Torre delle Bebbe

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The Torre delle Bebbe in the Cà Bianca, fraction of Chioggia , 2011

The Torre delle Bebbe was a militarily and economically important tower for more than six centuries on the border between the territories of the Republic of Venice and Padua . It was of considerable strategic importance between the middle of the 8th century and the Chioggia War , i.e. until the end of the 14th century, because the tower served to control Venice over the mouth of a branch of the Brenta , the Medoacus Minor . This waterway, which flowed into the Venetian lagoon , was of great importance for trade between Venice (and other cities on the Adriatic) towards Padua - and via the Bacchiglione to Vicenza . When Padua changed the course of the Brenta, open war broke out in 1142.

Plaque on the tower with the events with which it was associated

According to tradition, the Doge Diodato Ipato , Doge from around 742 to 755, had the tower built. At the beginning of the 9th century, the tower was attacked by Franks and Hungarians , as the plaque attached to the tower notes, but more likely by Slavs (the Hungarians did not attack Venice until around 900), then by troops from the Adriatic and Ravenna at the beginning of the 11th century . In the war for the Castello d'Amore , when Ezzelino wanted to humiliate the Paduans, Trevisans and Paduans again attacked the bulwark in 1214, which, under the leadership of Marco Cauco, resisted the siege. The decisive battle in which the attackers were defeated in 1216 against the units led by the Venetian Doge Pietro Ziani took place near the Torre delle Bebbe. In 1256, the Guelf allies moved against Ezzelino da Romano to liberate Padua from his rule.

Eventually the tower fell into the hands of the Genoese, who besieged Venice until 1380, but were defeated by Vettor Pisani and Carlo Zen. The inscription shown does not mention the recovery of the tower under Domenico Silvo after a victory over the Norman Count Amico di Giovinazzo . One of the main motives of the fighting between the neighbors was the nearby salt pans , which were used for sea ​​salt extraction.

In 1303, Venice built a dam on the lower reaches of the Brenta, which helped to secure the river as the only trade access to the upper Adriatic. This was also an attempt to monopolize trade with northern Italy - a tendency against which cities such as Padua and Bologna resisted. Venice went even further in 1339 when the Brenta was diverted towards Chioggia for the first time . The river no longer drained into the lagoon, which had serious consequences in the complex lagoon system. In 1360 the Brenta was moved back to its old bed, to be finally diverted in 1368. As a result, the Torre delle Bebbe lost its strategic importance.

Nevertheless, in his De origine, situ et magistratibus urbis Venetae ovvero La Città di Venezia , Marino Sanudo still mentions a podium that the Grand Council elected every year (f. 35v, p. 71 ed. Caracciolo Aricò). In another manuscript he names three incumbents, namely "Sier Zorzi Sagredo", who expressly held this office three times, namely in 1457, 1465 and 1470, then "Sier Giacomo Matono" in 1470 and "Sier Nicolò Salamon de sier Marco" in 1473 Salamon was expressly the last Podestà ("fo l'ultimo"), as Sanudo writes (p. 76, p. 214 ed. Caracciolo Aricò).

literature

  • Guido Caporali, Marina Emo de Raho, Fabio Zecchin: Brenta vecchia nova novissimo , Marsilio Editori, Venice 1980.
  • Antonello Vincenti: Venezia. Le isole della Laguna la riviera del Brenta , Milan 1998.

Remarks

  1. ↑ The text reads "Questa torre di Bebe / a difesa delle Venezie / dal doge Teodato Ipato eretta / (742–755) / assalita da Franchi ed Ungheri / (800–810) / da Adriesi e Ravennati / (1010–1015) / da Trevigiani e Padovani nella lotta pel castello d'Amore / da Clodiensi sotto la guida di Marco Cauco strictuamente difesa / (1214) / donde mossero gli eserciti confederati contro Ezzelino / (1256) / cadde in mano de 'Genovesi / (1379) / Vettor Pisani e Carlo Zeno ricuperata Chioggia / Anche da questo ultimo rifugio / I nemici snidiavano. ”( Torre di Bebe - Laguna sud - Chioggia - Cenni storici ).
  2. ^ Christian Mathieu: Island City Venice. Environmental history of a myth in the early modern period , Böhlau, 2007, p. 76.
  3. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Hübner: The Venice lagoon .

Coordinates: 45 ° 10 ′ 9.5 ″  N , 12 ° 14 ′ 14.6 ″  E