Treviso

Treviso (US: /treɪˈviːzoʊ/ tray-VEE-zoh; Italian: [treˈviːzo] ^ⓘ; Venetian: Trevixo [tɾeˈvizo]) is a city and comune (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87,322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls (le Mura) or in the historical and monumental center; some 80,000 live in the urban center while the city hinterland has a population of approximately 170,000.

The province is home to the headquarters of clothing retailer Benetton, Sisley, Stefanel, Geox, Diadora and Lotto Sport Italia, appliance maker De'Longhi, and bicycle maker Pinarello.

Treviso is also known for being the original production area of Prosecco wine and radicchio, and is thought to have been the origin of the popular Italian dessert tiramisù.

The first mention of Treviso, albeit indirect, can be found in the third book of the Naturalis historia by Pliny the Elder, where the "Fluvius Silis ex montibus Tarvisanis" is cited. De vita sancti Martini by Venantius Fortunatus includes the first citation of the toponym "Tarvisus", followed, shortly after, by the Anonymous Ravennate with "Trabision". Numerous are also the references in the Historia Langobardorum by Paul the Deacon: "Tribicium seu Tarbision", "apud Tarvisium" etc. The most probable hypothesis is that Tarvisium, decomposable in Tarv-is-ium, is of Celtic origin: in fact, tarvos "bull" and the formant -is- typical of Gallic toponyms are recognized. Another theory is that it derives from the combination of two Roman terms, Ter- and -visi, in relation to the three hills (in Latin, precisely, visi), corresponding to the current Piazza Duomo, Piazza dei Signori and Piazza Sant'Andrea, on which the city was built.

Some believe that Treviso derived its name from the Celtic word "tarvos" mixed with the Latin ending "isium" forming "Tarvisium", of the tarvos. Tarvos means bull in Celtic mythology, though the same word can relate to the lion, or Leo, in Eastern astrology. Others believe it comes from a word from the language of a tribe who first came to Treviso.

Tarvisium, then a city of the Veneti, became a municipium in 89 BC after the Romans added Cisalpine Gaul to their dominions. Citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe of Claudia. The city lay in proximity of the Via Postumia, which connected Opitergium to Aquileia, two major cities of Roman Venetia during Ancient and early medieval times. Treviso is rarely mentioned by ancient writers, although Pliny writes of the Silis, that is the Sile River, as flowing ex montibus Tarvisanis.

During the Roman period, Christianity spread to Treviso. Tradition records that St. Prosdocimus, a Greek who had been ordained bishop by St. Peter, brought the Catholic faith to Treviso and surrounding areas. By the 4th century, the Christian population grew sufficient to merit a resident bishop. The first documented bishop was John the Pious who began his episcopacy in 396 AD.

Treviso went through a demographic and economic decline similar to the rest of Italy after the fall of the Western Empire; however, it was spared by Attila the Hun, and thus, remained an important center during the 6th century. According to tradition, Treviso was the birthplace of Totila, the leader of Ostrogoths during the Gothic Wars. Immediately after the Gothic Wars, Treviso fell under the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until 568 AD when it was taken by the Lombards, who made it one of 36 ducal seats and established an important mint. The latter was especially important during the reign of the last Lombard king, Desiderius, and continued to churn out coins when northern Italy was annexed to the Frankish Empire. People from the city also played a role in the founding of Venice.