Crocetta del Montello (or Croseta del Montel in the local Venetian dialect), formerly Crocetta Trevigiana, is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the

province of Treviso The province of Treviso () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso. The province is surrounded by Province of Belluno, Belluno in the north, Province of Vicenza, Vicenza in the west, Pro ...

, in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region of

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

, located about northwest of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and about northwest of

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (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 wall ...

. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,807 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat. The town lies about southwest of the Piave river, and borders the municipalities of Cornuda,

Montebelluna Montebelluna is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, Italy, approximately northwest of Venice. It has an estimated population of 31,000. Montebelluna borders the following municipalities: Altivole, Caerano di San Marco, Cornuda, Crocetta del Montello ...

, Moriago della Battaglia,

Pederobba Pederobba () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about northwest of Treviso. As of 31 December 2021, it had a population of 7,280 and an area of .All demog ...

, Vidor, and Volpago del Montello. The present name literally means "Little Cross of the Little Hill", and refers to the Montello, an isolated hillock, in size and in elevation, that rises from the Piave's

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

at the west edge of the town.

History

Prehistory and antiquity

Traces of human occupation dating from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

have been found along the north-east edge of the Montello, above the boroughs of Ciano and Santa Margherita, which at the time were on the Piave river. The main finds are

chipped stone In archaeology, in particular of the Stone Age, lithic reduction is the process of fashioning stones or rocks from their natural state into tools or weapons by removing some parts. It has been intensely studied and many archaeological industrie ...

tools that appear to be

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

points. Ciano takes its name from an ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

temple devoted to the cult of Cyane. The temple's focus was the Buoro di Ciano spring, which presently lies at the end of a long

grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

, and whose water was reputed to be beneficial to the health.

Rural beginnings

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the temple was replaced by a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

dedicated to Saint Mamertus, patron of

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

. Up to the 11th century, the area was still a sparsely settled woodland, plagued by lack of water and periodic flooding by the Piave. In the 15th century the Brentella Canal] or Bretella Canal (''Brantea'' in Venetian) was built to draw irrigation water from the Piave. The Bentella, which presently bisects the town in the north–south direction alongside Via Gugliemo Marconi and via Erizzo, was to become a major landmark and economic benesse for Crocetta and its surrounds three centuries later. After

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

turned the Montello into an off-limits

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

reserve, the displaced

hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

s and woodsmen who used to live there became a class of landless, homeless and jobless miserables, the ', who survived on odd jobs and occasionally crimes. By the beginning of the 19th century, the area was occupied by a few large manorial properties belonging to the Venetian nobility, many small family farms producing

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

and

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...

, and a few small

vineyards A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

on the hill slopes. Some

wicker Wicker is a method of weaving used to make products such as furniture and baskets, as well as a descriptor to classify such products. It is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as . Wicker was first documented ...

work was produced at Ciano, and the town had a few smiths and coopers. A

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

, powered by the Brentella, operated near Via Rimembranza. In the second half of the 19th century,

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

production became popular across northern Italy, and the raising of

silkworm ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...

s became an option for local farmers. The first silk spinning shop, the Filanda Marcato Ancilotto, was established in 1870.

The Canapificio Veneto

In 1882, Andrea Antonini, who owned a

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

mill in Venice, joined with fellow businessmen Pacifico Ceresa and Angelo Zorzetto to build the Canapificio Veneto Antonini Ceresa, on the west bank of the Brentella, which opened its doors in May 1883. The Canapificio dominated the town's economy for more than seven decades (1882–1958), and Antonini, its main owner and manager, became one of the most influential personalities in the town's history. The first workers were recruited among the ''bisenti'', but as the mill grew it attracted workers from the neighboring towns as well. Antonini sponsored the construction of popular housing for those workers along Via Sant'Anna (1890) and Piazza Cadorna (1896), and the establishment of basic services. The first two electricity generators of the town, driven by the Brentella, were installed in 1883 by the Canapificio. Antonini first had his own residence built inside the Canapificio, but in 1898 he started the construction of a new house, Villa Antonini, which is now a landmark of Crocetta. His old residence became the worker's

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...

Independence from Cornuda

Throughout the 19th century, Crocetta was only a suburb of the municipality of Cornuda. It only became an independent municipality on July 2, 1902, by detaching the hamlets Ciano and Nogarè. The split was an initiative of Lodovico Boschieri, then mayor of Cornuda, who became the first mayor of Crocetta. In the years following the split, Crocetta gained a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, an asylum, a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, a barber shop, a cooperative

drugstore A pharmacy (also called drugstore in American English or community pharmacy or chemist in Commonwealth English) is a premises which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist oversees the fulfillment of m ...

, and an aqueduct. Schools were opened at some of its boroughs. A dormitory for the girls who worked on the silk mill was also built at that time. Antonini himself established a semi-industrial

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

and a spinnery in Crocetta (1904), a brick kiln at Ciano (1905), and a

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called ''quicklime'' (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is: CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can tak ...

at Crocetta (1910). Another electric plant was built upstream at Croce del Gallo, and a third one downstream from the Canapificio (1911). A worker's union (the ''Società Operaia di Mutuo Soccorso'', "Worker's Society for Mutual Help"), was established in 1910. In 1913, workers went on a 20-day worker's strike for better living conditions, which ended with a promise by Antonini to build a

professional school Professional development, also known as professional education, is learning that leads to or emphasizes education in a specific professional career field or builds practical job applicable skills emphasizing praxis in addition to the transferab ...

Between the two wars

Mortar shells outside Ciano Church during World War One. Crocetta found itself on the front line of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The Montello hill was the stage of the Battle of the Solstice between Italian and

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

troops (June 15–23, 1918). Many buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged, including the Canapificio and all the town's churches. In the years after the war, some of the local business gradually resumed their activities, including the Canapificio. In 1920 a merger turned it into the Linificio e Canapificio Nazionale, with Ceresa as one of the directors, while Antonini chose to sell all its holdings. Crocetta's bakery and lime kiln, however, closed their doors. The town's original name Crocetta Trevigiana was changed in 1928 by the

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

government, to honor the soldiers who died fighting for control of the Montello hill during World War I. An

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

, the Orfanotrofio Pontello, was built in the same year. Over the following decade, the

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

regime took control of all freetime activities of the country's population through its '' Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro'' ("National Leisure Organization"), or OND. At Crocetta, the OND took over the Arts and Crafts school as its local headquarters. In 1935, the regime turned the Anonini Cultural Center into the ''Casa del Fascio'' ("House of Fascism"). Crocetta was badly hit by the global economic turmoil between the two World Wars, especially by the downturns of 1922 (the Post-World War I recession), 1927 (the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

), 1933, and 1938. The Canapificio gradually reduced its operations and finally closed its doors in 1938, leaving many people without a job and triggering the

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

of many local business that depended on it.

The Second World War

The first years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

affected Crocetta only indirectly, by conscription and shortages. However, after the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

landed in southern Italy and fascism retreated to the Republic of Salo, Crocetta found itself again in the crossfire. Allied bombing, resistance guerrillas and German reprisals took a heavy toll on the town and its inhabitants.

Geography

Since the 19th century, the main access roads to the region were the

- Feltre road (now the SR-348 regional highway), and the Via Erizzo road, built in 1817 (now the SP-2 provincial road). The main road east from central Crocetta begins as Via Lodovico Boschieri and continues along the northern edge of the Montello ; it eventually turns south and reaches Nervesa della Battaglia as Via Decima SAS. It is locally known as the Panoramic Road for its views of the Piave valley. Along that road lie the eastern suburbs of Crocetta: Ciano (about 1.5 km), Botteselle (3 km), Sant'Urbano (3.5 km), Santa Margherita (4.0 km) and Santa Mama (4.5 km). Centuries ago, Ciano and Santa Margherita were ports on the Piave, but the river has since shifted its course and now runs 2 km to the northwest of Ciano. To preserve their water supply, the Brentella was tapped near the borough of Croce del Gallo to create the Costelviero Canal, that runs along the Panoramic Road. Westwards from central Crocetta, Via Lodovico Boschieri becomes Via Sant'Andrea and leads to the borough of Nogarè (2.5 km) and then to the Padova Industrial District (3.5 km). Due to its position across the valley that connects Cornuda and Valdobiaddene at the north to Montebelluna, Treviso, and Venice in the southwest, Crocetta today suffers from heavy through-traffic that severely strains the local roads.

Monuments and places of interest

Venetian villas

Villa Ancilotto: in 1965 the Municipality of Crocetta del Montello purchased the assets of the Villa Ancilotto complex. Today the spinning mill houses the primary and secondary school, while the old family residence houses the municipal library on the ground floor, the "Earth and Man" Civic Museum on the second floor and the temporary exhibitions on the main floor.

Culture

Crocetta del Montello has a very interesting civic museum, which houses a prehistoric horn of Mammoth and a small dinosaur skeleton, as well as many other archaeological finds. The museum was opened to the public in 1978 with the contribution of numerous archeology scholars, including prof. Giuliano Palmieri, teacher of Greek and Latin at the Antonio Canova state high school in Treviso until the early 2000s.

Economics

In the space of twenty years, from 1965 to 1985, thanks to the resourcefulness and intelligence of many entrepreneurs, about a hundred artisanal and industrial companies, including medium-large ones, entered the productive fabric of the Municipality, some of which are very significant: a dozen shoe factories, four to five mechanical companies, four packaging companies, three wineries, and others in the canning sector and in the industrial machinery sector. Today, Crocetta's economy is based on a network of family agriculture, small industries and services.

Gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

are produced in the area. The town also benefits indirectly from wine production in nearby hills, notably the

Prosecco Prosecco (, ) is an Italian wine, Italian Denominazione di origine controllata#Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC), DOC or Denominazione di origine controllata#Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG), DOCG white wine pro ...

from Valdobbiadene.

Demographic evolution

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:6500 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2021 text:2021 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:0 bar:1871 from: 0 till:2852 bar:1881 from: 0 till:3089 bar:1901 from: 0 till:4160 bar:1911 from: 0 till:5979 bar:1921 from: 0 till:6151 bar:1931 from: 0 till:6134 bar:1936 from: 0 till:5798 bar:1951 from: 0 till:5935 bar:1961 from: 0 till:5573 bar:1971 from: 0 till:5662 bar:1981 from: 0 till:5748 bar:1991 from: 0 till:5662 bar:2001 from: 0 till:5709 bar:2011 from: 0 till:6018 bar:2021 from: 0 till:6057 PlotData= bar:1861 at:0 fontsize:XS text: ? shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:2852 fontsize:XS text: 2852 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:3089 fontsize:XS text: 3089 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:4160 fontsize:XS text: 4160 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:5979 fontsize:XS text: 5979 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:6151 fontsize:XS text: 6151 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:6134 fontsize:XS text: 6134 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:5798 fontsize:XS text: 5798 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:5935 fontsize:XS text: 5935 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:5573 fontsize:XS text: 5573 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:5662 fontsize:XS text: 5662 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:5748 fontsize:XS text: 5748 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:5662 fontsize:XS text: 5662 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:5709 fontsize:XS text: 5709 shift:(-8,5) bar:2011 at:6018 fontsize:XS text: 6018 shift:(-8,5) bar:2021 at:6057 fontsize:XS text: 6057 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Foreign ethnicities and minorities

As of December 31, 2023, foreigners residents in the municipality were , i.e. % of the population. The largest groups are shown below:cittadini stranieri
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