Trent

Trent (Trènt in Trentino dialect, Trént in Rovereto dialect, Trënt in Ladin, Tria in Cimbro, Trea't in Mocheno, Trient in German) is an Italian town of 120 899 inhabitants, capital of the autonomous province of Trento and of the Trentino region. South Tyrol.

 

How to orient yourself

The municipality of Trento offers tourists an information point in Piazza Dante 24 (crossroads via Torre Vanga/via Alfieri), where free maps of the city are available. Furthermore, in almost all bus stops there is one with the routes and stops of the service drawn.

 

Monuments and places of interest

Religious architecture

Churches
The city boasts numerous churches, with architecture ranging from the Romanesque period to the modern era. The most important are:

Cathedral of San Vigilio - The cathedral of San Vigilio is the Cathedral of Trento located in Piazza del Duomo. It is the main city church and was built in the 13th century on the area where there was originally an ancient basilica dedicated to San Vigilio, from whom it takes its name and who is the patron saint of the city. This ancient basilica was built outside the walls because it served as a cemetery church: San Vigilio and the remains of the three Ananuense martyrs Sisinnio, Martirio and Alessandro were buried there. Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg (author of the Tyrolean Landlibell) was crowned Emperor of the Holy Empire in the cathedral on 4 February 1508 by the Bishop of Gurk Mattias Lang. Most of the bishops of Trento are buried in the cathedral, including all the most recent. In the sixties and seventies of the twentieth century, important archaeological research was carried out in the subsoil of the apse of the basilica, which also partly modified the internal distribution of the apse area.
Church of Santa Maria Maggiore – built in the 16th century by Antonio Medaglia by order of Cardinal Bernardo Cles, in Renaissance style but with Gothic reminiscences ("Clesian style"). The façade has an important sixteenth-century portal, while inside there is a choir from the same century and paintings by Cignaroli and Moroni. The church hosted the third period of the Council of Trent (April 1562 - December 1563). The exterior was completely cleaned and returned to its original state in 2007. Archaeological excavations have highlighted that the sacred building was built on top of three previous churches (among which one is perhaps the Santa Maria della Neve, mentioned in written sources) . The oldest of the three, the early Christian ecclesia (5th-6th century), served as the episcopal seat and the main place of worship in the city during the first centuries of Christianity. This ecclesia, in turn, was built on top of a Roman public area where there was probably a spa complex.
Church of Saints Peter and Paul - was built in the 12th century near Piazza dell'Anfiteatro on a pre-existing chapel. The neo-Gothic façade was rebuilt to a design by Pietro Estense Selvatico between 1848 and 1850. It began in three bays and is surmounted by the statue of Saint Peter. Piazza dell'Anfiteatro (whose shape partly follows the oval of an amphitheatre) takes its name from a wall with steps discovered near a local cellar which is believed to be the base of the ancient Roman amphitheater where pagan shows took place. Other fragments of the Roman amphitheater can be visited in an internal area of the Palazzo della Cassa di Risparmio in via Galilei.
Church of Sant'Apollinare - built in the 13th century at the foot of Doss Trento on the banks of the Adige near the ancient village of Piedicastello. It is dedicated to the bishop of Ravenna of the 5th century and this suggests much more ancient origins. It appears extremely slender upwards, with a typically Nordic style sloping roof with shingle roofing (small wooden planks). In 1183, Pope Lucius III decided that the nearby church of San Lorenzo should take custody of this church: ecclesiam sancti Apollinaris cum hairs suis et relevantis.
Church of San Lorenzo – building dating back to the 12th century built by the Benedictines from Bergamo called to Trento by Bishop Altemanno. The apse part built in Romanesque style and the presbytery are particularly interesting.
Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Laste

Furthermore, some convents are located in Trento:
Convent of Santa Croce alla Spalliera, belonging to the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor;
Convent of San Bernardino, belonging to the Order of Friars Minor.

 

Civil architecture

Palaces
Case Cazuffi-Rella - The frescoes of the two houses were apparently commissioned by Tommaso Cazuffi on the occasion of the visit in 1535 of Ferdinand I of Austria, emperor of the Romans.
Palazzo delle Albere - Renaissance style palace, was built around 1550 at the behest of the Madruzzo family, who ruled the Principality of Trento for a century. Despite being a representative residence, it features fortifications and architectural defense elements, such as the four corner towers. It was a suburban country villa of the Prince-Bishops, until it was completely abandoned after the Second World War onwards. After its purchase in the seventies of the 20th century by the autonomous Province of Trento, from 1987 to 2010 it was the Trento headquarters of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto - MART. Closed for restoration in 2011, it has been used since 2015 as an exhibition space for temporary exhibitions.
Palazzo Pretorio - located in Piazza del Duomo, between the Castelletto and the Civic Tower, was the ancient and first bishop's residence (until the mid-13th century). Bordered by battlements and decorated with mullioned windows, the Civic Tower was built next to it. It now houses the Tridentine diocesan museum.
Palazzo Thun (current seat of the town hall) – in via Belenzani 19, representative palace of the Thun family, originally from Val di Non, who brought together a series of pre-existing buildings in a single complex in the mid-15th century. It underwent a notable transformation in 1830, when it was profoundly restored by Rodolfo Vantini according to the neoclassical taste by will of Count Matteo II Thun.
Palazzo Geremia – in via Belenzani 20, building built towards the end of the fifteenth century with a Renaissance style on the outside and late Gothic on the inside. It is now owned by the municipality and hosts the mayor's office and cultural events. On the facade there are portraits of various characters such as Marco Curzio portrayed on a white horse (on the first floor to the left of the four-light window), Muzio Scevola (to the right of the same four-light window) and Curio Dentato. On the lower level there is the wheel of fortune and the halberdier.
Palazzo Sardagna – in via Calepina 14, a palace owned by the autonomous Province of Trento, was built in the sixteenth century and renovated in the eighteenth century by the will of the Sardagna family, whose family coat of arms is painted on the vault of the atrium. From 1982 to 2013 it hosted the headquarters of the Tridentine Museum of Natural Sciences. One of the three putti, who appear in the Costantino Room, was portrayed with particularly dark tones, so-called. little black angel, which according to legend would be the fruit of a miracle that occurred while the author, Marcello Fogolino from Vicenza, was painting the fresco. Today it is the seat of the Rectorate of the University of Trento.
Palazzo Lodron - built in the period of the Council of Trent (around 1570) by Ludovico II Lodron, houses a pictorial cycle that extends over all the most important rooms of the building. Seat of the Regional Administrative Court of Trento.
Palazzo Salvadori – in via Manci 119, one of the first examples of Renaissance civil architecture in Trento. It was built by the Lombard master Lucio Tosani, in the Clesian period starting from 1515. Around the mid-18th century, two stone medallions were affixed to the façade to celebrate the martyrdom of Simonino di Trento, the child who was falsely believed to be the victim of a Jewish ritual in Easter 1475. This episode, perhaps the most negative in the history of the city, caused the expulsion of the small Jewish community of Trento, which had its own synagogue in the building, the rooms of which are still visible in the semi-underground level along the Vicolo al Vò complete with a commemorative stele. The chapel of the Saint, however, is located in Palazzo Bortolazzi and is occupied by a jewelery shop.
Palazzo Galasso or Del Diavolo (Ca del Diaol) – located in via Manci 99 and built in 1602 by a descendant of the powerful Fugger banking family; so called, according to legend, also cited by Goethe, due to a bet won by Fugger against Mephistopheles. In the annexed noble chapel of the Santi Martiri Anauniensi, on 9 January 1837, King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies married Archduchess Maria Teresa of Habsburg-Teschen, the wedding was celebrated by Bishop Giovanni Nepomuceno de Tschiderer.
Palazzo Roccabruna – in via SS.Trinità 24, part of a merger of various building units which took place in the mid-16th century, with courtyard, frescoed hall and frescoed chapel dedicated to Saint Gerolamo. In the same building, on the ground floor, there is the Provincial Enoteca which hosts exhibitions and tastings of typical local wines.
Palazzo Bortolazzi - in via Malpaga 17, today the headquarters of the SOSAT (Tridentine Mountaineers Society Workers' Section) and its choir, takes its name from the Bortolazzi family. It includes a chapel dedicated to Simonino.
Palazzo Calepini - the palace takes its name from the noble family who settled there in the 15th century.
Palazzo Ghelfi – in Piazza Pasi 21, takes its name from the family who settled in the city of Trento during the fifteenth century.
Palazzo Cazuffi – in via Oss Mazzurana 45, located in the San Benedetto district, is of Renaissance origin. Of the rich pictorial decoration that affected the entire palace, only the upper part and the string course remain. Not to be confused with the Case Cazuffi in Piazza Duomo.
Casa Balduini – in Piazza Duomo 30, of medieval origin, is frescoed by an unknown "abstract" painter. It houses a typical local tavern.
Casa Torre Mirana – in via Belenzani 21, one of the oldest buildings in the Sass, of medieval origins, was remodeled in the Renaissance by the Mirana family.
Palazzo Migazzi Ciani – in via Manci 158 the vast Renaissance building belonged to the Migazzi family from Cogolo in Val di Peio. It houses a cinema.
Palazzo Trautmannsdorf – in Piazza Sanzio at the corner of Via Suffragio, extends between Piazza Mostra and Via Suffragio and overlooks Piazza Raffaello Sanzio; it took on its current appearance during the seventeenth century by the Tyrolean counts Trautmannsdorf. Previously it belonged to the noble Particella family; after the counts it passed to the Salvadori barons.
Palazzo Quetta - Alberti Colico – in via Belenzani 30, next to Palazzo Geremia, derives from the fusion of two previous building nuclei, has a frescoed façade with candelabra and frescoes dating from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century period.
Palazzo Civico - (or old town hall) next to Palazzo Alberti Quetta Colico, was the ancient seat of the consular magistrate. On the roof is written a motto (in Latin) attributed to San Bartolomeo which, translated, sounds more or less like this: el sass me gavè da l'arzent e l'nom de Trent (the mountain has supplied us with silver and the title of Trent).
Palazzo Consolati - in via S.Maria Maddalena 1 where the members of the "Accademia degli Accesi" met to compete for the title of lezù (= intellectuals) against those of the Agiati of Rovereto.
Palazzo Del Monte – in via Suffragio 93, built in 1519 in the "Cantone" (between via Suffragio and via San Marco), is frescoed with the labors of Hercules and with a coat of arms of Maximilian I.
Casa Niccolini - in Piazza Mario Pasi, with frescoes from 1500-600 rediscovered in 2020
Palazzo della Filarmonica – in via Verdi 30, inside the concert season hall of the Philharmonic Society.
Palazzo Firmian – in via Galilei 1, of Renaissance origins; Carlo G.Firmian, governor of Lombardy (from 1759), protector of men of letters and poets and one of the promoters of the young Mozart, was born in the palace. Now and headquarters of the Savings Bank.
Palazzo Larcher Fogazzaro – in via Mazzini 10, late Trentino Baroque building erected by the noble Guarinoni family. The portal has two giants holding up the balcony above. Adjacent you can see a fragment of the medieval walls, a residue of the removal works along Via Verdi.
Palazzo Pilati – in via Oss Mazzurana 38, has an interesting Gothic façade dating back to the 15th century.
Palazzo Saracini Pedrotti – in via Manci 57, of Renaissance style, was raised in 1862. Now home to the S.A.T. (not to be confused with the S.O.S.A.T. based in Palazzo Bortolazzi).
Palazzo Tabarelli – in via Oss Mazzurana 65, built in 1515, takes its name from whoever ordered its construction. Also known as "Palazzo dei Diamanti": this is how the Trentino people baptized it, due to its façade shining with reflected diamonds. 22 profiles of local historical figures are carved on the facade (the last one on the right on the first floor is Bernardo Clesio).
Palazzo Trentini – in via Manci 83, originally belonging to the Trentini barons, the palace was built towards the middle of the 18th century, seat of the Council of the Autonomous Province of Trento.
Palazzo della Propositura - next to the church of Santa Margherita, Enea Silvio Piccolomini lived here.
Provincial Palace – in Piazza Dante, seat of the Presidency and Council of the Autonomous Province of Trento. Inside there are decorations by Fortunato Depero.
Former Jesuit college building - in via Roma, purchased in the seventeenth century by the Jesuits, is now the seat of the municipal library of Trento, incorporating an old cinema, still visible in via Torre Verde 28.
Palace in Prato – of sixteenth-century origins, it was the residence of the barons in Prato, demolished to make room for:
Palazzo delle Poste – (1929-1934) in Piazza Vittoria, built in the fascist period, it incorporates the rear part of the Palazzo in Prato.
Palazzo Voltolini - in Piazza Vittoria (north side), dating back to the 17th century, is now the headquarters of the Civil Engineers.
Palace of the Court of Trento - in via San Francesco, built in 1876 as the Austro-Hungarian "government palace", it houses the Palace of Justice, while the judicial prisons have recently been moved to the outskirts.
Building of the faculty of Sociology - in via Verdi 32, since 1962 home to the faculty of sociology and the central library of the humanities faculties. Previously (from 1889 until 1961) it housed an elementary school.
Palazzo Ranzi – in Piazza S.Maria 31, built in neo-Renaissance style (pilasters in pink Fiemme granite) on which façade a series of marble busts representing 15 Trentino figures have been placed: from bottom left: Andrea Pozzo (Jesuit architect), Francesco Oradini (sculptor), Gianbattista Lampi (painter), Francesco Guardi (painter), Fede Galizia (painter), Bianca Laura Saibanti (poet from Rovereto), Niccolò Dorigatti (painter), Andrea Rensi (painter), Antonio Tita (naturalist), Aliprando Caprioli (engraver); on the second floor from the left: Andrea dell'Aquila (painter and sculptor), Vincenzo Vicentini (painter), Alessandro Vittoria (sculptor), Vigilio Rubini (sculptor) and Bernardo di Santagnese (religious).
Palazzo Arciescovile – on the east side of Piazza Fiera, built to a design by Ignazio Liberi for the Ceschi family, taking advantage of some structures of the seventeenth-century extra-urban villa of the Particella, then Cannella, which in turn was built on the site of the two sixteenth-century huts. From the Particella residence, called according to legend, "La favorita", the portal with large white and red ashlars that serves the garden remains. Since 1921 it has been the archbishop's residence and seat of the Curia.
Ex Casa Littoria – in Largo Porta Nuova, built in 1938, depicts on a portion of the facade a high relief of a bare-chested man wearing a cloak with one hand raised, in the other holding a rifle and a spade, above which there is a balcony with a falcon carved on the parapet. Towards the top of the building there are two supports between which there was a fasces.
Palazzo Nogarola-Guarenti – in via Oss Mazzurana 1 from the 16th century houses department stores. On the first floor, a graceful two-storey door complete with a wrought iron balcony catches your attention.
Molino Vittoria – in via Verdi dating back to 1912, initially used for the processing of cereals, it frequently changed use and destination. It is now owned by the University of Trento which has reserved some rooms for library use. The southern façade features two interesting statues dedicated to Ceres, goddess of cereals and crops (in the west corner), and Mercury, god of goods and protector of traders (in the east corner).
Villa Tambosi - in Villazzano di Trento now home to the Trentino section of the European Center for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (ECT*).
Mausoleum of Cesare Battisti on Doss Trento - the Mausoleum dedicated to Cesare Battisti was built on the hill (308 m) that rises on the right bank of the Adige: 16 marble columns 14 meters high on a circular base. Doss Trento also houses the Alpine Museum. Next to it there are the remains of an ancient early Christian church from the 4th century.
Hotel Cavour, in Piazza S.M. Maggiore 21, the convex façade dominates the most evocative part of the square, built in the 16th century, it houses the Golden Rose Brewery.
Former Augustinian Complex (16th century) in via S. Marco, corner of via S. Maria, housed the order of the same name, it is a public park.
Francesco Crispi Schools - on the corner between Piazza Fiera and Via Don Bosco. Born as an orphanage, they were commissioned around 1860 to the architect Angelo Milesi of Ortona by the Civic Congregation of Charity of Trento. The project involved the demolition of the pre-existing Maso dei Leoni, the diversion of the canal and the construction of the building in alignment with those that constituted the southern limit of Piazza Fiera. The building is characterized by an internal courtyard, a full-arch portico and an archivolted loggia with balustrades, both of which were infilled when, towards the end of the 1920s, the municipality obtained the structure with the aim of adapting it to a school building. The project and renovation works were carried out between 1927 and '28. A second renovation, which lasted several years, ended in 2014.
The numerous frescoed houses in Piazza Duomo and in other streets of the city are interesting. Single-cell terraced houses, which usually rise up to 3 floors above ground, are examples of Trentino residential architecture and make up the majority of homes in the centre. Without significant decorative elements, it still retains the typical layout with the entrance hall and shop on the ground floor, wooden stairwell with two or more flights and upper rooms overlooking the street (living room and sleeping area, while the kitchen and latrine are placed on the bottom).

 

Fountains

Fountain of Neptune - one of the most important monuments of the 18th century city (it was built between 1767 and 1768 based on a design by Francesco Antonio Giongo), built in the period of the Enlightenment for "the health and decorum of the city". In the courtyard of the municipal building there is the original statue of Neptune, the one sculpted by Stefano Salterio da Como: in fact, in the 1940s, a bronze reproduction was placed on the top of the fountain.
Fontana dell'aquila - small fountain in Piazza Duomo surmounted by a stone eagle. A legend was born about this eagle.
Fontana delle Naiadi - fountain from 1954 in the center of Largo Porta Nuova, circular in shape with 150 jets along the perimeter that spray water towards the center where since 1983 a sculpture by Eraldo Fozzer (1908-1995) representing two stylized horses has been placed adjacent and looking towards the sky. The fountain takes its name from the sculpture, again by Fozzer, which in 1956 was placed in the center and which depicted two naked bodies of Naiads, later removed in the name of the sense of modesty of the Trentino people (the sculpture was then purchased in 1960 by the municipality of Bolzano, who placed it on the fountain in Piazza del Tribunal). The fountain is also locally known by the nickname of the mayor's lavamàn, due to its circular shape.
Fountain in Piazza delle Erbe - designed in 1867 by Stefano Varner and Tamanini, it was originally located in the center of the adjacent Piazza Alessandro Vittoria, from which it was removed to erect the monument to Alessandro Vittoria in 1908. On the fountain there is a bronze putto, work by Andrea Malfatti, who meditates at the top of the supporting column, with two lateral jets pouring water into shell-shaped basins. It is also called "ostarìa dei dó castradi" (tavern of the two castrati) due to the lateral jets in the shape of a ram.
Fontana del Fauno Innamorato - nineteenth-century fountain, also known as the Bacchino, can be admired on the west side of Piazza Pasi which, in the original sketch, was supposed to represent the mythical figure of Narcissus and which, instead, turned out to be a whim of the Trentino sculptor Andrea Malfatti who he had fallen in love with Mariolina, a girl who worked at a tailor's shop in the adjacent building. The gaze of the Faun, in fact, intent on pouring water into a jar, is turned towards a window of Casa Crivelli.
Fountain of the two dolphins, in the small square in front of the S.Chiara park, near the church of the same name.
Fountain on the church of San Marco, with the statue of St. Giovanni Nepomunceno, located at the corner of the church inside a niche with a classic frame.
20th century fountain dedicated to Antonio Rosmini, on the corner of via Bartolomeo Malfatti and corso III Novembre, with a bust by Livio De Gasperi from 1955.
20th century fountain-monument dedicated to Luigi Negrelli, in Piazza Dante. The work recalls the Suez Canal project, created by Negrelli.
Fountain from 1957 in the gardens of Piazza Venezia, the work of the sculptor Antonio Berti, located in the staircase at the back of the monument to Alcide De Gasperi. It is characterized by a mosaic in which the coats of arms of the Italian capitals appear.
The city of Trento also has other fountains of less artistic interest. Among these there are the fountain of Port'Aquila, the fountain in the park in front of the court, the 3 fountains in the park of San Marco, the fountain in Piazza Garzetti, behind the Torre del Massarello, the fountain in Piazza Santa Teresa Verzeri.

 

Bridges

Since Trento is of Roman origin and located on an important military road, it is reasonable to assume the existence of some bridges that crossed the Adige river and the Fersina stream, located south of the city where the military road came from. However, keep in mind that the course of the Fersina torrent has only been in its current location since the 16th century, when it was diverted because it flooded the historic center several times a year, the course being in the center of the current Piazza Fiera, immediately outside the walls, in a position highest in the historic center. The Ponte Alto waterfall (built to slow the speed of the water) and the powerful embankments built at the time to contain the current course have prevented any subsequent flooding of the Fersina, even if on rare occasions the torrent has reached the point of touching the embankments. Sometimes, however, the lower area of Bolghera has been invaded by the water of the Rio Salè, which south of the Fersina flows almost parallel to it, then flowing into the Fersina immediately before it flows into the Adige.

Up to now no trace has been found of these bridges, nor is it known whether they were made of masonry, wood or built with boats (in the case of the Adige, remembering that in moving the course the river's path was significantly shortened and therefore previously the water flowed much more slowly and the course was wider).

The same considerations can be applied to bridges of medieval origin. Ancient maps of the city report the existence of a bridge, called the "covered bridge", which crossed the Adige at Torre Vanga to lead to the Church of San Lorenzo and another bridge located over the Fersina. These bridges almost certainly stood where the Roman ones once stood, the road leading to the city passed from the one over the Fersina (probably located in front of the Torrione in Piazza Fiera). Obviously the bridge was recreated in place of the current Ponte dei Cavalleggeri when the course of the Fersina was moved, probably in wood (but there is no memory or certainty of this). The "Covered Bridge" over the Adige was destroyed when, by the Austrian government, the course of the Adige river was diverted to make way for the railway.

Now there are newer bridges in the city.

On Fersina
Ponte Santa Barbara - at the beginning of via De Gasperi
Ponte dei Cavalleggeri - between Corso III Novembre and Viale Verona
Ponte dei Mille - on the street of the same name
Ponte Borzaga - on via Vicenza, named after the missionary Mario Borzaga
Dame of Sion Bridge - at the Galilei Institute
Ponte Cornicchio - Manci climb towards Mesiano
Old Lodovico Bridge - connection to Mesiano
Ponte Lodovico - along the road that goes up to Mesiano, near the contemporary San Donà roundabout, built in the 2000s alongside the pre-existing Old Ponte Lodovico to meet the increased traffic needs
Ponte Alto - small and narrow bridge east of the city, on the small road leading to Povo from the highway entrance. The nearby Ponte Alto waterfall, in the Ponte Alto ravine, is an artificial waterfall created by order of Bernardo Clesio to vent the floods of the Fersina.

On the Adige
Motorway Bridge - on the Brenner Motorway north of the city.
Ponte della Statale - on the Strada Statale north of the city
St. George's Bridge - in the city
San Lorenzo Bridge - in the city
Ravina Bridge - on the road to the village of Ravina
Ponte di San Nicolò - on the state road south of the city

 

Contemporary architecture

Trento "Gianni Caproni" airport, named after the engineer. Trentino aeronautical officer Gianni Caproni - in the suburb of Mattarello, 5 km south of the city.
Boscolo Hotel – in via Alfieri 3 has performed the functions of a hotel since 1939.
Casa del Balilla – in via Pozzo since 1933 it housed the premises of the Italian youth of the littorio, demolished in the 1950s in favor of the bus station.
Case IACP – also known as "Complex ai Muredei" located in the street of the same name, built in 1929 for residential use; it is one of the city's few examples of deco style.
Houses for the maimed and war invalids – in via Montello 30 built in deco style in 1927 for the veterans of the Great War. On the corner you can see a votive newsstand.
"Gavino Pizzolato" barracks named in memory of Gen. Gavino Pizzolato, decorated with two Silver Medals for Military Valor and two Bronze Medals for Military Valor, of the Military Order of Savoy and of the colonial Order of the Star of Italy , which fell in North Africa on 23 March 1943.
Bruno social center – next to the Trento-Malé station, it housed the customs premises since 1934, then in the sixties it was renovated as a self-managed social service and demolished in 2015.
Expansion of the Faculty of Law - Mario Botta
Faculty of Engineering in Mesiano - Giovanni Leo Salvotti De Bindis (1985-1995)
Garbari Gallery – between Via Manci and Piazza Cesare Battisti was built in 1924 in Art Nouveau style.
Regional Institute of Social Studies and Research (1950) in Piazza S.Maria at the corner of Via S.Giovanni, former National Body of Italian Schools of Social Service. It houses a specialized library on social work. A relief by Luigi De Gasperi is visible on the facade.
MUSE – in Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3 (in the Le Albere district), built in 2013 based on a design by Renzo Piano.
Electrical workshop – in Viale Trieste for various uses, it had functioned as a hydroelectric power station since the 1920s.
Santa Chiara Hospital, in Largo Medaglie d'Oro, 9.
Tourism Pavilion – between via Alfieri and via Torre Verde, built in 1940 in record time to replace the previous pavilion.
Savoy Pavilion - next to the Tourism Pavilion, built in 1920 as a hostel to accommodate travelers coming from the station, it was later used as a pastry shop until more recently when it was purchased by SIT.
Government Palace – in C.so III Novembre 11, planned since 1950 for the functions of Co.Re.Co., houses the Police Station.
Palazzo della Regione – in via Gazzoletti 2, Adalberto Libera (1950-56)
Post Office Building - Angiolo Mazzoni (1929-1934)
Palazzo Salvotti (1960) for residential use located in Corso III Novembre on the corner with Via Piave.
Dorigoni Passage – connects via Suffragio with via Torre verde, built in 1910 in correspondence with the old Porteghet. Frescoes depicting Cronos are barely visible.
Major Seminary – in c.so III Novembre 46, houses the theology faculty and two libraries.
Railway station - Angiolo Mazzoni
Raffaello Sanzio elementary school – in the square of the same name, Adalberto Libera (1931-34)
Bus station - next to the railway station (1956).
Residential unit and church of Madonna Bianca - Marcello Armani and Luciano Perini (seventies)

 

Military architecture

In addition to the castles and towers located in the municipal territories, there were, and some still exist, some military barracks, including the "Cesare Battisti", the "Gavino Pizzolato" and the "Damiano Chiesa".

 

Castles

Buonconsiglio Castle - Built in the thirteenth century, it hosted the prince bishops of the city for five centuries. The oldest structure is represented by Castelvecchio (13th century), later rebuilt. Palazzo was built next door by order of Bernardo Clesio the Great, decorated by Romanino and Dosso Dossi, then put in direct communication with the ancient building through the Albertian Council. Torre Aquila, oriented towards Aquileia, preserves an important International Gothic fresco, the Cycle of the Months, perhaps attributable to the master Wenceslaus of Bohemia. Other towers of the castle are Torre d'Augusto (the main tower, the circular one) and Torre del falco. In front of the main entrance of the castle, across the road, there is also a stone sarcophagus. According to legend, the Buonconsiglio Castle was previously called Malconsiglio because of the witches who haunted the Torre d'Augusto and who were chased away after the Council. They would then take refuge in Val di Sole near S. Bernardo di Rabbi where they still live.

 

Towers

Noble families did not hesitate to build a tower near their home as it is well known that temperatures are warmer on the upper floors; in harmony with the name of the city, thirty-three can be counted:
Civic Tower - built before the year 1000 next to Palazzo Pretorio where, during the Roman period, Porta Veronensis stood. Originally it represented the keep of Palazzo Pretorio (lower and stockier than the current tower, which was built over the centuries). On it there is a large clock and inside there is the Renga bell, or the bell that called "all'Arengo", to public assemblies and death sentences carried out in the Piazza Duomo below. In the civic tower overlooking Piazza Duomo it is said that a bell once rang to announce to Vigilio the imminent death of Romedio, the patron saint of None. After being reopened to the public, three years later, precisely on 4 August 2015, the top of the tower caught fire.
Torre Vanga - tower built in 1210 by Prince Bishop Federico Vanga and once bordered by the river Adige, had the purpose of controlling access to the Doss Trento hill.
Torre Verde - built in 1450, was also built on the banks of the ancient course of the river, near a port area. The bed of the Adige was diverted during the nineteenth century to make way for the construction of the railway.
Torre della Tromba - dating back to the early thirteenth century, it was built near the Cathedral.
Torre Mozza - from the 13th century, is located in via Belenzani in the immediate vicinity of Torre della Tromba.
Torrione Madruzziano (El Torion), or also the Rotonda (since it is circular in shape). The tower was built in the 16th century, by order of Ludovico Madruzzo, and was equipped with a guardhouse that monitored the southern entrance to the city (Porta Santa Croce), which has now been demolished. The Torrione is located on the western side of Piazza Fiera, right in front of the Curia palace, which is located on the eastern side. Over time (nineteenth century) it was transformed into a commercial building (cafeteria) and subsequently used as shops and homes. The tower is covered by a high conical spire (lantern). After the renovation in 2017, in 2018 it was converted into an accommodation facility.
Torre del Massarello - of medieval construction, was the seat of the archdeacons of the cathedral chapter at the time of the Council (hence the probable original name of Archdeacon Tower-House). The current name derives from that of Angelo Massarelli da San Sepolcro, general secretary of the Council of Trent, who lived there in the twenty years in which the assembly was held. This tower has the upper part cut off and is located in via SS. Trinity.
Torre dei Gionghi - in Graffiano di Povo, above the Gocciadoro park. Only this tower remains of the Pietrapiana Castle, which controlled the city of Trento from its hilltop position.
Torre Aquila - in via Cervara, incorporated into the medieval walls
Torre Benassuti - in the alley of the same name, of Roman origins
Benetti-Mersi tower house, in Largo Carducci on the corner with via S.Pietro
Consolati Tower - in via Rosmini near the ruins of the Roman Villa
Torre dei Rochi - in Ravina
Torre dell'Orco - in Ravina
De Negri tower house - in Piazza Duomo (Bar Portici) not to be confused with:
De Negri-Rella tower house - in via S.Pietro, next to the Legionaries Gallery
Torre del Deposito - Molino Vittoria, former municipal bakery
Torre Franca - in Mattarello
Modern Tower - in via degli Orti, 8
Torre Littoria - in Piazza Venezia taken from the former Casa Littoria
Maestranzi Tower - in Piazza Lodron
Bell tower of S. Maria Assunta - Church of S. Maria Maggiore
Bell tower of S. Lorenzo - Civic Temple
Bell tower of S. Francesco Saverio - former Casa delle Costede
Bell tower of the Cathedral - overlooking via Verdi
Bell tower of S. Romedio - overlooking via Garibaldi
Bell tower of S. Apollinare - Piedicastello
St. Peter's bell tower - Anfiteatro square
Bell tower of the SS. Pietro and Andrea - Povo
Bell tower of S. Croce - Church of the same name in Corso III Novembre
Bell tower of S. Marco - Church of the same name
Bell tower of the SS. Filippo and Giacomo - Cemetery church in Sardagna

 

Walls and gates of the Medieval City

Port'Aquila - in the eastern part of the city, incorporated over the centuries by the castle.
Porta S. Margherita - secondary gate in the western part of the city, spared, together with Port'Aquila, from demolition in the nineteenth century because it was in a secondary position with respect to the main traffic routes.
Walls of Piazza Fiera - the only ones left of the ancient thirteenth-century walls that surrounded the city, built by Bishop Vanga, are surmounted by swallowtail battlements. Note the remains of the staircase that led to the patrol passage. Under the square, in the covered car park, you can see another stretch of walls, in fact in the Middle Ages the road level was much lower than now, the ground of the current Piazza di Fiera being raised by the gravel continually brought there by the floods of the Fersina which it ran in front of the walls and whose old banks were found in the excavation of the underground car park. Sections of other pieces of walls can also be seen incorporated into the houses located along their perimeter.

Fortifications
In the province of Trento there are numerous forts and fortifications dating back to the 17th and 19th centuries and in any case to before the First World War built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, some are in a good state of conservation, of others only the remains are visible. Of the many fortifications in Trentino[59], some of these constituted the fortified complex "Fortezza di Trento", in German Festung Trient, which included:

Bus de Vela road cut - in Cadine along the road from Gardesana down to Trento
Forte Doss di Sponde - on the slopes of Mount Bondone
Forte Candriai - also on the slopes of Mount Bondone
Forte Mandolin - no longer exists, in its place the Alcide Degasperi heliotherapy colony
Forte Camponzin - on the road from Sopramonte to Candriai
Forte Palon - on the top of Mount Bondone in Trento
Forte delle Viote - on Mount Bondone in Trento
Forte Romagnano - in Romagnano di Trento
Mattarello fortified complex - divided into the Lower Battery and the Upper Battery, in addition to the fort. In Mattarello di Trento
Doss Fornas Battery - the fort is positioned on the left relief of the Valsorda, and guarded the entrance to Trento from this valley.
Brusafer Battery - the fort is positioned on the right relief of Valsorda, and guarded the entrance to Trento from this valley.
Marzola Battery and Blockhaus Marzola - controlling the path that from Vigolo Vattaro led to Marzola
Forte San Rocco - on the San Rocco hill in southern Trento
Roncogno Battery - located on the slopes of Mount Celva, under the jurisdiction of Trento
Martignano Battery - in Martignano di Trento
Forte Casara - on the northern slope of Monte Calisio, controls the Civezzano-Montevaccino road. Under the jurisdiction of Trento
Fortification of Doss Trento - on the Doss Trento.
Cimirlo Battery - stood on a hill overlooking the town of Roncogno, a hamlet of Pergine Valsugana, under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Pergine Valsugana.
Civezzano fortified complex: Upper and Lower Road Cut, a railway barrier in addition to the fort. Under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Civezzano.

These last two fortified complexes, even if they are not under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Trento, were mentioned due to their border position.

In the 20th century there were several military barracks in Trento, some of which can no longer be found.

"Cesare Battisti" barracks: built between 1800 and the beginning of the twentieth century by the engineer Annibale Apollonio for the Austro-Hungarian troops, it had the name of Caserma Madruzzo. During the Great War it became a military hospital. After the conflict it underwent some small changes and was dedicated on 15 May 1939 to Cesare Battisti, hosting the "Trento" Alpine Battalion and the 62nd "Sicilia" Infantry Regiment belonging to the "Trento" Motorized Infantry Division. During the Second World War it became the headquarters of the Trentina Police Force. Once again in the hands of the Italians, it became the seat of various departments:
from 1954 to 1974: 1st Engineer Regiment and dependent departments;
from 1964 to 1974: XIV Pioneer Engineer Battalion, I Teleferista Company and a mixed company of the II Bolzano Engineer Regiment;
from 1975 to 1993: IV Battalion of the “Orta” pioneer engineers;
from 1993 to 1995: 1st Pioneer Engineer Regiment;
since 1995: II Sappers Regiment belonging to the "Julia" Alpine Brigade.

 

Main streets and squares

Roads
The main streets of Trento are: via Andrea Pozzo, via Antonio Gazzoletti, via Armando Diaz, via Calepina, via Camillo Benso Cavour, via degli Orbi, via del Simonino, via delle Orfane, via Galileo Galilei, via Giannantonio Manci, via Giuseppe Garibaldi , via Giuseppe Mazzini, via Giuseppe Verdi, via Mantova, via Oriola, via Paolo Oss Mazzurana, via Rodolfo Belenzani, via Roma, via San Giovanni, via San Marco, via San Pietro, via San Vigilio, via Santa Maria Maddalena, via Santissima Trinità, via Senato Carlo Esterle, via Torre Vanga, via Torre Verde, via Vittorio Alfieri, vicolo dei Gaudenti, vicolo del Vò, vicolo dell'Adige, vicolo Galasso; via Alessandro Manzoni, via Brennero, via cardinale Bernardo Clesio, via Clementino Vannetti, via dei Cappuccini, via della Cervara, via della Malvasia, via della Pontara, via della Spalliera, via Felice e Gregorio Fontana, via Francesco Petrarca, via Gian Domenico Romagnosi , via Giovanni Segantini, via Jacopo Aconcio, via San Martino, via Torre d'Augusto; Corso III Novembre, via Fratelli Bronzetti via Fratelli Perini, via Giacomo Matteotti, via Gino Buccella, via Giuseppe Giusti via Michelangelo Mariani, via Palermo, via Vittorio Veneto, viale Rovereto, viale Verona.

Squares
The busiest squares in the Trentino capital are: Piazza Adamo d'Arogno, Piazza Cesare Battisti, Piazza del Duomo, Piazza Dante, Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza Lodron, Piazza Venezia, Piazzetta Anfiteatro, Piazzetta del Sas, Largo Giosuè Carducci; Piazza Centa, Piazza della Mostra, Piazza Raffaello Sanzio, Piazza Silvio Pellico, Largo Nazario Sauro.

 

Other

Arches
Arco dei Tre Portoni - was the monumental access to the tree-lined avenue that led to the Madruzzo suburban residence, the Palazzo delle Albere.
However, we are not aware of a Roman triumphal arch.

Sarcophagi
Stone sarcophagus, in front of the entrance to the Buonconsiglio castle
Sarcophagi of the Bishops of Trento: almost all the bishops of Trento of the last millennium are buried within the Duomo cathedral in stone sarcophagi.

Cemeteries
Monumental Cemetery of Trento - work to build it began in 1826

Columns
Column in Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore - erected in 1845 in memory of the celebrations for the third centenary of the opening of the council.
Column in the Tirrena Gallery

 

Monumental statues and small monuments

Monument to Dante - in Piazza Dante, erected in 1896 to underline the Italian nature of the city in contrast to the statue of the medieval singer Walther von der Vogelweide in Bolzano.
Monument to Alcide De Gasperi - in Piazza Venezia, erected in 1955 to commemorate the Trentino statesman. Justice, Faith and Diplomacy are sculpted on the base of the monument. On the mosaic of the fountain, however, the coats of arms of the main Italian cities appear. During the winter, the image of the sculpture on the back of the monument under blankets of snow is suggestive, almost indicating the freezing of any dream of greatness of the homeland.
Statue of Alessandro Vittoria - in the square of the same name to commemorate the Trentino sculptor.
Statue of San Vigilio - located in the center of Piazza D'Arogno, south side of the Cathedral.
Statue of San Camillo - in front of the hospital of the same name, depicts the saint holding a suffering Jesus in his hands.
Statue in Santa Chiara - in front of the hospital of the same name.
Bust of Martino Martini - in Corso III Novembre.
Bust of Giosuè Carducci - in Piazza Dante.
Bust of Cesare Battisti sculptor Eraldo Fozzer - inside the mausoleum of the same name located on Doss Trento.
Bust of Giovanni Prati - in Piazza Dante
Bust of Giacomo Bresadola - in Piazza Dante.
Bust of Antonio Gazzoletti - in Piazza Dante.
Bust of Luigi Negrelli - in the train station.
Bust of Msgr. Enea Silvio Piccolomini - canon of Trento who later became Pope Pius II, is located in Piazza Santa Teresa Verzeri
Stele to Guglielmo Ranzi - (creator of the monument to Dante), is located in Piazza Dante next to the monument he wanted.
Monument to Luigi Negrelli - in Piazza Dante.
Monument to Eusebio Francesco Chini - in Piazza Dante.
Monument to the family - in Piazza Dante, represents the Giuliani family (typical family 2007).
Monument to Marco Pola - (poet) in Piazza Cesare Battisti, created by Cesarina Seppi tit. Lunar flower.
Monument to the Fallen of the Resistance in Albania - in the park in front of the Court.
Monument to those fallen at work - in the park in front of the Court.

 

Archaeological sites

Archaeological remains of Tridentum
The surveyor responsible for the sewer excavation works in 1930 left a series of notes about continuous archaeological finds under the streets of the historic centre, but at that time the interest was in the rapid completion of the works and the finds were constantly violated to create the sewer; after all, the gas and drinking water distribution networks had passed before, probably at a lower depth. In those same years, the central district was destroyed, made up of small houses and narrow alleys, and new large buildings were built in the historic center with the new square at the centre, then (and until the 1960s) called Piazza Italia, and then renamed many times. The floor level of the historic center has risen over time due to repeated floods coming from the Fersina torrent (whose course until the deviation in the 16th century ran immediately outside the walls crossing the current Piazza Fiera) and from the Rio Saluga.

Of great interest are other more recent excavations:
Porta Veronensis - under the Civic Tower. It was the monumental entrance to the city of Tridentum, it was equipped with two arches, one for pedestrians and the other for carts, with a rectangular plan and internal courtyard. The external facade, characterized by a pilaster, was flanked by two polygonal towers with 16 sides. Today only the western part remains, in fact the eastern part has been incorporated into the foundations of the Civic Tower. The internal façade was decorated with a statue of which only the base remains and a fountain. We are also certain of the existence of an upper floor of the door, as suggested by some architectural fragments found during the excavations; however, the presence of a second floor is only conceivable. Fallen into ruin, semi-destroyed and then incorporated into the Civic Tower.
Sas Underground Archaeological Space - Under the Social Theater in Piazza Cesare Battisti. It is an entire block with the remains of a wall, the remains of a tower, a road with a sewage system, a domus with various rooms of the house (triclinium, kitchen, latrine, atrium, courtyard); furthermore there are a hypocaustum and two mosaics, one depicting the god Ocean in the atrium and the other of a geometric nature in the triclinium.
Archaeological space under Palazzo Lodron - in this archaeological space there is a road and the remains of a tower, a house with a latrine and a wine shop (the nature of which has been deduced from the imprint of 6 vats and an engraved marble plaque found on site). Furthermore, a well-preserved stretch of the Roman and medieval city walls can be observed.
Early Christian Basilica of San Vigilio - under the Cathedral. Outside the city walls, the building originally played the role of a cemetery basilica.
Roman Villa - in via Rosmini. These are the remains of a villa outside the city walls, the mosaic inside it is very interesting.

Furthermore, the remains of another early Christian basilica are visible on the top of Doss Trento.

In Trento there was also an amphitheater, in fact, under the square of the same name in Trento fragments of paving, walls and steps of the same were found, in addition to the fact that the position of part of the houses in the square has the typical curvature of the amphitheater , as the houses were built on the remains of the same and using pre-existing walls and stones. Pieces of city walls, towers, streets and houses were also found under numerous buildings, streets and squares in Trento.

Recent excavations under the church of Santa Maria Maggiore are bringing to light another area of the city, in fact, here was the ancient ecclesia which served as a cathedral in the first centuries of Christianity, it is hypothesized that it was built on top of an ancient temple. According to Roman urban planning this building stood in the public area of the city, so it is thought that the forum of Tridentum was present in this place. Also in the forum were other buildings of a public nature. Further excavations have also brought to light a Roman tower behind the building of the sociology faculty and a Roman villa in the place where the new faculty of literature will be built.

Perhaps a temple dedicated to Neptune stood in Trento, given the name the city had, and because a legend tells that the god Neptune, lord of the seas, ascended the rivers in ancient times to expand his dominion over the Alpine territories.

The presence of a triumphal arch is not certain, even if the Romans built them to celebrate their victories over a specific territory. In fact, there have been no archaeological finds in this sense and there are not even documents that would prove its existence.

 

Origins of the name

According to Latin tradition, the toponym Trento derives from Tridentum (name assigned by the Romans) due to the three hills (Doss Trent, Dosso Sant'Agata and Dosso di San Rocco) that surround the city or also due to the presence of three rivers (Adige, Fersina and Vela) which form a trident.

According to other sources the name is much older and of Rhaetian origin. The toponym in fact derives from trent, or trifurcation (due to the irregular bed of the Adige river or to the three waterways, Adige, Fersina and Salè, which form a trifurcation looking at the city from the south).

Despite everything, the Latin tradition has always had the upper hand, to the point that on the old town hall we can still read the Latin inscription Montes argentum mihi dant nomenque Tridentum («The mountains give me silver and the name of Trento»), due to Fra Bartolomeo da Trento († 1251; obviously the silver refers to the mines of Mount Calisio, which overlooks the city to the north-east).

 

History

From its origins to the Roman age

According to some theories, Trento (Tridentum) developed on a previous Rhaetian settlement on the valley floor. It is also probable the presence of an ancient Rhaetian hillfort on Doss Trento, perhaps also used by the Romans after the conquest, one of the first urban centers of the city. It is reasonable to believe that the Adige Valley, as a primary north-south communication route, favored frequent cultural exchanges with other pre-Roman populations, such as the Venetians, the Etruscans and the Gauls.

The Roman conquest of Trentino occurred during the 1st century BC. Trento, which had already been built before the conquest as a Roman military camp (Castrum), was baptized Tridentum ("city of three teeth"), perhaps because near the city there are three hills vaguely resembling three teeth (Doss Trento, Sant'Agata and San Rocco) or because there are three rivers (Adige, Fersina and Vela) that formed a trident. The city became a municipium between 50 and 40 BC.

In the Augustan period, with the Empire engaged in a series of military operations in the Alps, the strategic role of the city grew. Trento developed starting from a quadrangular plan, delimited on one side by the Adige river, on the other three sides by walls and moats, with quadrangular towers and gates for access; the main one, Porta Veronensis, was twin, with two circular towers on the sides. The city streets developed in an orderly manner, parallel to the layout of the cardo and the decumanus according to the principles of Roman urban planning.

Tridentum was equipped with all the typical infrastructures of an important Roman centre: there was a forum, an amphitheatre, baths, a river port, an aqueduct coming from the eastern hills for water supply and an area used for burials outside the walls, as well as homes (villas) and infrastructure outside the walls. Tridentum was also an important road junction, due to the presence in its territory of the Via Claudia Augusta (main military road towards the north), in its branches of the Claudia Augusta Padana and the Via Claudia Augusta Altinate, which connected the city with the Veneto passing through the Valsugana.

Despite the difficult political situation that arose with the decline of the Empire, Trento remained the economic, commercial and military center of the region even in the 4th and 5th centuries.

 

High Middle age

Around the middle of the 4th century, the bishop's chair was established, entrusted to the first bishop whose name is known only, Giovinus (Iovinus). The establishment of the Tridentine diocese represented an important step, because the figure of the bishop always tried to guarantee security and unity to the city, despite the continuous foreign incursions. The third bishop of Trent, successor of Giovinus and Abbondanzio, was a Roman patrician, Vigilius. He tried to accelerate the evangelization of Trentino, to establish solid links with the outside, in particular with Ambrose and the Milanese Church, of which Trento was initially a suffragan. Vigilio was the first great leader of the Tridentine Church (which in the following centuries also took upon itself secular powers) and died in Val Rendena, becoming the patron saint of the city and an object of veneration throughout the region.

In the 6th century Trento was occupied by the Goths, led by Theodoric. In a letter, the Gothic king, as reported by Cassiodorus, invited the Venetian city of Feltre to collaborate with the Tridentine municipality for the construction of a new urban center, probably to be built in the Lower Valsugana, which in reality was not built. Of this episode, dating back to 523-526, traces remain in the popular tradition of the city, through the challenge of the Ciusi and the Gobj which takes place every year during the Christmas holidays, in which the Ciusi (representing the people of Feltre) try to conquer the polenta defended by the Gobj (the people from Trentino) and by the strazzere, armed peasant women. The names of Ciusi and Gobi have distant origins and more precisely from Chiusi (in Tuscany) and Gabi (in Lazio). The masquerade dates back to the era of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, when a dispute between the Feltrini and the Trentinos over territorial borders resulted in a war won by the Trentinos who established the carnival to commemorate the event. In this way the Ciusi should remember the Feltres with a dog-face mask.

The city and the entire Trentino territory were conquered by the Lombards around 568-569. Subsequently, the Franks and the Baivarians engaged in continuous incursions and military expeditions in the territory of Trentino-Alto Adige. To try to preserve the city and find a compromise between the Lombards and the Franks, the bishop of Trento Agnello (577-591) became the protagonist of a series of peace initiatives between the peoples, also financially committing the diocese for the ransom of the prisoners made by the Franks. Following this, the Lombard domination was strengthened and a border Duchy was organized with its capital in Trento and first governed by Duke Evino († 595). With the Lombards, the area of influence over which the city's power extended was established for the first time, the Tridentinum territorialum, which extended up to the south of Merano, including the current city of Bolzano. Only the northernmost territories of Alto Adige were not subject to the authority of the Duke of Trent and remained in the hands of the Franks and the Bavarians. Evino was succeeded by Gaidoaldo who managed to expand the duchy westwards, occupying the entire Valsugana and the Cismón valleys. Subsequently, the Duchy of Trento lost its autonomy and probably became a territory directly dependent on the Lombard crown.

In 982 Trento was incorporated by the Ottonians into the Holy Roman German Empire.

 

The Episcopal Principality of Trento

In 1027 (or 1004) the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II created the Episcopal Principality of Trento, an institution that resisted together with the County of Tyrol (formed later) until the Napoleonic period. The principality was united with the county according to the Foederatio Tyrolensis. The territory of the Principality, however, did not entirely coincide with that of the current province of Trento: some areas, especially those located in current Alto Adige (Bozner Unterland) forming the so-called Deutscher Anteil (the German-speaking part of the bishopric), were the subject of dispute politics with the Counts of Tyrol (who resided in the castle of the same name above present-day Merano), advocates of the bishop, before the county passed to the Habsburgs in 1363). Other parts orbited the Venetians (Primiero, Lower Valsugana). The Episcopal Principality marked the history of the city in the Germanic context for eight centuries, with greater or lesser autonomy depending on the situations and characters, with a succession of 51 prince-bishops at its top, often chosen by the imperial power.

Around 1200, the city was a mining center (especially silver, coming from Monte Calisio) of considerable importance, so much so that it issued the first mining statute in the Alps, due to Prince Bishop Federico Vanga. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Trento also acted as a city driving force in the Adige area, spreading municipal statutory elements as far as Bolzano. In 1407 Rodolfo Belenzani was the leader of a revolt of the citizens, who rose up against the oppression of the prince bishop George of Liechtenstein and governed Trento for a couple of years. Trento became internationally famous for the Council (1545-1563), with which the Counter-Reformation began. The 16th century was one of the periods of greatest splendor for the Trentino capital. At the head of the Principality, Cardinals Bernardo Clesio and Cristoforo Madruzzo, important patron figures, transformed the urban layout of Trento according to Renaissance principles, renovating and building new buildings and churches. The curvature of the streets in the center (via S. Pietro, via Belenzani, via Oss Mazzurana, etc.) would have been specifically designed by Bernardo Clesio to offer the foreigner a surprising scenic effect. The principality had to defend itself several times, not only from the attempts to overwhelm the counts of Tyrol, but also from the subsequent attempt at Venetian expansionism which culminated with the battle of Calliano, in which the small Trentino army (about 3,000 men) with the support of very small local contingents and a small contingent (800 men) of the imperial army, garrisoned in Trento, inflicted a resounding and definitive defeat on the many times larger Venetian army under the command of Roberto di San Severino, who perished in the battle, resulting in its extermination. No better luck for the Venetians was a kind of naval battle fought on Lake Loppio (which was drained in 1956) in an attempt to take Riva del Garda from behind, the domain of the Prince Bishop of Trento, which the Venetians had failed to conquer with numerous naval attacks from Lake Garda.

Throughout the Middle Ages, however, the city retained, thanks to its fortified geographical position on the North-South road (with repeated transits and short stays of kings and emperors) and the proud defense of its autonomy, a notable importance certainly disproportionate to the modesty of the number of the inhabitants (less than 10,000 throughout the Middle Ages). At the beginning of the modern era it had even greater international notoriety for the Council that was celebrated there and whose resolutions represented the bulwark of Catholic doctrine against Protestant heresies for the following four centuries.

 

Nineteenth century

The Episcopal Principality was suppressed by Napoleon in 1803. From the beginning of the Napoleonic-Bavarian occupation until 1809, Trentino-Tyrolean patriots commanded by Andreas Hofer had fought a permanent guerrilla war against the Napoleonic army with a series of skirmishes, without ever obtaining the repeatedly promised help from the Habsburg army. In the battle at the Bergisel in Innsbruck, Hofer's Trentino-Tyrolean troops were defeated by the Franco-Bavarians, while the daughter of the Emperor of Austria married Napoleon and Andreas Hofer was executed in Mantua. After the Napoleonic era, in 1815 Trento and its entire current province were incorporated into the County of Tyrol within the Habsburg Empire. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 establishes the new territorial structure. The ancient government of the episcopal principality, already abolished by Napoleon, will not be restored, although the bishop of Trento retained the only formal title of prince and "His Highness" until 1953, when Pope Pius XII abolished all the noble titles of ecclesiastics.

Throughout the 19th century Trento was the subject of transformations of considerable importance. Among these we must remember the construction of the Brenner railway in 1864, which connected Venice (then under Habsburg rule) to Vienna (then capital of the Habsburg empire) passing through the fortress cities of Verona and Trento, the Valsugana railway (between Trento and Bassano) by a private Austrian company with concession from 1899 to 1998 (but incorporated into the Italian State Railways in 1919), and the Trento Malé railway (still formally private and managed under the control of the autonomous province), the last remnant of other railway sections that from the beginning of the 20th century connected Trento with Riva del Garda (via Mori-Arco) and Predazzo (via Ora-Cavalese). Other significant events were the movement (with the aim of better building the railway) towards the western outskirts of the course of the Adige river from its centuries-old bed that lapped the medieval city, and the construction of buildings of great prestige such as public schools, barracks, the Palazzo of justice composed of the court and prisons (architect Karl Schaden), the Austro-Hungarian Bank (current headquarters of the Bank of Italy), the Hotel Imperial (current headquarters of the Autonomous Province of Trento) and the railway station (demolished 50 years later by the fascist government).

Starting from 1870, irredentist political movements and circles developed in Trento which sought to defend the Italian nature of the city from the attempts at Germanisation brought by the more nationalist sectors of German Tyrol, such as the Tiroler Volksbund movement (established in Vipiteno in 1905). To these were also added movements to defend Trentino's Italian identity, but without the desire to detach Trentino from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As an example of the climate marked by nationalist antagonisms of the late nineteenth century, in 1896 a monument to the greatest poet of the Italian language, Dante Alighieri, was inaugurated in Trento. In the same year the first international anti-Masonic Congress was held in Trento. In Bolzano the monument to Walther von der Vogelweide, a medieval German-speaking poet, was erected. Even if in the most radical irredentist circles the separation of Trentino from the Tyrol and the Empire and its annexation to the Kingdom of Italy was hoped for, the majority of the population, especially peasants, was faithful to the Habsburg Empire, while hoping for greater territorial autonomy compared to the Tyrolean provincial government of Innsbruck. As reported in the report of the talks he had in Rome in 1915 with Sonnino, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Italy, Alcide De Gasperi, representative of the Trentino Catholics in the imperial parliament of Vienna, agreed that the majority of the Trentinos were not in favor of a annexation to Italy.

 

20th century

During the First World War Trento was declared a fortress city and became the stronghold of the Austro-Hungarian southern front. Around 60,000 Trentino soldiers, compulsory conscripts, fought in the uniform of the Imperial and Royal Army and thousands of them (11,000 throughout the province, of which 1,000 from the city of Trento) fell during the war enlisted in the Kaiserjäger and Landesschützen. About 900 volunteers (of whom 710 were actually Austrian citizens) enlisted in the Italian army.

The city was defended by a ring of forts which are still present and partly visitable. At the end of the year 1915 the Trento fortress became the seat of the Austro-Hungarian headquarters for the southern front. The surrounding mountains hid the most powerful stronghold of the Italian front, with many structures dug into the rock. The creator of such works was Major General Franz von Steinhart.

The First World War brought tragedies of enormous proportions to Trento and the entire border area, starting with the evacuation of most of the civilian population. The evacuation, combined with the closeness of many to the previous Austrian administration, leaves doubts about the spontaneity shown in the photographs of the celebrating population who welcomed the arrival of the Italian troops on 4 November 1918. Trento, together with the rest of the Tyrolean princely county south of the Alpine watershed, it became Italian territory at the end of the First World War with the Treaty of Saint Germain.

During fascism the city and the entire province lost the autonomy they had enjoyed for centuries. In 1923 the municipal council of Trento was dissolved after the resignation as mayor of Giovanni Peterlongo, elected the previous year. Peterlongo was then appointed prefectural commissioner, a position he held until 1926). To regain administrative and economic autonomy, Trento waited until the end of the Second World War (statute of the Trentino-Alto Adige autonomous region). During the Second World War the city was bombed by the Allies from 2 September 1943 until 3 May 1945, for a total of 80 raids which caused around 400 victims and 1792 buildings damaged. During the first bombing the Portela massacre occurred, which caused around 200 deaths.

The history of the city in the 20th century mostly coincided with that of the province and the region.

With the statutory changes of 1971 and the related implementation rules of the following years, autonomy was significantly expanded but the Region was divided with the attribution of almost all powers to the two autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano.

 

Anecdotes

Near via Torre Verde, when the Adige lapped the area, the ancient commercial port of the city stood from where goods coming from Lombardy and Veneto were exchanged or sold at the local markets. The large tonnage boats, the tanse, took 3 days to reach Venice, while for light transport rafts were used whose sailors were grouped in the Paroni de Barca corporation based in the same place.
The crossroads that wedge between via San Pietro, via Manci and via del Suffragio, the so-called el canton, delimited the four cantons of the city center where the market was held; in particular, coming from via San Pietro you can see, on the second and third floors of the facing building, wooden doors, i.e. covered balconies, the so-called jealousies, where the inhabitants could monitor what was happening in the street without being seen themselves.
In a confessional in Santa Maria Maggiore a group of seven letters M is said to be engraved to indicate the contempt that Martin Luther had for the President of the Council: Cursed Madruzzo Martino Never Will Change Better to Die!
During the Council, Cardinal Madruzzo decided to temporarily expel all the poor and miserable people of the city, concentrating them beyond the Adige in the current neighborhood of Piedicastello. Those who lived by their wits called themselves barons of the sun.
Piazza Pasi, the old Piazza delle Opere where the vegetable market was held, still hides the treasure of the barbaz buried by Brenno, according to some, the Rhaetian founder of the city.
Via delle Orne derives its name from a unit of measurement for liquids, the orna, which corresponded to approximately 64 liters and was used by local artisans for the construction of wine barrels.
In Vicolo dei Birri, near the Duomo, there was the headquarters of the police who had the task of filing complaints at the Palazzo del Pretorio. The head of police was the Bargello.
In via Secondo da Trento, near Piazza di Centa, the "alle bettine" brothel, a place of ill repute at the time, was very popular until 1958 (Merlin Law).
At the traffic lights between Via Vanga and Via Pozzo coming from the station, behind the private language school, there was the House of the Chain, of medieval construction, so called because once upon a time, a chain blocked night-time navigation of the river.
The area located between Villazzano and the Adige is called Man, which takes its name from the Latin manes as it is believed that the souls of the dead were venerated.
Until 1922, in the current street called Largo Carducci, there stood a particular building (called Casa Ranzi) which was equipped with the characteristic Erker (Nordic style), following a night bomb attack, it was then destroyed by unknown persons.

 

Territory

The city of Trent is located in the valley of the Adige river, about 150 km from the source of the river and 250 km from its mouth, 55 km south of Bolzano and 95 km north of Verona. The city of Trent is located in the center of an urban area lying latitudinally between Mezzolombardo and Rovereto and extending east towards the Valsugana, up to the municipality of Pergine.

Trento presents extreme territorial and population diversity. The municipal population is not concentrated only in the city, but also in numerous scattered centers or suburbs, quite different from each other and which still retain their own urban, rural, rural or mountain identity. The ancient city has 80,000 inhabitants (October 2004). The urban agglomeration with the neighboring municipalities reaches 150,000 inhabitants. Among the suburbs, the most populous one is Gardolo (district north of the city, 12 449 inhabitants).

The least populated one is Sardagna (1 106 inhabitants). Most of them are located on the Adige valley floor or on the hills east of the city, while the village of Sardagna is located to the west on a rocky level at 560 meters above sea level and is also connected to the valley floor by a small cable car; the Bondone villages are instead located between 490 m s.l.m. of Vigolo Baselga and the 1 650 meters of Vason and are all part of the same municipal district.

The vastness of the municipal area therefore leads to a population density not characteristic of compact cities with a high concentration of population (736 inhabitants / km² against, for example, 2,037 inhabitants / km² of Bolzano).

Trento maintains a very close link with the mountains; Paganella is to the north-west, Mount Calisio to the north-east, Marzola to the east, Vigolana to the south-east and Monte Bondone to the west, also called the "Alpe di Trento". The latter, which largely falls within the municipal area, can be reached in a short time from the city center via the provincial road.

At the Viote del Bondone basin it is possible to visit the alpine botanical garden and start the excursion to the Three Peaks of Bondone Integral Nature Reserve (Cornet, Dos d'Abramo and Cima Verde).

 

The 15,803 hectares of which the municipality of Trento is composed are divided as follows (in order of size):
50.62% of area covered by woods (7 999.21 hectares)
20.09% of agricultural area (3 174.12 hectares)
7.70% residential area (1 216.64 hectares)
3.33% of grazing area (525.84 hectares)
3.23% of unproductive area; mostly rocky and mountainous area (510.99 hectares)
3.00% of area covered by roads (474.33 hectares)
2.63% for other services (416.24 hectares)
2.48% of public green area in residential areas (392.62 hectares)
2.48% of production and industrial area (391.56 hectares)
2.02% of area covered by rivers, lakes and biotopes (320 hectares)
0.89% of area covered by railway (140.43 hectares)
0.70% of mining area (111.40 hectares)
0.61% of skiable area (96.37 hectares)
0.12% of parking area (19.42 hectares)
0.09% other (13.82 hectares).

The city of Trent is crossed by several rivers: the Adige river, which runs through it from north to south, and the Fersina stream, which crosses it from east to south-west and then flows into the Adige, are the largest . Parallel to the Adige, the canal called "Adigetto" flows. To the south of the city flows another small permanent stream, coming from the hill of Povo, the Rio Salè, which flows into the Fersina just before this in turn flows into the Adige; despite having adequate banks and a large bed compared to the normal flow rate, it has sometimes flooded the surrounding area, called "Bolghera" or "Gocciadoro".

On the right orographic bank, the stream that descends from the clearly visible Sardagna waterfall joins.

 

Climate

Six weather stations are located in Trento. According to the Trent Meteorological Station, which is located in a hilly area at about 240 m asl, the average data of the thirty years 1961-1990 record an average temperature of the coldest month, January, at +1.6 ° C, while that of the month hottest, July, is +22.4 ° C.

In the valley floor, near Gardolo, where the city is located, due to the thermal inversion, however, the minimum values ​​are significantly lower than those measured by the hill station (and shown in the following table). The minimum January averages for the city of Trent are -3.6 ° C with a monthly average of 0.5 ° C. The monthly average for July, the hottest month, is +21.9 ° C.

Average annual rainfall exceeds 900 mm, distributed on average over 88 days, with a peak in late spring and summer and a relative minimum in winter.

The snow average is about 55 cm; Trent was the capital city of the province most affected by the Snowfall of the 1985 century with 145 cm of snow, another very snowy winter was 1978 with 211 cm seasonal, a remarkable value considering that the city is only about 200 m a.s.l.