Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Trent

TRENT (Tridentum; Ital. Trento; Germ. Trient), a city of the Austrian empire, capital of Italian or " Welsch " Tyrol, stands on the left bank of the Adige, where it is joined by the Fersina, on the Brenner Railway, 35 miles below Botzen and 60 miles above Verona. It has a very picturesque appearance, especially when approached from the north, with its embattled walls and towers filling the whole breadth of the valley, a conspicuous feature being the rocky citadel of Dos Trento (the Roman Verruca) on the right bank of the river. Of the old walls some massive remains are attributed by local tradition to Theodoric the Goth. Notwithstanding many symptoms of decay, Trent, with its numerous palaces, substantial houses, broad streets, and spacious squares, still retains the aspect of a flourish ing Cisalpine town. In appearance it is quite Italian, and the inhabitants speak Italian only. The cathedral, on the south side of the spacious Piazza del Duomo, was begun in its present form in 1212, and finished about the beginning of the 15th century. It preserves, however, some Lombardic features of ornamentation in the portals and elsewhere which possibly date from the 7th or 8th century. The church of St Maria Maggiore, a simple but good example of the Italian style of the 15th century, was the meeting-place of the famous council (see below), and possesses a picture containing portraits of the members. Trent is the seat of a prince-archbishop, and has all the public offices according with its administrative rank. It has a museum and library, a gymnasium, a "lyceuni," a seminary, and a deaf and dumb institute. The chief industries are silk-spinning and weaving, tanning, sugar-refining, and glass-blowing; and there is considerable trade in wine, grain, and fruit, as also in marble from the extensive quarries in the neighbourhood. The population in 1880 was 19,585.

Tridentum is mentioned by the geographers as capital of the Tridentini, and seems ultimately to have been made a Roman colony. It suffered much during the period of barbaric invasion, but was resuscitated by Theodoric, becoming the seat successively of Gothic and Lombard dukes and Frankish counts. In 1027 it passed under the rule of its bishops, with whom it had frequent disputes, in which it sought the favour and alliance of the lords of Tyrol. The Venetians made repeated efforts to set up the lion of St Mark within the walls of Trent, but were decisively and finally repulsed in 1487.