Piazza Libertà Historical Timeline

Origins

The square developed as the market and civic space of the medieval town, inside the walls and below the Ezzelini castle.

Turning points

Under Venice from 1404 it took on the Republic's furniture -- the column and winged lion that mark every mainland town Venice governed.

Influential people

The Loggia del Comune on the northern side carried frescoes by the Bassano workshop; what survives is fragmentary but genuine.

Cultural evolution

The three squares -- Piazzotto Montevecchio, Piazza Libertà and Piazza Garibaldi -- were never merged into one grand space, which is why the centre still feels like a series of rooms rather than a plaza.

Present-day significance

It remains the town's living room, and the focus of the Opera Estate Festival each summer.