It was known in Roman times as
Feltria and described as an
oppidum by
Pliny, who assigned its foundation to the Alpine tribe of the
Rhaetians. The city obtained the status of
municipium in 49 BC with its citizens inscribed into the Roman tribe of
Menenia. In spite of its rigorous climate, which led a Roman author, perhaps Caesar, to write:
Feltria perpetuo niveum damnata rigore Atque mihi posthac haud adeunda, vale Feltria lay on a
Roman road mentioned in the
Antonine Itinerary as passing from Opitergium (
Oderzo) through Feltria to Tridentum (
Trento). After the fall of the
Western Empire, under which it had developed into a flourishing city, it became a
Lombard dominion. Later in the Middle Ages, it was ruled by
Ezzelino III da Romano, by the
Da Camino family, and then by the
Scaligers of
Verona, from 1315 to 1337. Feltre was subsequently under
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, the da Carrara and the
Visconti until 1404, when, together with
Belluno, it was conquered by the
Republic of Venice. In 1499 it received a new line of walls. In 1509 the center of the town was mostly destroyed during battles between the Venetians and the
League of Cambrai, and later rebuilt with a characteristic 16th-century style. In 1797, after the
capitulation of Venice to Napoleon, it was ruled for some time by the French. Napoleon made his minister of war,
Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke, Duke of Feltre in 1807. After the
Congress of Vienna (1814), Feltre was assigned to the
Austrian Empire, to which it remained until it was joined to the
Kingdom of Italy in 1866. It was besieged by
Austria during
World War I. During
World War II,
Adolf Hitler demanded a meeting with
Benito Mussolini to discuss his strategy for defending Italy from the Allied Armies since the Axis armies had just surrendered
Tunis to the
British Army, giving Allied Armies total control of North Africa. This meeting took place on July 19, 1943 in Feltre, Italy. Notable people of Feltre include
Panfilo Castaldi, printer;
Bernardine of Feltre, Friar Minor, missionary and founder of Monti di Pietà;
Vittorino da Feltre, humanist educator; Stefano Doglioni, the bebop bass clarinetist; and
Morto da Feltre, painter. == Main sights ==