The city extends on the Venetian plain, surrounded by its ancient walls, was part of the Roman Empire under the name of “Tarvisium”. Just in this period it became an important commercial center and was spared by Attila during the Barbarian invasions, then it flourished under the Goths and Lombards, who made it a duchy. The large hystoric center made of small intricate and irregular streets is tipically medieval and late-Gothic, with important and valuable buildings of other times and other styles. There are so many beautiful private houses in Treviso, enriched by notable decorations. Things to see:
- Piazza dei Signori / of Lords: the city center is very picturesque. And closed on three sides by municipal buildings. To the north stands the Palace of the Podestà (1400). In the square you can see many lions with open Gospel, a sign of the Venetian rule. In the square you can also admire is the Palazzo dei Trecento, an imposing building in the Romanesque style, with exposed brick walls, which housed members of the Council of the City or the Great Council consisting of three hundred members. Behind it, the City Tower
- Il Duomo and the domes: very composite building , built in the eleventh-twelfth century on an existing structure, undergoing major renovations. On the sides of the stairs there are two squatting lions in red marble, while the real facade is preceded by a solemn Ionic colonnade built in neoclassical style in 800. Outside, a splendid walled marble bas-relief on a buttress of the south apse depicts a Bacchante and is a work of the first century. The Annunciation (1520), by the great Tiziano Vecellio, decorates the altar of a chapel inside.
- Loggia dei Cavalieri / of the Knights. Unique building of its kind in Europe, with irregular quadrilateral bricks, with a roof tiled four-pitch roof , was built in the second half of 1200, when Andrea da Perugia was in Treviso. Three sides are formed by five arches on pillars and capitals in Istrian stone. In this building the nobles met to participate in games. The use of the Lodge ended in December 13th, 1388, when the city was conquered by Venice.
- Chiesa di San Nicolò / of St. Nicholas. It was built by the Dominicans in the early 300 thanks to Pope Benedict XI’s generous legacies . The style of the building is Gothic but, at the same time, elegant and projected upwards. The Latin-cross plant is divided into three naves with an apse at each match. In the middle apse, the Presbytery, lies the tomb of Augustine Onigo (XV cent.), fine sculptural work attributed to Giovanni Buora, Pietro Antonio ,Tullio Lombardo and Lorenzo Lotto. In the central apse there is also a painting depicting the “Madonna Enthroned with a musician Angel and Saints” by Fra Marco Pensaben and completed in 1521 by Savoldo. On the right aisle there is the big organ of Gaetano Callido with doors painted by Giacomo Lauro.