Vittorio Veneto, Province of Treviso, Veneto Region, Italy

🇮🇹 Vittorio Veneto is a city and comune situated in the Province of Treviso, in the region of Veneto, Italy, in the north-east of Italy, between the Piave and the Livenza rivers, borders with the following municipalities: Alpago (BL), Belluno (BL), Cappella Maggiore, Colle Umberto, Conegliano, Fregona, Limana (BL), Revine Lago, San Pietro di Feletto, Tarzo.

Name The city is an amalgamation of two former comuni, Cèneda and Serravalle, which were joined into one municipality in 1866 and named Vittorio after the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II. The battle fought nearby in November 1918 became generally known as the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, and the city's name was officially changed to Vittorio Veneto in July 1923. Starting from the end of the nineteenth century, new neighborhoods were created around the road that connected the two towns, the current Viale della Vittoria, so that the union was also physical, and the town hall itself was placed halfway. However, the city still continues to demonstrate a certain bipolarity, and in fact Ceneda and Serravalle, despite their proximity, have very distinct historical identities.

Geography The Meschio River, whose source is located in the Lapisina Valley, a few miles north of the city, passes down through the town from Serravalle through the district that bears its name. The north of Vittorio Veneto is straddled by mountains including the majestic Col Visentin. To the east is the state park and forest of Cansiglio which summits at Monte Pizzoc; to the west, a hill region including Valdobbiadene, where Prosecco wine is produced; and to the south is the commercial town of Conegliano.

Administrative subdivisions According to the communal statute, the commune does not recognize any fraction within itself. There are numerous distinct areas and local autonomy is guaranteed to the following seven districts (Followed by the main settlements that are part of it). • 1 - Val Lapisina: Fadalto, Nove, San Floriano, Savassa, Forcal, Longhere, Maren, Fais. • 2 - Serravalle: Sant'Andrea, San Lorenzo, Serravalle • 3 - Center: Centro, Salsa • 4 - Costa-Meschio: Costa, Meschio • 5 - Ceneda: Alta and Ceneda Bassa (Saints Peter and Paul) • 6 - San Giacomo: San Giacomo di Veglia • 7 - Val dei Fiori: Carpesica, Cozzuolo, Formeniga.

History: Ancient period The area was occupied in ancient times by Veneti and perhaps Celts. A pagan sanctuary was in use on Monte Altare by Veneti, Celts, and Romans.

During the 1st century BC Emperor Augustus established a Castrum Cenetense at the foot of an important pass northward towards Bellunum in what is now the heart of Serravalle to defend Opitergium and the Venetian plain to the south. To the immediate south of the castrum there developed a settlement called a vicus in what is now Ceneda and Meschio. While its precise course has not been determined, the Via Claudia Altinate running north from the Via Postumia seems to have passed the Roman castrum and vicus on its eastern side. Meanwhile, there remains evidence of typical Roman land surveying (centuratio) with cardines being associated with the present day Via Rizzera and Via Cal Alta (in the commune of Cappella Maggiore) and a decumanus identified with the Va Cal de Livera. This implies Ceneta became more than a mere vicus during the Roman period.

Late antiquity The ancient Pieve di Sant'Andrea in Bigonzo in the north-east of the town, on the southern end of Serravalle, attests to the presence of Christianity in the area by the 4th century.

In the early 5th century, Emperor Honorius seems to have named a certain Marcellus count (comes) of Ceneta. Ceneta and Serravalle were among the places in Venetia devastated by Attila the Hun, but later refortified under the rule of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths.

Byzantine writer, Agathias Scholasticus, as well as the Latin poet, Venantius Fortunatus, from nearby Valdobbiadene, are witnesses to the existence of the town of Ceneta in the 6th century. Agathias recounts how during Justinian's Gothic War, Ceneda changed hands between the Ostrogoths, Franks, and Byzantines. In fact, after the Byzantines had seized Venetia from the Ostrogoths, they turned their attention to conquering central and southern Italy. In the spring of 553, while Narses was engaging the Ostrogoths, the Franks led by the brothers Leutari and Buccelin took a large part of Venetia and sought refuge in Ceneta, holding it sometime in the spring of 554.

In 568, the Lombards invaded Italy and Ceneda was irrevocably captured from the Byzantines. Lombard social and military colonies called fara seem to have been established at Farra d'Alpago to the north of Ceneda and at Farra di Soligo to the west. It was perhaps at this time or perhaps still later that Ceneda was made into the seat of one of 36 Lombard duchies. The Lombards constructed a castle, now called castello di San Martino near the heart of Ceneda on a strategic mountain which overlooks the town. By 667, the Duchy of Ceneda was certainly in existence and grew in size when, according to Paul the Deacon it acquired some of the territory of Oderzo after that city's destruction by the Lombards.

In 685, the Lombard King Grimoald I organized Ceneda into an ecclesiastical diocese, assigning to it a large part of the territory that had been under the care of the suppressed diocese of Oderzo. The diocese of Ceneda was within the metropolitan jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. At the foot of the same height upon which the duke's castle had been built, a cathedral was constructed. St. Titian, Bishop of Oderzo, whose relics are contained in the present cathedral, was named as co-patron of the diocese along with St. Augusta, a virgin martyr from Serravalle.

Carolingian period With the defeat of the Lombards in 774, Ceneda entered into the Frankish sphere. It seems the duke of Ceneda remained loyal to Charlemagne even when the Lombard dukes of Cividale, Treviso, and Vicenza rebelled the following year.

History: Middle Ages In 994, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III invested the bishop of Ceneda with the title and prerogatives of count and authority as temporal lord of the city. The 12th, 13th, and part of the 14th centuries were turbulent for Ceneda and Serravalle. During this time, the bishop of Ceneda was forced into the role of count, and thus, to take part in the politics of Northern Italy and even joining the Lombard League against the Holy Roman Empire. Ceneda also faced threats from its neighbors and in 1147 was attacked by the commune of Treviso. Only the mediation of the pope led to the restitution of what had been stolen, including the relics of St. Titian. In 1174, Serravalle became a fief of the Da Camino family. Ceneda and Serravalle would subsequently be contested by the da Romano family and the Patriarchs of Aquileia. In 1328, the area fell into the hands of the Scaligeri.

In 1307, Bishop Francesco Ramponi ceded the territory of Portobuffolé to Tolberto da Camino in exchange for county of Tarzo (also called Castelnuovo) which included Corbanese, Arfanta, Colmaor and Fratta. In Fratta, authority was invested in a vice-count of the bishop.

Venetian period On December 19, 1389, Ceneda was peacefully incorporated into the Venetian Republic. Its bishops still retained authority as counts. However, in 1447 and in 1514 bishops Francesco and Oliviero, respectively, ceded to the Republic the right of civil investiture within the territory of Ceneda, reserving for themselves and their successors authority over the commune itself and a few villas. The privileges of Ceneda's bishops as counts were definitively revoked by the Republic in 1768.

Under Venetian rule, the urban development of Ceneda remained concentrated around the cathedral while the rest of the commune remained primarily agricultural with homes either scattered far and wide or sometimes organized in tiny clusters. Serravalle, however, which had come under Venetian rule in 1337 rose to its greatest splendor under the Serenissima, even eclipsing Ceneda in economic and urban development.

In 1411, a Hungarian army led by Pippo Spano attacked Ceneda and destroyed the episcopal archives. Both Ceneda and Serravalle suffered during the War of Cambrai.

A significant Jewish community grew in Ceneda throughout the Venetian period. Lorenzo Da Ponte, a librettist to Mozart, was a Jewish native of Ceneda, who took the bishop of Ceneda's name when he was baptized a Roman Catholic.

Napoleonic era In March 1797, the French army of Massena entered the towns putting an end to Venetian rule. By the Treaty of Campoformio, the area passed to the rule of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1805 until 1814 Ceneda and Serravalle were incorporated into Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy.

Austrian period After the Fall of Napoleon, the area was given with the rest of Venetia to the Austrian Empire.

Italian period On November 22, 1866, soon after the Veneto was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy, Ceneda and Serravalle were joined into one municipality named after the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele.

During the First World War, Vittorio was occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces. In October 1918, Vittorio was the site of the last battle between Italy and Austria-Hungary during World War I. It led to the victory of Italy over the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Austrian-Italian Armistice of Villa Giusti) effective on 4 November 1918.

The word "Veneto", was attached to the city's name in 1923. Subsequently, many streets in other parts of Italy have been named Via Vittorio Veneto.

The Italian victory at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto led to the town lending its name as a military honor. Thus, in the 1930s, a battleship was named Vittorio Veneto. In the 1960s, a flight deck cruiser, the flagship of the Italian Navy, was given the same name. In 1968, a military medal called the Order of Vittorio Veneto (Ordine di Vittorio Veneto) was awarded to Italian veterans who had participated honorably for at least six months during the First World War.

Economy The ancient manufacturing, steel and textile factories, which have always characterized it and which for the most part followed the lively course of the Meschio river, have now been replaced by others and more numerous, linked to the different productions required by a global economy. The main activities are located in the industrial area of San Giacomo, one of the major regional industrial centres, not only for the multiplicity of productions, but also for the importance and consolidated quality of companies known nationally and internationally.

The presence of vineyards in the municipal area is remarkable, the Permasteelisa group manufacturing plant and also of the De Negri distillery should be noted.

Culture: Institutions • Pieve di Sant'Andrea • Duomo di Serravalle • Teatro Lorenzo da Ponte

Every year, the Concorso Nazionale Corale "Trofei Città di Vittorio Veneto" takes place at Vittorio Veneto. The best choirs from all over Italy compete. The city is also host to a violin competition.

Media Radio Palazzo Carli is a community radio managed by a non-profit organization. The RPC Association is not for profit and is proposed as a religious, social and educational sound broadcasting service through the transmission of various self-produced or acquired programs from third parties. There are two detached studios: in Vittorio Veneto and in Conegliano. The connection with the Vittorio Veneto Cathedral and the one with the inBlu circuit from Rome is also functioning. The reception frequency for the Vittoriese is FM 103.90 MHz.

Railways The city of Vittorio Veneto has two railway stations served by the Ponte nelle Alpi-Conegliano line, fully electrified since February 2021: the Vittorio Veneto station, located in the city centre and the Soffratta stop, located in the Ceneda district, serving the centre historical district and the southern area of the city.