Montebelluna

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 (where the maximum altitude is, 343 m) and the more modest Capo di Monte (or Montebelluna Alta, or even the hill of Mercato Vecchio, 199 m). Between the two reliefs passes a natural corridor (along which the Feltrina passes), once the original bed of the Piave.^[4]

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.^[5]

Religious architecture

• Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception: the collegiate church is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and more commonly known simply as Montebelluna Cathedral. It is the town’s principal religious building and the seat of the vicariate of the same name within the Diocese of Treviso.^[7]

• Church of Santa Maria in Colle: an ancient provost church, rebuilt in 1609 and completed in the mid-18th century by Giorgio Massari. It is now devoid of the Baroque altars that were moved to the new cathedral, but retains the great ceiling painting *La Gloria del Paradiso* by Francesco Fontebasso, several 17th-century altars, a late 17th-century wooden choir by Francesco Comin and Paolo Della Mistra, and the double organ designed by Gaetano Callido.
• Church of Saints Lucy and Victor: an 18th-century building in Biadene, constructed by the Pisani family and donated to the community. Inside, there is the first fresco by the painter Gian Battista Tiepolo (dated between approximately 1716 and 1719), depicting the Coronation of the Virgin and the Glory of Saints Lucy and Victor.^[8]
• Church of San Biagio in the hamlet of Mercato Vecchio.

Civil Architecture

• Town Hall – An extension to an old rural building dating from the mid-19th century, designed by Giuseppe Legrenzi senior.
• Loggia dei Grani – An architectural masterpiece by Giobatta Dall'Armi and the focal point of the system of squares designed to accommodate the relocation of the old market.^[9]
• Townhouses. These comprise a series of 19th-century buildings of noble and dignified construction, built in the years immediately following the establishment of the new town centre (1872). Notable examples include Palazzo Bolzon, Morassutti, Sarri Dall'Armi and Polin.
• Municipal Library – A large building with exposed brickwork, designed by architect Toni Follina to house the new Montebelluna Municipal Library since 2002.^[10]

Venetian Villas

In Posmon (including the ancient hamlet of Visnà), the 15th-century residential settlement, favoured by the course of the Brentella river, gave rise to a proliferation of stately homes, starting with the ancient estates of the Pola family (featuring the 15th-century ‘barco dei paladini’), the Contarini family (with the highly significant views of St Mark’s and Piazza dei Signori in Treviso from the early 16th century), and the Cicogna family. In the Montello area too, as throughout the province of Treviso, there are Venetian villas; in terms of size and urban and architectural quality, Villa Mora Morassutti, Villa Giustinian Rinaldi and Villa Burchielati Zuccareda Binetti are particularly noteworthy.^[11]

Villa Correr Pisani, located in the hamlet of Biadene, is home to the MeVe (Veneto Memorial of the Great War), an interactive and multimedia space dedicated to the conflicts and events that have shaped the last century of our history, beginning with the First World War.^[12]

Demographic evolution

Foreign ethnicities and minorities

As of 1st January, 2025 foreigners residents in the municipality were 3,700, i.e. 11.9% of the population. The largest groups are shown below:^[13][14]

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 (former high school and scientific high school), 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.^[21] Agricultural Institute of Castelfranco Veneto (I.S.I.S.S." D. Sartor ") since the nineties has also managed the detached school in the San Gaetano district.^[22]

The new building next to the Palazzetto O. Frassetto^[23] 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.^[24]

Cultural institutions

• Municipal Library of Montebelluna^[25]
• Natural History and Archeology Museum,^[26] in Villa Biagi
• "Roberto Binotto" Theater, in Villa Correr Pisani in Biadene
• MEVE - Veneto Memorial of the Great War,^[27] 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.^[28]
• Exhibition space in Villa Romivo^[29]
• Casa Roncato: a day-time social-assistance and recreational centre which began operating in October 1990.^[30]

Events

Since 1990, the "Palio del Vecchio Mercato" has been held in the town. On the first Sunday of September, the Montebelluna districts (Biadene, Busta, Caonada, Centro, Contea, Guarda, Mercato Vecchio, Pederiva, Posmon, San Gaetano, and Sant'Andrea) compete in a team race, pulling a farm cart loaded with typical products along the route from the Town Hall to Mercato Vecchio (almost two kilometers uphill). 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.^[31]

The Ancient Festival of San Biagio takes place on February 3rd,^[32]organized by the Comitato Civico Mercato Vecchio of Montebelluna.

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.^[33]

Urban mobility

The urban and extra-urban bus services are carried out by the company Mobilità di Marca.^[34] 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,^[35] 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.^[36]

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.^[37] 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 and you can travel the Padua-Montebelluna-Belluno route without changes. The service timetable valid until June 13, 2026, indicates an increase in services related to the Winter Olympic Games.^[38][39]