The
Montello is a hill in the
province of TrevisoThe Province of Treviso is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso.The province has an area of 2,477 km², and a total population of 859.244...
,
VenetoVeneto , is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 4.8 million, and its capital is Venice....
, northern
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, and the site of a
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
battle.
The bean-shaped hill measures about 5 km north-south by 13 km east-west. It rises to a maximum of 371 m elevation from the alluvial plain of the
Piave RiverPiave is a river in north Italy. It begins in the Alps and flows southeast for 220 km into the Adriatic Sea near the city of Venice....
, which runs along the north and west edges of the hill, at about 140 m elevation.
The Montello is crossed in the east-west direction by a local road that begins as Via 18 Giugno in the town of Pederiva di Biadene, continues as Strada La Dorsale and Via Frati, and ends as Via Ossario in the town of
Nervesa della BattagliaNervesa della Battaglia is a comune in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about 45 km north of Venice and about 20 km north of Treviso....
. Several local roads in the general north-south direction connect this "dorsal spine" of the Montello to the two main alternative routes around the hill, either along on its southern margin (comprised by Stradone del Bosco, Via Fra Giocondo, Via Pedemontana, Via Francesco Baracca, Via Arditi, Via Armando Diaz) or along the northern margin (the Panoramic Road, comprised by Via Gabriele d'Annunzio, Via Nord Montello, Via Riviera Piave, Via Decima Armata).
The hill gave its name to several towns nested against its base
Crocetta del MontelloCrocetta del Montello , formerly Crocetta Trevigiana, is a comune in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about northwest of Treviso...
,
Volpago del MontelloVolpago del Montello is a comune in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about 40 km northwest of Venice and about 15 km northwest of Treviso.-External links:*
...
, Selva del Montello, and
Giavera del MontelloGiavera del Montello is a comune in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about 40 km northwest of Venice and about 15 km northwest of Treviso...
.
The hill is presently covered with a mix of wooded areas, residential homes, and small farms. The church and monument of Santa Maria della Vittoria, built after the battle of 1918, is located on top of the montello, about 3.5 km north of Volpago (to which it belongs) and 5 km east from Pederiva.
History
The Montello has been inhabited since
pre-historicalPrehistory is a term used to describe the period before recorded history. Paul Tournal originally coined the term Pré-historique in describing the finds he had made in the caves of southern France...
times; chipped stone points from the
MesolithicThe Mesolithic or "Middle Stone Age" was a period in the development of human technology in between the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age and the Neolithic or New Stone Age. The term was introduced by John Lubbock in his work Pre-historic Times, published in 1865. The term was, however, not much used...
have been found along the northern edge. The early inhabitants probably occupied the many natural caves that bore into the hill.
In
Classical AntiquityClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
the region surrounding the Montello was settled by reformed
soldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s of the
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
army.
During the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, the
Certosa (
CarthusianThe Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns...
monasteryMonastery , a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer Monastery (plural: monasteries), a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios...
) of
San GerolamoSaint Jerome is a Christian church father, best known for translating the Bible into Latin.Saint Jerome may also refer to:*Jerome of Pavia , Bishop of Pavia...
and the
abbeyAn abbey , is a Christian monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community....
of
Sant'EustachioSaint Eustace, also known as Eustachius or Eustathius, was a legendary Christian martyr who lived in the 2nd century AD. A martyr of that name is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, which, however, judges that the legend recounted about him is "completely fabulous." For that reason...
were built. It was in the latter that, between 1550 and 1555,
Giovanni Della CasaGiovanni della Casa was an Italian poet and cleric.He was born in the Mugello district, in Tuscany. He studied at Bologna, Florence and Rome, and by his learning attracted the patronage of Alexander Farnese, who, as Pope Paul III, made him nuncio to Florence, where he received the honour of being...
wrote
Il Galateo.
The
oakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
s and
chestnutChestnut is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The Chestnut belongs to the same Fagaceae family as the Oak and Beech...
trees that covered the Montello since antiquity used to be a major source of
timberTimber may refer to:*Lumber, i.e. wood materials* Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Oregon* Timber , a 1984 arcade game by Bally Midway* An alternative spelling for Timbre...
for the region, especially for the shipyards and building foundations of Venice. Due to its strategic importance, the
Republic of VeniceThe Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797...
assumed the ownership of the hill, and declared it off-limits to the local population. Deprived of their homes and their main source of income, the hunters and
woodsmenThe word woodsman, meaning man of the woods, can be applied to any person coming from or living in a wooded area. Woodsmen is the plural form....
of the Montello became a class of landless, homeless and jobless miserables, the
bisnenti, who survived on odd jobs and occasionally crimes.
In 1982, moved by the plight of the
bisnenti, Senator Pietro Bertolini pushed through legislation which parcelled the Montello land among them. The initiative was not very successful, since the poor soil was not very suitable for agriculture. In any case, the re-settlement and the ravages of World War I led to the demise of the native woods, and their partial replacement by
robiniaRobinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, native to North America and northern Mexico. Commonly known as locusts, they are deciduous trees and shrubs growing 4-25 m tall. The leaves are pinnate with 7-21 oval leaflets. The flowers are white or pink, in...
s, a bush native to the
AmericasThe Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America...
that was brought to the region in the late 1700s.
See also
- Ciano (TV), Italy
- Montebelluna
Montebelluna is a town in Veneto, Italy, approximately 67 kilometers northwest of Venice. It has an estimated population of 30,817.Fila has research and development facilities in Montebelluna...