Trento

The origins of this city on the river-route to Bolzano and the low Alpine passes of Brenner and the Reschen Pass[13] over the Alps are disputed. Some scholars maintain it was a Rhaetian settlement: the Adige area was however influenced by neighbouring populations, including the (Adriatic) Veneti, the Etruscans and the Gauls (a Celtic population). According to other theories, the latter instead founded the city during the 4th century BC.

Trento was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC, after several clashes with the Rhaetian tribes. Before the Romans, Trento was a Celtic village. Julius Caesar re-founded it as a Roman municipality when Rome extended citizenship to the part of Cisalpine Gaul north of the River Po.[14][15] The Latin name given to the settlement was Tridentum, meaning "Three-teeth place" or "Trident-town" (tri- "three" + dēns, dent- "tooth"). The reason for the name is uncertain: the new town may have been consecrated to the god Neptune, or possibly named after the three hills that surround the city (known in Italian as Doss Trento, Doss di Sant'Agata and Doss di San Rocco). The Latin name is the source of the adjective "tridentine". On the old city hall, a Latin inscription is still visible: "Montes argentum mihi dant nomenque Tridentum" ("Mountains give me silver and the name of Trento"), attributed to Fra' Bartolomeo da Trento (died in 1251). Tridentum became an important stop on the Roman road that led from Verona to Innsbruck.[16]

Palazzo pretorio and Duomo

Loggia of Buonconsiglio Castle in International Gothic style

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the independent bishopric of Trento was conquered by Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Lombards and Franks, finally becoming part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1027, Emperor Conrad II created the Prince-Bishops of Trento, who wielded both temporal and religious powers. In the following centuries, however, the sovereignty was divided between the Bishopric of Trent and the County of Tyrol (from 1363 part of the Habsburg monarchy). Around 1200, Trento became a mining center of some significance: silver was mined from the Monte Calisio – Khalisperg, and Prince-Bishop Federico Wanga issued the first mining code of the alpine region.

In the 14th century, the region of Trento was part of Austria.[17] The dukes of Austria (Habsburg Family) were also the counts of Tyrol and dominated the region for six centuries (1918).

A dark episode in the history of Trento was the Trento blood libel. When a 3-year-old Christian boy, Simonino, later known as Simon of Trent, disappeared in 1475 on the eve of Good Friday, the city's small Jewish community was accused of killing him and draining his blood for Jewish ritual purposes.[18] Eight Jews were tortured and burned at the stake, and their families forced to convert to Christianity. The bishop of Trento, Johannes Hinderbach, had Simonino canonized and published the first book printed in Trento, "Story of a Christian Child Murdered at Trento", embellished with 12 woodcuts.[18] In a governmental ceremony in the 1990s, Trento apologized to the Jewish community for this dark episode and unveiled a plaque commemorating the formal apology.

Council of Trent

18th century copy of a late 16th-century map[19] of Trento, northeast at top, showing walled old city and original course of the Adige

In the 16th century, Trento became notable for the Council of Trent (1545–1563) which gave rise to the Counter-Reformation. The adjective Tridentine (as in "Tridentine Mass") literally means pertaining to Trento, but can also refer to that specific event. Among the notable prince-bishops of this time were Bernardo Clesio (who governed the city from 1514 to 1539 and managed to steer the council to Trento) and Cristoforo Madruzzo (who governed from 1539 to 1567), both able European politicians and Renaissance humanists, who greatly expanded and embellished the city.

During this period, and as an expression of this Humanism, Trento was also known as the site of a Jewish printing press. In 1558 Cardinal Madruzzo granted the privilege of printing Hebrew books to Joseph Ottolengo, a German rabbi. The actual printer was Jacob Marcaria, a local physician; after his death in 1562, the activity of the press of Riva di Trento ceased. Altogether, 34 works were published in the period from 1558 to 1562, most of them bearing the coat of arms of Madruzzo.[20]

Prince-bishops governed Trento until the Napoleonic era, when it changed hands among various states. Under the reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire in 1802, the Bishopric was secularized and annexed to the Habsburg territories. The Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 ceded Trento to Bavaria, and the Treaty of Schönbrunn four years later gave it to Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy.

The population staged armed resistance to French domination. The resistance leader was Andreas Hofer. During his youth, he lived in Italian Tyrol, where he learned the Italian language. When Hofer recovered Trento for the Austrians (1809), he was welcomed with enthusiasm by the population of Trento. Approximately 4,000 Trentinian volunteers (Sìzzeri or Schützen) died in battle against the French and Bavarian troops. In 1810, Hofer was captured and brought to Mantua, and was shot by French soldiers on the express order of Napoleon.

With Napoleon's defeat in 1814, Trento was again annexed by the Habsburg Empire. Church government was finally extinguished, and Trento was henceforth governed by the secular administration of Tyrol. In the following decades, Trento experienced a modernization of administration and economy with the first railroad in the Adige valley opening in 1859. The entire Mediterranean basin was at risk of malaria, a factor that affected the entire Italian peninsula and this Alpine region was not spared. Even Tuscany was particularly hard hit; malaria existed far inland into the Veneto area, reaching the Italian Alps.[21] From 1918 to 1940, government figures show Italy's malaria deaths decreased by 96%, due to the efforts of the Rockefeller Foundation and Italy's own malaria experts, who themselves were international leaders in malariology.[22]

During the late 19th century, Trento and Trieste, cities with ethnic Italian majorities still belonging to the Austrians, became icons of the Italian irredentist movement. Benito Mussolini briefly joined the staff of a local newspaper in 1909, but left Trento because they could not create an anti-Austrian group. There was dissatisfaction with the lack of provincial autonomy and the failure to establish a university for the region. Feelings of loyalty were focused on the 'father-figure' emperor, not for Austria.

Mausoleum of Cesare Battisti

The nationalist cause led Italy into World War I. Damiano Chiesa and the deputy in the Austrian parliament Cesare Battisti were two well-known local irredentists who had joined the Italian Army to fight against Austria-Hungary with the aim of bringing the territory of Trento into the new Kingdom of Italy. The two men were taken prisoners at the nearby southern front. They were put on trial for high treason and executed in the courtyard of Castello del Buonconsiglio.

The region was greatly affected during the war, and some of its fiercest battles were fought on the surrounding mountains in the southernmost regions and the southeast. Of a population of just less than 400,000 in the province, 55,000 men served in the Imperial and Royal Army of whom 11,000 died. Most served on the Galician front; 700 served with the Italian Army. After World War I, Trento and its Italian-speaking province, along with Bolzano (Bozen) and the part of Tyrol that stretched south of the Alpine watershed (which was primarily German-speaking, as still is to this day), were annexed by Italy.

In July 1943 Mussolini was removed as Prime Minister when the allies invaded Sicily. Italy surrendered to the Allies, and declared war on Germany. German troops promptly invaded northern Italy and the provinces of Trento, Belluno and South Tyrol became part of the Operation Zone of the Alpine Foothills, annexed to Germany. Some German-speakers wanted revenge upon Italian-speakers living in the area, but were mostly prevented by the occupying German troops, who still considered Mussolini head of the Italian Social Republic and wanted to preserve good relations with the Italians. From November 1944 to April 1945, Trento was bombed as part of the so-called "Battle of the Brenner". War supplies from Germany to support the Gothic Line were for the most part routed via the rail line through the Brenner Pass. Over 6,849 sorties were flown by the Allies over targets from Verona to the Brenner Pass, with 10,267 tons of bombs dropped. Parts of the city were hit by the Allied bombings, including the church of S. Maria Maggiore, the Church of the Annunciation and several bridges over the Adige river. In spite of the bombings, most of the medieval and renaissance city center was spared. It was finally liberated on 3 May 1945.

In 1947, Trento became the host of the Rally Stella Alpina.

Since the 1950s, the region has enjoyed prosperous growth, thanks in part to its special autonomy from the central Italian government.

On 4 August 2015, the cathedral tower caught fire by "spontaneous combustion". The clock stopped at 10:50 AM, a matter of minutes after the fire began.

In 2020, Trento was listed as the most sustainable city in Italy, according to the Smart City Index.[23]

The township of Trento encompasses the city centre as well as many suburbs of extremely varied geographical and population conditions (from the industrial suburb of Gardolo, just north of the city, to tiny mountain hamlets on Monte Bondone). Various distinctive suburbs still retain their traditional identity of rural or mountain villages.

Trento lies in a wide glacial valley known as the Adige valley, just south of the Dolomite Mountains, where the Fersina River and Avisio rivers join the Adige River (the second longest river in Italy). River Adige is one of the three primary south-flowing Alpine rivers; its broadly curving course alongside Trento was straightened in 1850.[24] The valley is surrounded by mountains, including Vigolana (2,150 m (7,050 ft)), Monte Bondone (2,181 m (7,156 ft)), Paganella (2,124 m (6,969 ft)), Marzola (1,747 m (5,732 ft)) and Monte Calisio (1,096 m (3,596 ft)). Nearby lakes include Lake Caldonazzo, Lake Levico, Lake Garda and Lake Toblino.

In 2007, there were 112,637 people residing in Trento, of whom 48% were male and 52% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 18.01 percent of the population compared to pensioners who numbered 19.37 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Trento residents is 41 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Trento grew by 5.72 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent.[27] The current birth rate of Trento is 9.61 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2006, 92.68% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group came from other European countries (mostly Albania, Romania): 4.13%, North Africa: 1.08%, and the Americas: 0.85%.

Trento Informa (a magazine distributed by the "comune") reports that in 2011 there were 117,190 people residing in Trento, of whom 48.5% aged between 45 and 65. The average age was 43.1 years.

Vineyard in Trento

The city owes much of its unique economy to its position along the main communication route between Italy and Northern Europe and to the Adige river which, prior to its diversion in the mid-19th century, ran through the center of the city. The Adige river was formerly a navigable river and one of the main commercial routes in the Alps. The original course of the river is now covered by the Via Torre Vanga, Via Torre Verde and the Via Alessandro Manzoni.

University of Trento, Faculty of Science

As late as World War II, Trento depended on wine-making and silk.[28] Sparkling wine made in the Trentino province is part of the Trento DOC classification. The manufacturing industry installed in the post-war period has been mostly dismantled. Today, Trento thrives on commerce, services, tourism, high-quality agriculture and food industry (including wine and fruit), as a research and conference center thanks to a small but renowned university and internationally renowned research centers such as Fondazione Bruno Kessler, active in both fundamental and applied research, the Italian-German Historical Institute, the Centre for Computational and Systems Biology and ECT*, active in theoretical nuclear studies and part of FBK, and as logistics and transportation thoroughfare.

Valued pink and white porphyry are still excavated from some surrounding areas (Pila). This stone can be seen in many of Trento's buildings, both new and old.

The city has two long-running annual sporting events: the Giro al Sas (a 10 km (6 mi) professional road running competition) was first held in the city in 1907 and continues to the present,[29] while the Giro del Trentino is an annual road cycling race which the city has hosted every year since 1963.[30]

Palazzo pretorio and duomo

Buonconsiglio Castle

Although off the beaten path of mass tourism, Trento offers rather interesting monuments. Its architecture has a unique feel, with both Italian Renaissance and Roman influences. The city center is small, and most Late-Medieval and Renaissance buildings have been restored to their original pastel colours and wooden balconies. Part of the medieval city walls is still visible in Piazza Fiera, along with a circular tower. Once, these walls encircled the entire city and were connected to the Castello del Buonconsiglio. The main monuments of the city include:

• Cattedrale di San Vigilio (Cathedral of Saint Vigilius), also known as Duomo di Trento (XII-XIII century) is a Romanesque-Gothic cathedral built on top of a late-Roman basilica (viewable in an underground crypt).
• Piazza Duomo (1767–1768), on the side of the cathedral, has frescoed Renaissance buildings and the Late Baroque Fountain of Neptune (Fontana di Nettuno).
• Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (1520), site of the preparatory congregations of the Third Council of Trent (April 1562 – December 1563). It was built for Bishop Bernardo Clesio by the architect Antonio Medaglia in Renaissance-Gothic style. The façade has a notable 16th-century portal, while the interior has works by Giambettino Cignaroli and Moroni.
• Castello del Buonconsiglio (Buonconsiglio Castle) (XIII century), which includes a museum and the notable Torre dell'Aquila, with a cycle of fine Gothic frescoes depicting the months, was commissioned by the prince-bishop Georg von Lichtenstein.
• Church of San Pietro (XII century) features a neo-Gothic façade added in 1848–1850.
• Church of Sant'Apollinare (XIII century) is a Gothic church.
• Church of San Lorenzo (XII century) features a Romanesque apse.
• Torre Verde (Green Tower), along the former transit path of the Adige river, is said to be where persons executed in the name of the Prince-Bishop were deposited in the river.
• Palazzo delle Albere (Palace of the Trees), a Renaissance villa next to the Adige river built around 1550 by the Madruzzo family, now hosting a modern art museum.
• Palazzo Pretorio (XII century), next to the Duomo, with a bell tower (Torre Civica) of the XIII century that now hosts a collection of baroque paintings of religious themes. It was the main Bishops' residence until the mid XIII century.
• Palazzo Salvadori (1515) is one of the first examples of Renaissance civil architecture in the city.
• Palazzo Geremia (XV century) features a Renaissance exterior and Gothic interiors.
• Palazzo Lodron, built during the Council of Trent. The interior has a large fresco cycle.
• Various underground remains of the streets and villas of the Roman city (in Via Prepositura and Piazza Cesare Battisti).

Trento also sports modernist architecture, including the train station and the central post office, both by rationalist architect Angiolo Mazzoni. In particular, the train station (1934–36) is considered a landmark building of Italian railways architecture and combines many varieties of local stone with the most advanced building materials of the time: glass, reinforced concrete, metal. The post office was once decorated with colored windows by Fortunato Depero, but these were destroyed during bombings in World War II. Other buildings of that time include the Grand Hotel by Giovanni Lorenzi with some guest rooms furnished with futurist furniture by Depero, and the "R. Sanzio" Primary School built in 1931–34 and designed by Adalberto Libera.

University of Trento - Department of economics

The University of Trento was founded in 1962 and has its headquarters in the city of Trento. The other university location is in Rovereto. In total, over 16,000 students study in Trento. Through the Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino, the university also works closely together with the universities of Innsbruck and Bolzano.

The Autostrada A22 (part of the European route E45) highway connects Trento to Verona and to Bolzano, Innsbruck and Munich.

Trento railway station, opened in 1859, forms part of the Brenner railway (Verona–Innsbruck), which is the main rail connection between Italy and Germany. The station is also a junction with the Valsugana railway, which connects Trento to Venice. Trento has several other railway stations, including Trento FTM railway station, terminus of the Trento-Malè-Marilleva railway (FTM).

Bus or train services operate to the main surrounding valleys: Fassa, Fiemme, Gudicarie, Non, Primiero, Rendena, Sole, Tesino, Valsugana.

The public transport network within the city consists of 20 bus lines operated by Trentino Trasporti and a funicular service to Sardagna. The various railway stations within Trento's city limits are integrated into the public transport network.

• 
  Trento-Mattarello Airport
• 
  Valsugana railway
• 
  Autostrada A22 (Italy)

Alcide de Gasperi

Chiara Lubich, 2006

Notable people born in or associated with Trento include:

• Jacopo Aconcio (ca.1520–ca.1566), an Italian jurist, theologian, philosopher and engineer.[32]
• Beniamino Andreatta (1928–2007), an Italian economist and politician.
• Cesare Battisti (1875–1916), Italian patriot during the Italian irredentism
• Francesco Antonio Bonporti (1672–1749), an Italian priest and amateur composer.
• Aliprando Caprioli, engraver of the 16th-century
• Alcide De Gasperi (1881–1954), 30th Prime Minister of Italy and one of the founding fathers of the European Union
• Ernest von Koerber (1850–1919), an Austrian liberal statesman, prime minister of the Austrian portion of Austria-Hungary from 1900 to 1904
• Johann Baptist von Lampi the Younger (1775–1837) an Austrian portrait painter.
• Chiara Lubich (1920–2008), Italian teacher and author, founded the Focolare Movement
• Martino Martini (1614–1661), a Jesuit missionary, geographer, historian and missionary
• Paolo Oss Mazzurana (1833–1895), Trento's most notable mayor, with progressive economic policies that impacted Trento's commercial sector and its eventual independence
• Francesca Neri (born 1964), an Italian actress.
• Aldo Pancheri (born 1940), painter and printmaker[33]
• Antonio Pedrotti (1901–1975), an Italian conductor and composer
• Andrea Pozzo (1642–1709), Jesuit Brother, baroque painter and architect
• Galeas von Thun und Hohenstein (1850–1931), the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1905 to 1931.
• Alessandro Vittoria (1525–1608), an Italian Mannerist sculptor of the Venetian school
• Hermann Zingerle (1870–1935), an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist

Sport

Lorenzo Bernardi, 2009

• Lorenzo Bernardi (born 1968), an Italian volleyball coach and former player, team silver medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Attilio Bettega (1953–1985), rally driver
• Alessandro Bonetti (born 1985), racing driver
• Mirko Bortolotti (born 1990), racing driver
• Thomas Degasperi (born 1981), water skier, two time World Champion
• Cesare Maestri (1929–2021), an Italian mountaineer and writer.
• Amos Mosaner (born 1995), an Italian curler, team gold medallist at the 2022 Winter Olympics
• Marvin Vettori (born 1993), an Italian professional mixed martial artist
• Renzo Videsott (1904–1974), an Italian alpinist and conservationist

• Trentino
• Val d'Adige (territory)

• Kay, David (1880), "Principal Towns: Trent", Austria-Hungary, Foreign Countries and British Colonies, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, hdl:2027/mdp.39015030647005
• T. Francis Bumpus (1900), "Trent", The Cathedrals and Churches of Northern Italy, London: Laurie
• Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). "Trent (city)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). p. 247.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trento.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Trento.

• Official homepage of Trento