Treviso

Treviso stands on the Sile and the Botteniga in the Veneto plain, a Marca that suffered wars and sacking from 1329 to 1388. The Scaligeri of Verona held it for about ten years, and in 1339 it gave itself freely to Venice, becoming the Republic's first possession on the mainland. After spells under the Archduke of Austria and the da Carrara of Padua, it returned for good to Venice in 1388 and shared its fortunes for four centuries.

Under Venice, Treviso enjoyed long stability and some wealth, interrupted by the War of the League of Cambrai. In 1509 Fra Giovanni Giocondo, commissioned by the Council of Ten, drew up bastioned walls and diverted part of the Botteniga for its defence, tearing down buildings including part of the old sanctuary of Santa Maria Maggiore, and the imperial and French siege was lifted in 1511. The gates followed: Porta Altinia in 1514 and the majestic Porta San Tommaso in 1518.