Vicenza: Encyclopedia II - Vicenza - History

Vicenza - History

Vicenza (Roman "Vicetia") an ancient Roman municipium (from 49 BCE), but was overshadowed by its neighbor Patavium (Padua) in Roman times. Little survives of the Roman city, but three of the bridges across the Bacchiglione and Retrone rivers are of Roman origin, and isolated arches of a Roman aqueduct exist outside Porta Sta. Croce. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Vandals under Alaric then the Huns under Attila laid the area to waste. Later, it became the seat of one of the dozens of Lombard duchies, and joined the Lombard League against Federick I Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire.

An independent commune with an oligarchic republican political structure, Vicenza was conquered in 1311 by the Scaligeri lords of Verona, who fortified it against the Visconti of Milan. Vicenza came under rule by Venice in 1405, and its subsequent history is that of Venice.

Vicenza is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki