil Pozzoserrato.
Teatro Mario Del Monaco, the main theatre and opera house of the city. It was built in 1869 to designs byAndrea Scala [it] which kept the theatre's original facade. The internal decorations were by the painterFederico Andreotti and the sculptor Fausto Asteo.[21]
Dante Bridge in TrevisoPonte Dante (Dante Bridge) crosses the narrow Cagnan river at the point where it flows into the Sile. This place was mentioned byDante Alighieri in the third part of theDivine Comedy ("Paradise"). The bridge was named after the great Italian poet in 1865.[22]
As early as1231 the city was looking for a doctor able to teach a course in Treviso, but it was not until 1269 that the canon Florio de' Dovari ofCremona was appointed, probably the first professor of law. In 1313–1314, it is recorded that the municipality guaranteed the presence of two Law professors, an ordinary and an extraordinary one, a third professor to teach Canonic Law and a fourth to teach medicine. Even though the city had its own university in the Middle Ages, only in recent times theUniversity of Padua,Ca' Foscari and theIUAV of Venice established their own university campuses, giving once again the status of "university city" to Treviso. Classes are held at the former hospital of Battuti and the former Military District. In 2015 theUniversity IUAV of Venice closed its campuses in Treviso, moving its degree courses to Venice.
The public library has five locations, three of which are located in the city center.[26] There are also some private foundations, such as the documentation center of the Fondazione Benetton Studi e Ricerche with a library annex,[27] at Palazzo Caotorta, the Biblioteca Capitolare and the Biblioteca del Seminario. The Liceo Canova also has an interesting library on the ground floor of its main headquarters, in Via San Teonisto.
In addition to various museums, the city also offers important exhibition areas such asPalazzo dei Trecento, the city council's headquarters, Ca' dei Carraresi, owned by the Fondazione Cassamarca, and Palazzo Bomben, the headquarters of the Fondazione Benetton Studi e Ricerche.[28]
The Civic Museums, inaugurated in1879 with the name of Museo Trivigiano (Trivigiano Museum), are today divided into three locations: the Bailo Museum, which reopened in autumn 2015 after a renovation initiated in 2003 and named after Luigi Bailo, the founder and first curator; the Santa Caterina complex; the Ca' da Noal complex, Casa Robegan and Casa Karwath, acquired in 1935 by the municipality.[29] The various sections preserve artifacts found in the city itself or in the surrounding areas, dating from the second millennium BC. to the Early Middle Ages, works of art from the Renaissance to the twentieth century (Giovanni Bellini,Paris Bordone,Lorenzo Lotto,Tiziano,Rosalba Carriera,Giambattista andGiandomenico Tiepolo,Francesco Guardi,Pietro Longhi, Medoro Coghetto, Sante Cancian,Guglielmo Ciardi,Arturo Martini,Francesco Podesti,Gino Rossi).
Museo nazionale Collezione Salce, inaugurated in 2017, contains the collection of posters by Nando Salce, donated to the state at his death in 1962, and now kept at the Santa Margherita Complex, while the museum seat is the Complex of San Gaetano, which displays in rotation the graphic materials in temporary exhibitions.[30]
Ethnographic Provincial Museum, inaugurated in 2002 and set up in the rural architectural complex of the Piavone Houses, whose original nucleus dates back to the late seventeenth century, is located within the Natural Park of the Storga River, on the northern outskirts of Treviso. The various buildings, restored and transformed into a multifunctional structure, are also home to the Treviso Folk Group, dedicated to the protection and the promotion of the local culture.[31]
Diocesan Museum, inaugurated in 1988, the museum is housed in the building commonly called the Old Canons (12th century), the ancient seat of the canons of the Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle.[32]
Museums of the Episcopal Seminary, in the suppressed Dominican convent annexed to the Church of San Nicolò, seat since 1840 of the Episcopal Seminary, where there are the collections of the Zoological Museum named after Giuseppe Scarpa, doctor in Natural Science who donated in 1914 his own animal collection, and the Ethnographic Museum of the Venezuelan Indios (Piaroa, Makiritare, Panare, Warao and Motilon), founded thanks to the contribution of the priest Dino Grossa.[33]
Going in order, the most typical appetizer is thesoppressa, a soft cured meat cut into thick slices, usually accompanied bypolenta and radicchio. Among the first courses, the "risi" (with liver or accompanied by seasonal vegetables such as asparagus, radicchio, peas or "bisi"...) and soups (in particular the simple capon broth with tortellini, the bean soup and the sopa coada) can be mentioned. As for the main course, feathered game and poultry stand out: roasted guinea fowl with "pevarada" (a sauce made with liver and anchovy paste), boiled chicken, goose (often seasoned with celery), spit roasted duck and capon stew.
There is also fresh-water fish and in particular eel, "bisatto" in dialect, fried or stewed with polenta, fresh-water shrimp, trout and codfish (in Treviso and in the Triveneto commonly called "baccalà"). Even vegetables are often protagonists of the Trevisan table, and in particular, the famous Red Radicchio of Treviso. Although the province is rich in cheeses (Montasio,Asiago,Taleggio,Morlacco), the most typical is perhaps the soft Casatella of Treviso, a fresh cheese with protected designation of origin status prepared with pasteurized cow's milk.
Among the most cultivated fruits in the province are the Marrone of Combai, cherries, especially from the Hills of Asolo, and grapes. The most characteristic dessert is definitely theTiramisù, which according to the tradition was prepared for the first time in the restaurant "Alle Beccherie".[34] Other desserts that can be cited are the "Fregolotta" cake and seasonal desserts such as frittelle,crostoli and castagnole for Carnival, the Easter "fugassa con le mandorle", the Favette dei Morti. The most famous white wine is certainlyProsecco, and in addition to it, the Tocai, the Verduzzo and those made with white, grey Pinot andChardonnay grapes as far as white wines are concerned andCabernet,Merlot,Pinot noir andRaboso as far as red wines are concerned.[35]
In Treviso, artisanal production ofceramics andporcelain is widespread, as well as the processing of straw and wicker. In Treviso, in the past,Dal Negro, a company producingplaying cards, was founded and had its headquarters there. Currently, in this city there is anOsram factory and the headquarters ofDe'Longhi. Furthermore, in Treviso and its province, some of the most famous Italian wines are produced, such asProsecco,Cabernet,Tocai,Merlot,Raboso and other well-known varieties.[36][37]
In 2025, the BBC proposed Treviso as a "smarter alternative" to Venice for international travellers, given the more famous city's overwhelming tourist numbers at the time.[39]
Benetton (rugby union), winner of 15scudetti, playing at theMonigo stadium. Benetton is one of two Italian teams that compete in theURC, alongside existing teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and South Africa.
Benetton Basket, winner of 5scudetti, playing at the Palaverde.
Treviso is a popular area for cycling enthusiasts. From the city center there is an cycling path along the Sile river with connecting paths all the way to Jesolo, a seaside resort on the Adriatic sea. For road cyclists, Treviso is also a starting/finishing point for tours to the Montello hill and further into the hills of the area around Conegliano and Valdobbiadene.
Treviso Airport is located about 5 kilometers west-southwest of Treviso and approximately 31 kilometers from Venice. It's a smaller airport primarily used by low-cost airlines, withRyanair being one of the main operators. The airport has a single asphaltrunway, 2,420 meters long, and it stands 18 meters above sea level. The terminal was opened in 2007 and named after the famous ItaliansculptorAntonio Canova. The nearest major airport isVenice Marco Polo Airport, located 30 km (19 mi) south east which is a half an hour drive from Treviso.
^Kafka, Barbara (21 December 1988)."Radicchio: Tasty but So Misunderstood".The New York Times.Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved11 May 2017.The radicchio that Italians eat most often is Treviso.
^The founding of Treviso; etymology and history."VenetoInside".www.venetoinside.com. Retrieved23 April 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Storia di Treviso".Comune di Treviso. 17 August 2008.Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved22 September 2018.
^"Chronotaxis".Diocesi di Treviso (in Italian). Diocese of Treviso. Archived fromthe original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved15 September 2011.
^"Câmara recebe delegação sul-coreana".CÂMARA MUNICIPAL CURITIBA (in Portuguese). Câmara Municipal de Curitiba. 24 July 2007.Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved21 September 2018.
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