Montecchio Maggiore ( vec, Montécio Majore) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Vicenza The Province of Vicenza ( it, Provincia di Vicenza) is a province in the Veneto region in northern Italy. Its capital city is Vicenza. The province has an area of 2,722.53 km², and a total population of 865,082 (as of 2017). There are 1 ...

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is situated approximately west of Vicenza and east of Verona; SP 246 provincial road passes through it. Montecchio Maggiore borders the following municipalities:

Altavilla Vicentina Altavilla Vicentina is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located southwest of Vicenza. The town originates from a castle (''Rocca'') built in the Middle Ages over a hill at the feet of the Colli Berici ...

, Arzignano,

Brendola Brendola is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Medite ...

Castelgomberto Castelgomberto is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, in northern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of ...

Montebello Vicentino Montebello Vicentino is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middl ...

Montorso Vicentino Montorso Vicentino is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Me ...

Sovizzo Sovizzo is an Italian comune of 7,388 inhabitants in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is north of SR11 and located approximately 10 km from the regional capital of Vicenza. History The first settlements in the area that is now the ...

Trissino Trissino ( vec, Trisino) is a ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, in northern Italy. Its mayor is Davide Faccio (member of Lega Nord, right). The town is famous all over Italy for its hockey team, the Gruppo Sportivo Hockey Trissino. Twin t ...

, Zermeghedo.

History

The land of Montecchio Maggiore has been inhabited since the late Stone Age, though it was invaded and occupied many times. Two castles built about 975 are claimed to be the inspiration for the

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

legend. Luigi da Porto of

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

set the story here in his novel of 1552.

Main sights

Villa Cordellina Lombardi A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

, is a masterpiece of neo-

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

architect

Giorgio Massari Giorgio Massari (13 October 1687 – 20 December 1766) was an Italian late-Baroque architect from Venice. He designed the Villa Lattes near Treviso in 1715, the church of Santo Spritito in Udine, the church of Santa Maria della Pace 1720–46 in ...

, with 18th-century frescoes by

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...

. *Museum Zannato, founded in 1922 by Giuseppe Zannato, its first curator. It has sections devoted to archaeological and paleontological finds. Some of these contain materials found in the late-Roman

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

of Carpanè. There is also an important gemological section. *Castle Bellaguardia (called "Castle of Juliet") *Castello della Villa (called "Castle of Romeo")

International relations

Montecchio Maggiore is twinned with: *

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, from 2003 *

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England, near the source of the River Wey. It had a population of 17,816 at the 2011 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone'' ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Carloforte Carloforte (''U Pàize'' in Ligurian, literally: ''the village, the town'') is a fishing and resort town located on Isola di San Pietro (Saint Peter's Island), approximately off the southwestern coast of Sardinia, in the Province of South Sard ...

, from 2009.

References

Sources

(Google Maps)

External links

Giambattista Tiepolo, 1696-1770
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Montecchio Maggiore Cities and towns in Veneto {{Veneto-geo-stub