Mestre

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Torre dell'Orologio (bell tower)

Mestre is a part of the city of Venice , which due to its size and distance can be described as a separate city. Around 200,000 people live in Mestre (for comparison: around 60,000 live in the historic center of Venice). The heart of Mestres is Piazza Ferretto near the Marzenego river .

The economy is mainly driven by the nearby industrial area Marghera . Furthermore, Mestre is the actual railway junction of Venice, from where a four-track branch line leads to the central station Venezia Santa Lucia on the island and whose disused marshalling yard is now only used as a freight yard for local needs. The district is mainly the home of workers and the common population and has a high proportion of immigrants.

Founding legend

The legend of the founding of Mestre begins when Antenor , a Trojan hero, fled to the northern Adriatic coast. There he founded the city of Padua with his people, the Venetians . A warrior, Mesthle , king of Paphlagonia , moved away from Antenor and settled near a lagoon . There he founded the future city of Mestre and gave it his name.

history

Roman oppidum, reign of Treviso

Mestre can be traced back to a Roman oppidum . In the early Middle Ages it was probably a horse station on the Via Annia , but it was possibly in Marghera . The family of the freed man “Tito Mestrio”, whose barely legible tombstone has been preserved in the historic center of Venice, is also considered the founder. It is located a little below the mean water level of the lagoon at Ca 'Soranzo dell'Angelo in the Sestiere San Marco on the Rio della Canonica.

Mestre was first mentioned by name in a diploma from Emperor Otto III. from 994, which assigned this place to the Count of Treviso . Accordingly, the Bishop of Treviso was still the overlord of the place in 1152. The church of San Lorenzo, along with the port and fortress, are expressly mentioned.

In the 13th century Mestre got into a dispute between the brothers Ezzelino and Alberico da Romano , who in turn tried to exploit the struggle between the Lombard League and the Pope on the one hand and Emperor Frederick II on the other. After 1256 the municipality of Treviso took over the place.

Venice (1337–1797)

From 1317 to 1323, Cangrande I della Scala , Signore of Verona , tried to incorporate Treviso into his dominion. However, this concentration of power on the mainland disrupted the interests of the Republic of Venice . On September 29, 1337 Andrea Morosini occupied the Mestre fortress. From then on, the rule was a Podestà e Capitano . The first of them was Francesco Bon, the last, from 1796, Daniele Contarini . Treviso followed on December 2, 1338. The peace treaty of January 21, 1339 ended the war between Verona and Venice.

Canal Salso

Venice facilitated the trade in bulk goods by creating the artificial waterway of the Canal Salso as early as the 14th century . Before the establishment of the ghetto in Venice , Jews who acted as important creditors for simple needs were also allowed to settle in Mestre. The local residents also retained the right to sell their own crops directly at the Rialto market in Venice. Mestre's protective function for the lagoon was at least as important for Venice . Therefore, troops and boats were always stationed there.

In 1778 the first theater was built in Mestre, designed by the Venetian architect Bernardino Maccaruzzi. But in 1797 the theater disappeared again. Not until 1840 was another small building erected by Moisè D'Angeli, which was named Garibaldi after 1866 . But this theater also had to close in 1908.

French and Austrian rule, revolution of 1848

On July 16, 1797, Napoleon ended the rule of Venice. In 1808, according to the French model, Mestre became a comune with a podestà appointed by the central government at its head, supported by a council of 40 members.

During the Austrian rule after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Mestre was enlarged to include the municipalities of Carpenedo , Trevignan and Favaro . In 1842 the Mestre train station was built.

With Daniele Manin , the Repubblica di San Marco rose for the last time on March 22, 1848, and the occupiers in Mestre were also disarmed. The troops marched against Marghera, which also surrendered. However, as early as May, Austrian troops recaptured Veneto . On June 18, Mestre fell too; Venice still held out, it could count on 140 guns and 2,300 men. On October 27, 1848, attempts were made to conquer Mestre from Porto Marghera. The 2,000 men defeated an Austrian unit near Mestre and took the place under their control. But Mestre could not be held against the 24,000 men under General Julius von Haynau . From May 4th to May 26th, the fortress Marghera was besieged and finally conquered. Venice had to capitulate on August 22nd.

Connection to Italy (1866), early industrialization and population growth

After Italy was proclaimed a nation state in 1860, it was only a matter of time before the Austrians had to cede their Italian territories. In 1866 Veneto came to Italy. Mestre only had 9,950 inhabitants in 1881 and 35,860 in 1931. Mestre remained a commune, received in 1923 by King Victor Emmanuel III. the title “Città” (city). Metal processing, chemical and shipbuilding companies have settled in the port of Marghera. The Canale Vittorio Emanule II was built between the Stazione Marittima and the port in 1922, the Canale Nord and the oil port in the following year, and finally the Canale Brentello.

Incorporation in Venice (1926)

In 1926 Mestre, Chirignago , Cipressina , Favaro Veneto and Zelarino with Trivignano were declared parts of the city of Venice. In the 1960s and 1970s, more large industrial settlements emerged in the area, so that the city's population rose rapidly. In Mestre, the petrochemical companies and those of the port dominated. Numerous workers now moved from the old town to the mainland. In 1939 there were 15,000 employees here, and 20 years later there were already 35,000. In 1963 the city had over 200,000 inhabitants. In 1952 the Biblioteca Civica di Mestre was created . It has been the central library of Venice since 1980. The editorial staff of the most important daily newspaper, Il Gazzettino , founded in 1887 , moved to Mestre in 1977, where the paper has also been printed since 1990. Today there is only one local editorial office in Mestre.

With the expansion of the motorway towards Pavia, a stronger economic connection to the mainland was achieved, but the shipbuilding and chemical industries fell into a serious crisis in the 1960s. By 1999 the population decreased to 180,000 and only 28% of the jobs were in industry. In contrast, 71% of jobs were in the service sector. Between 1995 and 2005 the annual economic growth was 3%. From 2008 to 2009 industrial production collapsed by 19.5%.

Since 1979 there have been five referendums to separate Mestre from Venice, but all of them failed. In the most recent of December 1, 2019, two thirds of the votes cast were in favor of a separation, but these represented only one seventh of those eligible to vote. Since the quorum of 50% was clearly missed with almost 22% voter turnout, the referendum was invalid.

traffic

In Mestre, a so-called Tramway sur pneumatiques (French for tram on rubber wheels ) according to the Translohr system was put into operation on December 19, 2010 . The line is 6.3 kilometers long and serves 18 stations between Sernaglia and Monte Celo. The operator is ACTV ( Azienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano ).

The Venezia Mestre train station is one of the main transport hubs in Venice.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerolamo Fazzini: Arte romana in Laguna. In: Archeo Venezia XXI, n.2-4, December 2011.
  2. ^ OECD Territorial Reviews. Rapporto su Venezia Metropoli, 2011, p. 42.
  3. ↑ Referendum by separate Venezia e Mestre: è flop. L'affluenza si ferma al 21.73%, inutile lo sforzo dei movimenti separatisti. In: Il Fatto Quotidiano. December 2, 2019, accessed January 3, 2020 (Italian).

Web links

Commons : Mestre  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 45 ° 29 '  N , 12 ° 14'  E