Arcade
Arcade è un piccolo comune della pianura trevigiana, adagiato lungo il corso del fiume Piave, a breve distanza dal Montello, il ce...
Ενημερώθηκε στις 12 Ιουλίου 2026
Η ιστορία
Η ιστορία του/της Arcade
Arcade and the Piave river
Arcade lies on the Treviso plain, along the course of the Piave river, in a position marked by the constant relationship between the town and the river's waters. According to the most widely accepted interpretation, the very name Arcade derives from arches built in ancient times as embankment works against floods, frequent in this stretch of plain before modern hydraulic regulation works. Roman-era finds attest to an ancient settlement in the area, a sign of a consolidated human presence already in the early centuries AD. The proximity to the Piave and to the Montello, the hilly plateau rising just to the north, shaped the town's economic and social life for centuries, tied to plain-land agriculture and to the risks and opportunities offered by the great river.
From the Collalto family to the Republic of Venice
In feudal times the territory of Arcade was among the holdings of the noble Collalto family, one of the most powerful houses of the Marca Trevigiana. Between the 12th and 16th centuries the area was caught up in the political struggles between Venice and Padua, which contested control of these border territories. With its definitive passage to the Republic of Venice, Arcade experienced a phase of economic and social development, becoming populated with villas, sumptuous residences built by the Venetian nobility along the routes linking the Serenissima to the mainland. This period, coinciding with the great age of the Veneto villas, left a significant mark on the territory's landscape, although many traces were later lost due to subsequent wartime events.
Napoleonic and Austrian rule, and the long emigration
During the Napoleonic period and the subsequent Austrian rule, Arcade was frequently occupied by military garrisons, suffering destruction linked to the passage of troops and to the territory's strategic role along important communication routes. In the last two decades of the 19th century the town also experienced a period of heavy emigration, first towards America and later towards France, Switzerland and Australia, a phenomenon common to many rural communities in the Veneto during those years, marked by economic hardship and by farming not always sufficient to support the local population. This history of departures and returns is part of the town's collective memory, still present today in the stories told by Arcade's families.
The Great War and the Piave-Montello line
The most dramatic chapter of Arcade's history is tied to the First World War. After the defeat at Caporetto in October 1917, the Italian front retreated as far as the Piave, and Arcade's territory found itself exactly on the resistance line between the river and the Montello, one of the most crucial and bloody sectors of the fighting in 1917-1918. The town was almost entirely destroyed by the combat and bombardments that followed in those decisive months, during which the Italian army finally managed to halt the Austro-Hungarian advance precisely along this line. Post-war reconstruction profoundly shaped Arcade's urban fabric, which had to be largely recreated after the devastation of the war.
An autonomous municipality since 1960, between farming and Prosecco
Despite the wartime destruction, Arcade's definitive administrative autonomy came only in 1960, at the end of long-running disputes, thanks to the efforts of Member of Parliament Ruggero Lombardi, who backed the legislative proposal in Parliament and became the new municipality's first mayor. Today Arcade is a small farming town of the Treviso plain, whose economy also benefits from its proximity to Prosecco production areas, which in recent decades have become a reference point for the region's wine tourism. It is a quiet municipality, without major stand-alone tourist attractions, but one that deserves a stop as part of an itinerary dedicated to Great War history along the Piave and the Montello, or a food-and-wine outing among the Prosecco hills.
Experiences not to miss
- Retrace the history of the Piave and Montello resistance line
- Discover the story of the Veneto villas built in the Venetian period
- Walk along the course of the Piave river
- Head up to the Montello for a historical and nature itinerary
- Taste the Prosecco from the hills near Arcade
Routes · Trovido Route
