Mestre

Mestre
Mestre
Mestre-Carpenedo borough of Venice
	The clock tower in Piazza Ferretto
	Coordinates:45°29′26″N12°14′17″E/ 45.49056°N 12.23806°E
Country	Italy
Region	Veneto
Metropolitan city	Venice
Municipality	Venice
Area
• Total	14.254 km2(5.504 sq mi)
Elevation	3 m (10 ft)
Population (27-6-2019)
• Total	88,552
• Density	6,212.43/km2(16,090.1/sq mi)
Area code	041

Mestre(Italian pronunciation:[ˈmɛstre]) is a borough of thecomuneofVeniceon the mainland opposite the historical island city in the region ofVeneto,Italy.

Administratively, Mestre forms (together with the nearby Carpenedo) the Municipalità di Mestre-Carpenedo, one of the six boroughs or districts of the comune. Sometimes it is considered as afrazione.With 88,552 (2019) inhabitants, Mestre is the most populated urban centre of the comune. The population of the borough of Mestre-Carpenedo is 89,373 (2010).

Overview

The mainland of Venice is the territory on the coast of theLagoon of Venice,off theAdriatic seain northeastern Italy. It is connected to Venice proper by a 3,850 m (2.39 miles) long railway and road bridge over the lagoon calledPonte della Libertà(Freedom Bridge).

After World War II, Mestre had a fast and disorganized period of urban growth and became a large metropolitan area together with the other urban centers on the Venetian mainland (Carpenedo, Marghera, Favaro Veneto, Chirignago, Zelarino, Tessera). Because Mestre is the hub and the most populated area of the mainland shore, in common parlance, itstoponymis often misused to designate the whole Venetian mainland.

Mestre became a comune in 1806 and remained so until 1926 when it was incorporated into the comune of Venice with adjacent portions of the mainland and islands in the lagoon.

Population

Mestre has around 88,552 inhabitants, while the Municipalità di Mestre-Carpenedo (one of the six boroughs of the city of Venice) has 89,373 inhabitants. The Venetian mainland (the boroughs of Mestre-Carpenedo, Marghera, Chirignago-Zelarino, and Favaro Veneto) has around 181,000 inhabitants.

In contrast, there are just around 53,000 inhabitants in Venice city (San Marco, Castello, Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro, Santa Croce) and just approximately 27,700 in the other major islands of Venice city borough (Murano,Burano,MazzorboandTorcello). Adjacent multi island borough ofLido Pellestrina,which makes a total of around 80,700 inhabitants based on the islands of the municipality, thus making Mestre Venice municipality's largest population centre with approximately one-third of the total.

Public transport

Public transport is managed byAzienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano.There are several bus routes and twotram lines.Several bus routes link the mainland withpiazzale Roma,the main bus station in Venice, viaPonte della Libertà,the bridge that connects Venice to the mainland.^[1]

Bus in Mestre
Tram in Mestre

History

According to legend, Mestre was founded by Mesthles, a companion of the heroAntenor,a fugitive fromTroy,who foundedPadua.^[2]The true origins of the town are uncertain. However, it is known that a Roman oppidum (fortress) existed here.Attiladestroyed the settlement, probably rebuilt in the 10th century.

The first historical attestation of Mestre is in the charter of theHoly Roman Emperor Otto III,in which Rambald, the count of Treviso, received land in an area named Mestre. In 1152, a papal bull byPope Eugene IIIrecognized thebishop of Trevisoas lord of Mestre. He mentioned the existence of the church of St. Lawrence, a castle (Castelvecchio, Old Castle), and a port. In 1257 the bishop granted Mestre toAlberico da Romano,thepodestàofTreviso.In 1274, a fire destroyed the castle, and Mestre's inhabitants fortified the town with apalisade,which became Castelnuovo (Newcastle).^[3]No traces of this castle remain today.

In 1323, theScaligerifamily fromVeronaconquered Treviso and thus acquired Mestre. The Venetians, fearing Verona's excessive power in the mainland, conquered Mestre on 29 September 1337. They replaced the old fortification with a brick wall, eight towers, and a moat. The port of Mestre benefited from the economic power of theRepublic of Venice,forming Venice's primary connection with the mainland. A canal (the Canal Salso) was built to facilitate the transport of goods.^[4]

The Venetian domination of Mestre ended on 16 July 1797 withNapoleon'soccupation of the Republic of Venice.In 1806, Mestre, following the French model, became a free municipality. It remained so under the subsequent period of Austrian rule (it also incorporated Carpenedo e Marocco) and under the Kingdom of Italy. In 1923, it was given the status of a town. Three years later, a Royal Decree incorporated Mestre and some other neighbouring townships (Chirignago, Zelarino, and Favaro Veneto) into the comune of Venice.^[5]

Since then, attempts have been made to regain autonomy in fourreferendumsin 1979, 1989, 1994, and 2003, but in each instance, the proposal for separating Mestre from Venice was rejected. Another referendum, proposed by the president of theVenetoregion, took place on 1 December 2019. Even though 66% of the voters voted for the separation, only 21% of the population voted, thus making the referendum not valid.^[6]^[7]

In the 1960s and 1970s, Mestre experienced a population boom, fuelled mainly by constructing a large industrial zone in nearbyMarghera.

Tourism

Mestre is now a favourite starting point for tourists visiting Venice on a budget due to its convenient location, its cheap and frequent connections to Venice by train and by bus (which also runs at night), and the more reasonable prices of its bars, discos, car parking, hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets compared to the costs of the same tourist services in Venice.^[8]

In 1979, Mestre provided one of the venues for the European basketball championshipEuroBasket 1979.This drew many tourists to the town. The other venues were inSiena,GoriziaandTurin.^{[citation needed]}

Main sights

Duomo of St. Lawrence (17th century)
Palazzo da Re
Palazzopodestarile
Provvedaria
Torre dell'Orologio (Watchtower, 1108)

Museums

M9 Museum, inaugurated in 2018.^[9]

Points of interest

Orto Botanico Locatelli,a smallbotanical garden

In popular culture

Donna Leon's third Commissario (inspector) Guido Brunetti mystery novelThe Anonymous Venetian(1994), akaDressed for Death,starts with a battered body found behind a slaughterhouse nearMarghera— just inside the border of Mestre. The staff of the local inspector is considered inadequate, so Brunetti is assigned to lead the investigation of the Mestre police.^[10]

In 2019, Italian-German singer Marco di Colonia released an album dedicated to Mestre's life and the people.

References

^Public transport in Mestre
^leggenda
^Mestre, sources
^Mestre Castelnuovo
^Mestr.it
^venice-split-referendum
^MESTRE_VENEZIA
^mestre-vs-venice
^"M9 Museum of the 20th Century - Official website".M9 Museum.Retrieved2022-07-27.
^Leon, Donna (1994).Dressed for Death.Grove/Atlantic, Inc.ISBN 0143035843.

External links

[1] Public transport in Mestre

[2] ^leggenda

[3] Mestre, sources

[4] Mestre Castelnuovo

[5] Mestr.it

[6] venice-split-referendum

[7] MESTRE_VENEZIA

[8] stre-vs-venice

[9] "M9 Museum of the 20th Century - Official website".M9 Museum.Retrieved2022-07-27.

[10] Leon, Donna (1994).Dressed for Death.Grove/Atlantic, Inc.ISBN 0143035843.

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