| Cologna Veneta | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Veneto | |
| Territory | Venetian plain | |
| Altitude | 24 m a.s.l. | |
| Surface | 42.83 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 8.710 (2011 census) | |
| Name inhabitants | Colognesi | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0442 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 37044 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8 September) | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Cologna Veneta is a city of Veneto.
To know
It is known for being the city of Almond, famous Christmas cake and for being in the wine production area Arcole DOC.
Geographical notes
The fertile flat land in which it stands, lapped by the Guà river, has made it an important agricultural center. It is 9 km from Lonigo, 11 from Pojana Maggiore, 12 from Montagnana, 16 from Noventa Vicentina, 17 from Legnago, 20 from Soave, 37 from Vicenza and 40 from Verona.
Background
The discovery of finds from the Fiorano civilization near Santa Giustina (Civic Archaeological Museum) leads us to believe that the area on which Cologna Veneta stands was already inhabited at the end of the fifth millennium BC.
For the contiguity with the territory of Este) and in the light of the discovery of a necropolis in the locality of Baldarìa, it seems that the area of Cologna Veneta was inhabited by the Euganean (1000 BC) and by the Venetians (VII-IV century BC). With the Romans (1st century BC) Cologna became part of the Atestino agro of Este. Remains of the centuriation can be found in the countryside east of the inhabited center. The settlement experienced a strong impetus following the battle of Actium, in 31 BC, when Augustus settled a number of his veterans in the colognese area.
After the conquest of Padua by the Lombard Kingdom in 602 the whole of the colognese territory was occupied by the Duchy of VicenzaIn 1256 Cologne rebelled against the dominion of Ezzelino III da Romano. The resistance was led by Jacopo Bonfado and ended with the defeat of the colognesi. In 1406 the doge of Venice Michele Steno decreed the aggregation of Cologna to the Dorsoduro district of Venice, to put an end to the bloody disputes between the local Lordships. Cologna remained Venetian until the fall of the Serenissima (1797).
In 1882, after the umpteenth flooding of the river Guà (name taken by Agno on its way through Cologne), the city authorities decided to divert its course. The works ended in 1904. During the excavations to move the riverbed, a conspicuous collection of prehistoric materials was found in the hamlet of Baldaria, which led to the birth of the Cologna Veneta Archaeological Civic Museum.
How to orient yourself
Cologna Veneta: full screen map.Neighborhoods
Its territory also includes the hamlets of Baldaria, Sabbion, San Sebastiano, Sant'Andrea and Spessa.
How to get
By plane
- 1 Verona Airport (Catullus), Boxes of Sommacampagna, ☎ 39 045 8095666, @[email protected].
- 2 Treviso Airport (Canova), via Noalese 63 / E.
- 3 Venice airport (Marco Polo), ☎ 39 041 2606111.
How to get around
What see
Cologna Veneta Cathedral
- 1 Duomo, Piazza Duomo. The first stone was laid in September 1803, it was finished in the late 1920s and named after Maria Nascente. It is a very pure example of the neoclassical style: thus arise colonnades, tympanums, propylaea similar to Greco-Roman constructions, expressing elegance in lines and beauty in proportions.
- The facade, made up of ten columns 8 meters high each, is harmonious and imposing, with a flight of 25 steps of Sant'Ambrogio stone. The pediment depicts the expulsion of the temple profaners. The project is due to Giannantonio Selva and Antonio Diedo.
- The interior is vaulted with a lowered barrel, very large and in the shape of a Latin cross, with a central nave plus two side aisles. The movements of the arches, the semicircular curves, the ten powerful bundles of half columns and pilasters and the ornaments are very particular.
Civic tower and Mazzini square
- 2 Bell tower. Designed by the architect Antonio Diedo, it was erected on one of the corner towers of the ancient fortress, called the Mainarda. Its quadrangular base measures 8.37 meters. The works began in 1841 and ended in 1853. Similar to the bell tower of Venice, that of Cologne is 80.4 meters high. It is one of the highest in Veneto and Italy: it occupies the 32nd place in the List of the tallest bell towers in Italy. It carries five bells with an iron castle at ¼ of a wheel. During the Second World War it also served as a refuge.
- 3 Civic tower. The ancient quadrangular brick building is located in the center of the urban complex, in Corso Guà. Originally it was one of the twelve towers with two wooden floors of the walls that surrounded Cologne. Built in 1555, it was completed in two successive phases: to try to go back to the time of construction of the first part, it is possible to see a municipal coat of arms on the part facing Corso Guà, in its original and primitive composition. Later a sacred wooden effigy of the Madonna was placed on the facade overlooking Piazza Mazzini. The current clock has been in operation since 1914, while the original bell transported by the Serenissima was replaced in 1590 following damage from a bell, called San Simon, which bears a date: 1714.
Palazzo Pretorio, now the town hall
- 4 Praetorian palace. Built in bricks, called Capitaniato, it was the ancient residence of the Praetors and Governors of Cologne. It is believed that it was built at the behest of the last representative of the Scaliger dynasty Cansignorio della Scala. During the Venetian domination, from 1405 to 1797, it became the residence of the Podestà-Capitano, the nobleman who in turn represented the highest authority for about two years. The rooms, admirably frescoed, were used for various purposes; on the outside, on the façade overlooking the gardens, the wall was embattled in 1793. In recent centuries it became the Civic Library, a carpentry school, the headquarters of the Fire Brigade and finally a Municipality.
- Scaliger Castle. Built around the 11th century, it was destroyed around 1200 by the Montecchi Guelphs, the predominant faction of the Veronese republic. It is said that the rebuilding took place with the remains of the castle of Campiglia. Of the eight towers that made up the fortress of the Scaligero castle, today only one remains, visible near the bell tower in via A.Papesso. In the masonry you can see several layers of pebbles that form a staircase, a peculiarity that distinguished the Scaliger buildings.
Church of San Bartolamio
- Church of San Bartolamio (San Bortolo or San Bartolomeo Apostolo), Via Niccolò Vecchietti. It originated in 1418 and was rebuilt in 1756. In 1431 it was occupied by the Augustinian nuns, called Pinzochere, to found a college for young girls. The church had a perpetual rector from 1439. The high altar with baroque movements is dedicated to St. Bartholomew the Apostle. Near the altar there is an altarpiece depicting St. Bartholomew while he is skinned. The altar of the Addolorata, with Corinthian columns with triangular tympanum, frames the aedicule that acts as a frame for the Madonna dello Spasimo fresco. The altar in "cornu Epistolae" is dedicated to San Gaetano da Thiene and it's a bold baroque. Beautiful angels hover over the frames.
- Church of Saints Felice and Fortunato. Built around the 12th century, in 1445 it was granted by the bishop of Vicenza to the Servite Fathers who erected a convent. The Fathers restored the church several times and held several General Chapters there. Many colognese nobles were buried here; in 1769 the convent was demolished following the Bull of Pope Clement XIII. In 1842 the archpriest of Cologna bought the church, Sanctuary of the Madonna del mandamento, the destination of numerous pilgrimages. Today the convent has almost disappeared and the church depends directly on the parish of Cologna Veneta; in this church the Madonna is celebrated in a special way on the solemnity of the Assumption, on August 15th.
- Church of San Pietro. The monastery of San Pietro Apostolo, founded in 1614, is located near the former civil hospital. It has three altars, the largest of which is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, and is rich in reliquaries. The monastery was suppressed in 1810 and transformed into a public school; in 1849 it was converted into a civil hospital with the psychiatric service, which had been closed for some ten years. Today it is not accessible, awaiting renovation.
- Church of the Holy Spirit, via Cardo. It was built in about 1535 for the Augustinian nuns, called Pinzochere, replaced in 1553 by the Servite Fathers of San Felice. The oratory was founded in the 1600s and subsequently enlarged. The high altar, baroque, is in white marble from the Val di Leogra. It has recently been restored.
Door of the Capuchins
- Door of the Capuchins. To facilitate the access of the nuns to the Cathedral, it was opened in 1602; the Capuchins of the Rule of Santa Chiara had their convent outside the walls of Cologne. It is located very close to the bell tower, before the parish rectory.
- 5 Municipal Theater. The Social Theater, now Municipal, was begun in 1856 and inaugurated in 1875, when the Guà still flowed through the center of the town, before the detour of the embankment at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its plan is rectangular in shape, the dimensions of which are approximately 39x17 meters. The external walls are of Berici limestone, reinforced by buttresses of the same material. In 1993 the facade was restored. Every year it hosts theatrical reviews, essays and concerts; the gallery is used for conferences and exhibitions of art or photography. The screening of the films instead takes place at the Cinema C. Ferrini in via Papesso, a few hundred meters from the theater.
Facade of the Civic Archaeological Museum
- Civic Archaeological Museum, Piazza Duomo 3, ☎ 39 0442 413511, fax: 39 0442 410811.
Free entry. 
10.00-12.00 and 15.00-18.00 Sunday (winter); 10.00-12.00 and 16.00-19.00 Sunday (summer). Guided tours on the remaining days of the week are possible upon reservation.. It is based in the nineteenth century Monte di Pietà palace and it is the oldest museum in the province: it was established in 1892, following the archaeological discoveries relating to the necropolis of Baldaria.
Free entry. 
10.00-12.00 and 15.00-18.00 Sunday (winter); 10.00-12.00 and 16.00-19.00 Sunday (summer). Guided tours on the remaining days of the week are possible upon reservation.. It is based in the nineteenth century Monte di Pietà palace and it is the oldest museum in the province: it was established in 1892, following the archaeological discoveries relating to the necropolis of Baldaria.- The current museum was established in 1991 and includes three rooms: in the first (dedicated to Anna Rinaldi Gruber, a scholar of the Colognese territory), it houses prehistoric materials from the Neolithic to the final Bronze Age; the second room, dedicated to Cesare Cardellini, municipal councilor, houses finds from the Iron Age; the third room, dedicated to Eusebio Checchetti (a citizen who had the merit of safeguarding numerous artifacts during the Second World War), houses objects from the Roman and Lombard periods, mainly from the necropolis in the area, and a miliary of the emperor Magnentius.
- A second structure, the Lapidary Museum, which houses tombstones, inscriptions, Roman amphorae and some casts, including that of a prehistoric hearth and a copy of the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian ruler Shalmanassar III.
- Lapidary Museum. Through the bell tower of the Cathedral it is possible to access this museum, in the basement of the Rocca Scaligera; elements of an aqueduct, bricks, millstones and a Roman funerary stone are visible; four Gothic capitals of the ancient Cathedral (XVI century); a plaque from 1528 and two Renaissance stone masks. In winter, the museum hosts the exhibition of nativity scenes.
Events and parties
What to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Average prices
- 1 Pizzeria Al Chiosco, via Cavour 3, ☎ 39 0442 85078. Closed on Mondays.
- 2 Baia del Re Pizzeria, Via Rinascimento 39, ☎ 39 0442 412509.
- 3 Pizzeria trattoria Acquario, Via S. Andrea 25, ☎ 39 0442 85667.
- 4 Venturini restaurant pizzeria, Production Avenue 2, ☎ 39 0442 84588.
Where stay
Average prices
- 1 Quari hotel restaurant pizzeria, Via Quari Right 3, ☎ 39 0442 85291, fax: 39 0442 85668.
- 2 Hotel Relais La Torre hotel restaurant, Piazza Mazzini 33, ☎ 39 0442 410111, fax: 39 0442 411391.
Safety
Pharmacies
- 4 [link previously not working]Olivato, Via Marconi 11, ☎ 39 0442 85049.
- 5 Ancient Pharmacy Al Pomo D'Oro, Via Cavour, 66, ☎ 39 0442 85069.
- 6 Central, Piazza Garibaldi, 3, ☎ 39 0442 85024.
How to keep in touch
Post office
- 7 Italian post, Liberation Square 6, ☎ 39 0442 413349, fax: 39 0442410945.
Around
- Lonigo - Boasts two villas Pisani: one designed by Palladio has been on the list since 1996 UNESCO World Heritage Sites together with the other Palladian villas of the Veneto; the other is also known as Rocca Pisana and it is from Scamozzi.
- Montagnana - Walled city, it preserves intact the quadrilateral of walls and the crenellated towers. It has an evocative historic center that has earned it its entry into the ranks of the most beautiful villages in Italy.
- Noventa Vicentina - The Venetian nobility between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries built numerous villas there.
- Pojana Maggiore - There is Villa Pojana, one of the first works by Andrea Palladio. Since 1996 it has been part, together with the other Palladian villas of the Veneto, of the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
- Soave - Walled city with the castle high on the hill behind it. It is also famous for its renowned wine of the same name.
Itineraries
- Walled cities of Veneto. An itinerary to discover the strongholds and the history of Veneto.
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Cologna Veneta
Commons contains images or other files on Cologna Veneta
