La Marca fortificata

La Marca fortificata: la Sinistra Piave

The particular morphology of the hilly and piedmont territory north of Treviso has favored, since ancient times, the creation of a dense system of fortified sites located at strategic points of the agricultural landscape. The sites of greatest interest, even for the testimonies still present, are:

Torre di Rai
In San Polo di Piave in the Rai area, on a small hill, perhaps pre Roman pre-Roman, are the remains of an ancient tower, the surviving part of a castle built in the 10th century which was destroyed in the early 15th century by Pippo Spano, knight of fortune in command of the Hungarian hordes that spread in this area.

The Castle of Collalto (Susegana), built by Ensedisio I in 1110, was ordered by the Trevigiani to keep the territories to the left of the Piave river under control. Among the ruins of this ancient manor, legend has it that the ghost of Bianca, a young girl walled alive by the jealous Chiara Da Camino, accused her of being the lover of her husband, Tolberto da Collalto.

The Castle of San Salvatore dei Conti Collalto (Susegana)
The imposing fortified system, which was often depicted by the famous painter G. B. Cima in the backgrounds of his paintings, is one of the largest in Italy and still belongs to the noble family that built it.
Bombed during the First World War, when it was used as an observatory for the Austro-Hungarian artillery, the complex is now returning to its former glory thanks to the careful restoration that in 2003 allowed it to be opened to the public.

The Castelvecchio in Conegliano: cmentioned for the first time in 1016, the castle reached its maximum expansion in the fourteenth century when, first Scaligeri and then Carraresi, fortified the village with three city walls defended by more than seventy towers.
Today you can admire some testimonies of this complex fortified structure: the Torre della Guardia – today Civic Museum – on the top of the hill, with the remains of the bastite and the Torre mozza; the Carraresi archivolts along the Castagnera route, the Refosso walls, the city gates.

Ruins of the castle of Cordignano
It was the residence of the da Camino family from 1139 to 1388, but a fortress had already been built earlier by the Lombards at the point where an ancient Roman road from Alto Friuli left the Pedemontana to head towards Treviso. The castle was devastated by the Turks who fell on the territory in 1499; the neglect of the Venetian feudatories contributed to reducing it to ruin.

The Castle of  San Martino in Ceneda
Of Lombard origin, it was for centuries the residence of the count Bishop who ruled the city and is still the seat of the Bishopric of Vittorio Veneto. To reach it, you have to take Via Brevia which starts near the Battle Museum in Piazza Giovanni Paolo I. Immersed in a landscape dotted with vineyards and olive groves, from the castle you can admire a splendid panorama that extends from the historic center of Ceneda to the plain that from the foot of the hills it stretches to Colle Umberto.
Interior visits are possible on some occasions.

The Castrum and the fortifications of Serravalle (Vittorio Veneto): his privately owned site, which can be visited on request, is the result of a historical overlap of military and housing interventions: Romans, Lombards, Franks, Caminesi, Venetians left traces of their passage. In addition to visiting the Castrum you can also admire the remains of the thirteenth century city walls and the city gates.

Brandolini Castle in Cison di Valmarino
The Brandolini Castle, now Castelbrando Colomban, overlooks the villages of Valmareno and Cison di Valmarino.
The valley below, of glacial origin, has been home to human settlements since the Paleovenetian period and then in Roman times; it was guarded by a real fortification already in the High Middle Ages, a period in which the territory suffered the invasions of the Hungarians. Having become the seat of a small feud, it came under the control of various Lords, including the Da Camino, and finally became part of the dominion of the Republic of Venice. The latter, in 1436, donated it to Brandolino IV Brandolini from Bagnacavallo and to Erasmo da Narni, known as il Gattamelata, condottieri of fortune in the service of the Republic. The following year the Gattamelata, returned to military life, for 3000 ducats gave it to his companion who, married to Filippa degli Alidosi, settled in the territory.
The long period of peace guaranteed by the Serenissima allowed the Brandolini to transform the fortress into a stately palace of Renaissance style, flanked in the 18th century by an imposing additional body, equipped, among other things, with an innovative central heating system.
The castle remained the property of the Brandolini until 1959, when it was first sold to the Salesians and then in 1997 to the entrepreneur Massimo Colomban who restored it. Today the complex houses a hotel, restaurants and a wellness center.

Towers of Credazzo
They are what remains of the ancient fortress present around the ninth century as a bulwark against the invasions of the Hungarians. It became a Caminese castle in 1233, was later purchased by the Collalto family in 1321, but was destroyed by Pippo Spano as a reprisal against Venice and its allies.

La Marca fortificata: la Destra Piave

IN Casale sul Sile, in via de Santi, you can admire from the outside the Carrarese Tower. It is a cylindrical building spread over four floors, the only surviving part of a fortress built by the Trevigiani to control the important waterway of the Sile.
On the external walls it bears traces of decorations with the heraldic colors of the Carraresi, the Paduan family that conquered this territory in the 1880s. Inside the building there are sixteenth-century frescoes.

Asolo is characterized by the presence of two fortifications:

• La Rocca, a massive building with a polygonal layout placed on the top of Mount Ricco overlooking the ancient village. Stronghold of the defensive system of the medieval city, it has walls fifteen meters high and four thick.
• The “della Regina” castle, located in the historic center, is a building of medieval origin. It was the home of the Ezzelini and then of the Queen of Cyprus Caterina Cornaro, who hosted Cardinal Pietro Bembo at his court, who set the Asolani here.

Tower of San Zenone degli Ezzelini
It is all that remains as a memory of the place where the ancient Ezzelini castle stood, a fortress considered impregnable, placed under the control of an important communication route. Here the brother of Ezzelino III, Alberico, took refuge, considered the most cruel tyrant of the time. After months of siege, in 1260 the castle was conquered and razed to the ground; Alberico was executed along with his wife and his eight children.

Castelfranco Veneto
Built in 1195 by the Trevigiani to guard this territory, the natural boundary of the Marca with the Paduan and Vicentine lands, Castelfranco was defined because its inhabitants were exempted – “frank” facts – from paying taxes as a reward for their demanding defensive role.
The castle measures about 230 meters on each side and preserves practically intact its walls 17 meters high, the four corner towers and three of the four original gates. Impressive is the one in front – also known as Porta Treviso – 43 meters high, which exhibits on the main facade the clock and the lion of St. Mark in Istrian stone, symbol of Venetian domination, both installed in 1499.