Situation
Trento, capital of the province of the same name and of the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, lies on the left bank of the Adige in a valley enclosed by high limestone hills. It is the see of an archbishop. The town forms part of the southern
part of the territory of Tirol which was transferred from Austria to Italy in 1919. With its numerous towers and palaces, many of them with painted facades, it is a town of distinctly Italian character.
History
The town (the Roman Tridentum) was a place of some importance from an early period by virtue of its commanding situation at the junction of the trading route from Venice up the Val Sugana with the road over the Brenner, and was strongly fortified. From 1027 to 1803 it was the residence of a prince-bishop directly subject to the emperor. From 1545 to 1563 it was the meeting-place of the Council of Trent, which laid down the pattern of the Counter-Reformation. Between 1814 and 1918 it belonged to Austria, and after the peace treaty of Saint-Germain to Italy. In 1948 (the "Gruber-De Gaspari-Agreement") the province of Trento was combined with the province of Bolzano (which included the German-speaking Alto Adige or South Tirol) to form the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige.
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