Oderzo ( la, Opitergium; vec, Oderso) is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' with a population of 20,003 in the

province of Treviso The Province of Treviso ('' it, Provincia di Treviso'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso. The province is surrounded by Belluno in the north, Vicenza in the west, Padua in southwest, Venice in the so ...

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It lies in the heart of the Venetian plain, about to the northeast of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. Oderzo is crossed by the Monticano River, a tributary of the Livenza. The ''centro storico'', or town center, is rich with archeological ruins which give insight into Oderzo's history as a notable crossroad in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

Political division

The six suburbs or ''frazioni'' which surround Oderzo almost in the form of a hexagon. Starting from the north and then proceeding clockwise, they are:

History

Venetic period

The earliest settlement of the area can be dated to the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

, around the 10th century BC. From the mid-9th century BC the Veneti occupied site and gave it its name. Etymologically, "-terg-" in ''Opitergium'' stems from a

Venetic Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language, usually classified into the Italic subgroup, that was spoken by the Veneti people in ancient times in northeast Italy (Veneto and Friuli) and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po Delta and ...

root word indicating a market (q.v. ''Tergeste'', the old name of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

). The location of Oderzo on the Venetian plain and between the Monticano and Navisego rivers made it ideal as a center for trade. Oderzo fororomano 3

Roman Republic Period

The Veneti of Oderzo appear to have maintained friendly relations with the Romans and the population was gradually Romanized after the Romans moved into the area around 200 BC. The town was granted Latin rights in 182 BC. The

Via Postumia The Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the ''consul'' Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus. It ran from the coast at Genua through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia (the termination of the Via Aemil ...

, finished in 148 BC, passing through Oderzo, connected Genua to Aquileia, and thus, increased the importance of Oderzo. Citizens of Oderzo likely were involved in the Social War in 89 BC since acorn-like missiles with names in Venetic and Latin inscriptions have been found at Ascoli Piceno. During the

Roman Civil War This is a list of civil wars and organized civil disorder, revolts and rebellions in ancient Rome (Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, and Roman Empire) until the fall of the Western Roman Empire (753 BCE – 476 CE). For the Eastern Roman Empire or B ...

, Caius Volteius Capito, a centurion born in Oderzo, led a number of men from the town to fight on the side of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

against

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

. For their loyalty, Caesar exempted Oderzo from conscription for 20 years and enlarged its territory. Moreover, in 48 BC the city was elevated to the rank of Roman

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the priv ...

and its citizens assigned to the Roman tribe Papiria by the Lex de Gallia Cisalpina.

Roman Empire Period

With the reforms of Augustus Oderzo was incorporated into ''Regio X'' of ''Italia'', '' Venetia et Histria''. The Roman era witnessed prodigious building projects including a forum, a basilica, temples and many private homes. Oderzo achieved its greatest splendor during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Its population grew to about 50,000 inhabitants. It lent its name to the Venetian lagoon which was called ''laguna opitergina'' and to the mountains of Cansiglio which were called ''montes opitergini''. A number of Roman authors mention the city, among whom are Claudius Ptolomeus, Strabo,

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

, Lucan,

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

and Quintilian. Unfortunately, prosperity made Oderzo a target. During the Marcomannic Wars in 167 AD, Oderzo was sacked and destroyed by a force of

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. Or ...

and Quadi, who then went on to besiege Aquileia. By the 5th century, Oderzo shared the fate of the rest of Venetia and had to deal with attacks in 403 by the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

led by Alaric, in 452 by the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

whose leader, Attila, according to a local legend hid a treasure in a town's pit, in 465 during a revolt of Visigothic and Roman soldiers who objected to the rule of

Severus Severus is the name of various historical and fictional figures, including: ;Emperors of the Roman empire *Septimius Severus (145–211), Roman emperor from 193 to 211 (rarely known as ''Severus I.'') *Severus Caracalla (188–217), Roman emperor f ...

and in 473 by the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

who took control of Rome and all of Italy after 476.

Late Antiquity

By 554, the town was restored to the Empire by

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

's devastating Gothic War in Italy. Under the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, Oderzo became the a major center within the

Exarchate of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna ( la, Exarchatus Ravennatis; el, Εξαρχάτο της Ραβέννας) or of Italy was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the ...

with a ''dux'' as its chief official. It would be held by the Byzantines, even after much of northern Italy was conquered by the Lombard in 568, until its destruction by the Lombard king Grimoald in 667/8. Paul the Deacon attributes the Lombard hatred for the city to the perfidy of a certain citizen of Oderzo, a "patricius Romanorum" named Gregory, who in 641 while under the promise of a truce beheaded Taso and Cacco, sons of Gisulf, the Lombard duke of Forum Iulium. The Lombard king,

Rothari Rothari (or Rothair) ( 606 – 652), of the house of Arodus, was king of the Lombards from 636 to 652; previously he had been duke of Brescia. He succeeded Arioald, who was an Arian like himself, and was one of the most energetic of Lombard kings ...

, subsequently led a war of vendetta and, having breached Oderzo's defenses, inflicted upon it severe devastation. However, the Lombards apparently withdrew, since in 667, Oderzo was again in the hands of the Byzantines. In that year, Lombard king,

Grimoald I Grimoald I (616–657), called the Elder (in French, ''Grimaud l'Ainé''), was the mayor of the palace of Austrasia from 643 to his death. He was the son of Pepin of Landen and Itta. Biography With the death of Pepin in 640, Grimoald became t ...

, still holding a grudge for the murder of Taso and Cacco, laid siege to Oderzo. Much of its population fled to the nearby cities of Heraclea and Equilium still under Byzantine control. According to Venetian tradition, one of the refugees from Oderzo was the first

Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 ...

Paolo Lucio Anafesto Paolo Lucio Anafesto ( la, Paulucius Anafestus) was, according to tradition, the first Doge of Venice, serving from 697 to 717. He is known for repelling Umayyad attacks. Biography A noble of Eraclea, then the primary city of the region, he was ...

. After his victory, Grimoald destroyed the city and divided its territory between the dukes of

Tarvisium Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, Forum Iulii, and Ceneta, with the bulk going to Ceneta.Paul the Deacon, ''History of the Lombards'', IV.38-45

Middle Ages

It was not until about AD 1000 that Oderzo again gained relative importance. Over time, the town had grown again around a castle. It would be contested between the bishops of Belluno and Ceneda, the ''

'' of Treviso and the feudal

da Camino The da Camino (also known as Camino or Caminesi) were an Italian noble family whose fame is connected to the mediaeval history of the March of Treviso, a city of which they were lords for a while. History Of Lombard origin, the da Camino descend ...

(originally of the Camino castle, now part of Oderzo) and

da Romano The Ezzelini were a noble family in medieval Italy. The family was founded by Ecelo (Ezzelo), who received the fiefs of Romano d'Ezzelino and Onara * Ezzelino I da Romano (died 1189), called ''il Balbo'' ** Ezzelino II da Romano (died 1235), call ...

families until 1380 when it became a stable possession of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

Modern era

Oderzo was annexed to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

in 1866. In 1917, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the town was damaged in the aftermath of the Italian rout at

Caporetto Kobarid (; it, Caporetto, fur, Cjaurêt, german: Karfreit) is a settlement in Slovenia, the administrative centre of the Municipality of Kobarid. Kobarid is known for the 1917 Battle of Caporetto, where the Italian retreat was documented by Er ...

. In 1943 it was a centre of the civil war between the German puppet Italian Social Republic (RSI) and the Italian resistance movement. In 1945, 120 people suspected of allegiance to the RSI were executed (see Oderzo Massacre). The city was governed by the Italian Christian Democratic party from 1945–1993, and experienced a notable economic boom, which also attracted a massive

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

from the southern Italian regions. The Ciclocross del Ponte Faè di Oderzo is a cyclo-cross race held in December.

Main sights

*The ''Piazza Grande'' *The ''Duomo'' (Cathedral) of St. John the Baptist, begun in the 11th century over the ruins of the Roman temple of Mars, and re-consecrated in 1535. The original Gothic-Romanesque appearance has been modified by the subsequent renovations. It includes some notable works by

Pomponio Amalteo Pomponio Amalteo (1505 – 9 March 1588) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school. Biography Pomponio Amalteo was born at Motta di Livenza in Veneto in 1505. He was a pupil and son-in-law of Il Pordenone, whose style he closely imitated; ...

. *Archaeological area of the Roman Forum. It includes the remains of the basilica and a wide staircase. *''Torresin'' (watchtower) *The Renaissance ''Palazzo Porcia e Brugnera''. *The former Prisons (''Porta Pretoria''). It includes the remains of a medieval prison, whose most famous guest was the troubadour Sordello da Goito. In the ''frazione'' of Colfrancui is the mysterious ''Mutera'', an artificial hill of the

Adriatic Veneti The Veneti (also Heneti) were an Indo-European people who inhabited northeastern Italy, in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of Veneto.twinned with: *

Pontremoli Pontremoli (; local egl, Pontrémal; la, Apua) is a small city, ''comune'' former Latin Catholic bishopric in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany region, central Italy. Literally translated, Pontremoli means "Trembling Bridge" (from ''pon ...

, Italy * Suffolk,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Notable people

, first

Doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...

of Venice *

Amedeo Obici Amedeo Obici (July 15, 1877 – May 22, 1947) was an Italian-born American businessman and philanthropist who founded Planters. Childhood, emigrating to the United States Obici was born in Oderzo in the Veneto region of Italy to Pietro Ludovico ...

, American entrepreneur born in Oderzo

References

Sources

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Veneto Roman sites of Veneto Territories of the Republic of Venice