Treviso

A visit to Treviso can only start from Piazza dei Signori, which is surrounded by some of the town's most significant monuments, such as the Palazzo dei Trecento (the Palace of the Three Hundred) with its remaLeaving the town's living room, walk through the Soffioni Portico and you will reach the picturesque Piazzetta del Monte di Pietà, where the Mont-de-Pieté was established in the 14th century. 

Inside it there is the Cappella dei Rettori, one of the town's prides, with frescoes by Fiumicelli, paintings by Pozzeserrato and precious gilded leathers from Cordova. In the nearby Piazza S.Vito there are the two remarkable and picturesque churches of S.Lucia and S.Vito, which are connected by a little door, where you can see many imporant art pieces. 

Carry on then towards the Buranelli canal (one of the town's symbols), and from here to Piazza Rinaldi, finally getting, rkable frescoes and decorations, the Town's Tower and the Prefecture Palace. after going past some other remarkable sights, to the Chiesa di S.Francesco. 

This austere and elegant church, which was built in the 14th century, has an annexed cloister and convent. Inside it there are the tombs of Petrarca's daughter and of Dante's son, as well as some valuable frescoes. After seeing S.Francesco one can walk to Piazza del Grano, where there is a very lively market, or to the Pescheria, the fish and fruit market, another important spot in the Trevigiani's city life. 
  

Through Piazza S.Parisio or other picturesque alleys, go to S.Agostino's Church, the only baroque religious building in town, and from here to S.Caterina (15th century church and cloister), now deconsecrated, where, besides the beautiful Cappella degli Innocenti, one can admire the S.Orsola stories set of frescoes by Tomaso da Modena, one of the leading painters of the 14th century, who left vast testimonies of his work here in Treviso in the second half of the century.

From S.Caterina you can reach, along pretty alleys, the S.Maria Maggiore church with its harmonious façade, and from here walk to Ponte Dante, Dante's bridge, ('where the Sile accompanies the Cagnan', according to the famous verse from the Divina Commedia).Take then the road to the Ospedale Vecchio and Piazza S. Leonardo, and before going back to Piazza dei Signori, stop at the Loggia dei Cavalieri, the oldest civilian building in town. Another itinerary leads to Calmaggiore (most likely the ancient Roman cardum), the town's high street, which is flanke by many of the gentry's palaces.

You will then get to Piazza Duomo, where you can visit the 11th century paleo-Christian Baptistery and the Cathedral with its beautiful domes and neo-classical façade. Inside it the 1100 crypt, the Titian altar piece and the Pordenone frescoes are worth a visit. From Piazza Duomo walk along the Rectories, another most fascinating spot, where you can visit the diocesan museum. You will get to the scenic Piazza Pola: from here, take other alleys along ancient palaces until you get to S.Nicolò's church, the town's richest and most imposing church. This religious building, built by the Dominicans in the 1300s, rises on three aisles and holds remarkably valuable frescoes and paintings.

The annexed convent is worth a visit for the Chapter House, where you can admire another set of frescoes by Tommaso da Modena. Treviso was a Roman town (important findings are kept in the town's museum), it then flourished in the middle ages (in the 1200s it was one of the most important centres in Italy for Provençal culture), and it enjoyed prosperity also in later ages. The town was walled in since the beginning of its history. We can still see important remains of the 16th century walls at Fra' Giocondo, especially in the section that connects the two monumentl gates of SS.Quaranta and S.Tomaso.

A distinctive feature of the town are the numerous frescoed buildings, which are widespread in the whole centre and probably make Treviso the most important site in Northern Italy for exterior decorations The town's museum holds, besides the archaeological department, several 14th century and especially Renaissance paintings (G.Bellini, L.Lotto, Titian etc.), a rich section devoted to Mannerism (I.bassano and Pozzoserrato), the 18th century (F.Guardi, A.Longhi) and finally a modern art exhibition.

It also holds a remarkable and original cultural heritage, the 'Salce' poster collection, the most important one in Italy. Treviso is also a cheerful town, young in spirit, full of traditional haunts, eateries and taverns, which embraces visitors with its marked sense of hospitality. It is finally a water town, an inland Venice (some of its sights do indeed remind one of Venice), crossed by a mesh of rivers and canals, tributaries of the Sile, the town's river, with its constant flow and clear waters. The river is now protected by a regional park, which aims at bringing its natural beauty to the best advantage.

The Sile springs out north of Treviso; it flows across the greenest countryside and after crossing the small town of Quinto (one must visit the Cervara Oasis) enters the town. It then continues towards Casale (The Carraresi Tower is worth a visit), the last town in the Marca Trevigiana it touches, from where it is possible to go for boat trips to Venice and the lagoon. On the river banks there are many noble villas. The Terraglio is also dotted with villas.

It is the road that connects Treviso to Venice and crosses the small towns of Preganziol (with its Villa Albrizzi-Franchetti, which is surrounded by a beautiful park), Mogliano and Marocco, where, in the Villa Dall'Aglio in Via Merignana, there is the iron sculpturer Toni Benetton's anthological museum.