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, Trevignano, Vedelago, Volpago del Montello.
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Physical geography

Territory

The territory of Montebelluna is largely flat, with altitudes ranging from 69 m a.s.l., found south of San Gaetano, to 144 m, north of Pederiva. The landscape is also characterized by the presence of two hills, including the western end of Montello and the more modest Capo di Monte. Between the two reliefs passes a natural corridor, once the original bed of the Piave.
The area is naturally poor in waterways but the water supply has been ensured, since ancient times, by a system of artificial canals deriving from the Piave. These are in particular the Canale del Bosco and the Canale di Caerano, branches of the Brentella di Pederobba.

Climate

The climate has hot and sultry summers due to high humidity levels, often with strong thunderstorms and the possibility of hail. The 1961-1990 reference average temperatures vary between a minimum of about 0 °C in January–February and a maximum of 29 °C in July–August. The average temperature of the coldest month, January, is 3.1 °C, and that of the hottest month, July, is 23.0 °C. Occasional slight snowfalls may occur.

Origins of the name

The toponym is clearly a compound. Monte- would indicate the hill of Mercato Vecchio, at the foot of which the town was built.
The origin of -belluna is more discussed: it could be in relation to the cult of the goddess Bellona; or, postponing its origin, it would refer to the city of Belluno which, in the 10th century, had expanded its jurisdiction beyond the Piave thanks to the conquests of Bishop Giovanni.
The first evidence of the toponym is in the year 1000 << de Musano usque in capite montis Belluni >>, in 1239 << Montis Bellunensis Castrum >>, in 1245 << Castrum Montisbellune >> and in 1251 <>.

Ancient history

Protohistoric and Roman age
The first traces of human activity date back to the Stone and Bronze Ages. The birth of a real settlement, however, occurs around the ninth century BC. Its development was favored by the strategic geographical position at the mouth of the Piave valley, connection between the plain and the pre-Alpine area. Over time it will become the most important center of pre-Roman Veneto. This information is given to us by the numerous findings of cemetery areas in the localities of Santa Maria in Colle and Posmon.
The area continues to be inhabited during the Roman period. Montebelluna will become part of the centuriation of the Roman municipality Acelum. It is not yet ascertained as a hypothesis, much less that Montebelluna was a residential center or a Roman castra in defense of the Asolo and Treviso fences.

Society

Demographic evolution


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Foreign ethnicities and minorities

As of 1st January, 2025 foreigners residents in the municipality were, i.e. % of the population. The largest groups are shown below:
  1. China
  2. Romania
  3. Morocco
  4. Albania
  5. Ukraine
  6. Kosovo
  7. North Macedonia
  8. Nigeria
  9. Moldova
  10. Dominican Republic

Economy

Montebelluna is one of the largest industrial center in synergy with the nearby province of Vicenza. The industries are specialized above all in the tanning, metalworking, electrotechnical, optical, food, footwear, clothing, precision instruments, plastics and graphic arts sectors. The agricultural sector is active in the production of vegetables, fruit, wine grapes, cereals, fodder and in the practice of cattle breeding. Trade and logistics developed, favored by the strategic position of the town, a road junction at the center of an important production area. It is a major producer of ski boots.
In 1989, Montebelluna manufactured over 70% of the global output. Outside magazine has characterized it as "The world's leading design center for outdoor footwear." More than a dozen boot and sport shoe brands, including Alpina Žiri, Asolo, Fila, La Sportiva, Lowa, Mammut Sports Group, Scarpa, and Tecnica Group, do at least some of their work in the city. A museum of bootmaking, the Museo dello Scarpone e della Calzatura Sportiva, is housed in the Villa Zuccareda Binetti.
2022 marks an important date for Montebelluna when exactly 150 years ago was transferred the old market from the Colle to the plain took place, an event that also led to the birth of the city as we know it today.
To celebrate this special anniversary, the municipal administration of Montebelluna, also on input from the Promoting Committee and assisted by the Steering Committee and the Operational Committee, has prepared a rich calendar that consists of initiatives, manifestations and events of various kinds that will last all year round. with the involvement of many local associations as well as the civil community.
To create the logo and the payoff, the students of the Technologies and techniques of graphic representation of the Einaudi Scarpa Institute in Montebelluna were involved and took part in an ideas competition to create the logo and the payoff. The various proposals formulated were evaluated by the Montebelluna 150 working group which chose the logo and the payoff created by a female student of 4^A GRC who impressed for elegance, value and trait. In the logo the student wanted to represent the Mercato Vecchio column on the left and the Loggia dei Grani on the right, whose arches form the number 150.

Culture

Education

In the municipality there are numerous preschool, primary and lower secondary schools. The secondary schools of a certain importance for the city are the Primo Levi Higher Education Institute, the state high school "Angela Veronese" with the three addresses that characterize it linguistic, economic and social-art, the Einaudi-Scarpa Higher Education Institute, which houses the technological, economic and professional courses. Agricultural Institute of Castelfranco Veneto since the nineties has also managed the detached school in the San Gaetano district.
The new building next to the Palazzetto O. Frassetto which will host the IIS Einaudi-Scarpa professional course and the detached IPSSAR Maffioli of Montebelluna is divided into two parts of different heights, respectively two and three floors, has two large internal patios and houses spaces for classrooms, laboratories, administrative offices and toilets.

Cultural institutions

  • Municipal Library of Montebelluna
  • Natural History and Archeology Museum, in Villa Biagi
  • "Roberto Binotto" Theater, in Villa Correr Pisani in Biadene
  • MEVE - Veneto Memorial of the Great War, in Villa Correr Pisani
  • Boot and sports shoe museum, in Villa Zuccareda Binetti: the Foundation is dedicated to revitalising and enriching the legacy of the historic Sportsystem District.
  • Exhibition space in Villa Romivo
  • Casa Roncato: a day-time social-assistance and recreational centre which began operating in October 1990..

Events

Since 1990, the "Palio del Vecchio Mercato" has been held in the town. On the first Sunday of September, the Montebelluna districts compete in a team race, pulling a farm cart loaded with typical products along the route from the Town Hall to Mercato Vecchio. This is the road that merchants once had to laboriously travel to sell their goods at the local market. Since 2000, the Europalio has been an integral part of the Palio, in which Montebelluna's twinned towns compete against a team of locals.
The Ancient Festival of San Biagio takes place on February 3rd,organized by the Comitato Civico Mercato Vecchio of Montebelluna.

Infrastructure and transport

Roads

Situated along the Schiavonesca-Marosticana state road 248, Montebelluna also represents an important stop on the so-called via Feltrina, current provincial road 2. The city is served by the toll booth of the same name on the Pedemontana Veneta superstrada, which opened to traffic on 28 May 2021.
Between 1913 and 1931 the city center and the aforementioned road routes saw the presence of the tracks of the Montebelluna-Asolo and Montebelluna-Valdobbiadene tramways, managed by the Società Veneta, which at the time represented an important development tool for the economy of the area.
The people of Montebelluna had been waiting for it for 50 years and on February 18, 2023, after the delay due to the particular international economic situation, the long-awaited railway underpass of via Piave was opened.

Urban mobility

The urban and extra-urban bus services are carried out by the company Mobilità di Marca. The municipal area is served by 4 urban lines. Montebelluna has a bus station from which the MOM lines branch off towards Treviso, the other municipalities of the Treviso area and also extended towards other locations outside the Province of Treviso.

Railways

The Montebelluna station, fully electrified since December 2020, is served by regional services carried out by Trenitalia as part of the service contract stipulated with the Veneto Region, once common to the tramways, located on the Calalzo-Padua line, and is the origin of the Treviso line.
Until 1966, the Montebelluna-Susegana railway also branched off from the same station, built in 1916 for military purposes.
With the update of the Rfi-Mit program contract of 24 July 2019, the missing funds were allocated for the electrification of the entire line up to Belluno, thus completing the last piece of the lower Belluno ring.
There was a first continuous interruption for the Montebelluna-Feltre section of the railway line, to allow another phase of electrification works on the section up to Belluno completed on 11 June 2022. As of 26 February, the Montebelluna – Feltre section will be closed again, still affected by electrification works until 09 September 2023. The third outage began on 25 February for electrification and maintenance work until 7 September 2024.
The electric trains entered service between Treviso and Belluno via Montebelluna in December 2025.The service timetable valid until June 13, 2026, indicates an increase in services related to the Winter Olympic Games.

Notable people

Sister cities