On your right stands the Monumento dell'Indipendenza, also called the Monument to the Dead for the Fatherland... though most people in Treviso simply call her the Teresona. Big statue, big nickname. Sculptor Luigi Borro gave her a very specific job in eighteen seventy-five: not to represent Italy, as many assume, but the province of Treviso itself. Look closely at the message. She crushes the chains of Habsburg, or Austrian, rule underfoot, raises a lance with the Italian tricolor in her right hand, and carries a laurel crown of victory in her left.
The monument honors Treviso patriots who died in eighteen sixty-six during the Third War of Independence, the conflict that brought Treviso and the Venetian provinces into the Kingdom of Italy, confirmed by the plebiscite of the twenty-first and twenty-second of October. The Carrara marble figure rises three point eight three meters above a three point three meter pedestal of Istrian stone, with a bronze dedication to the fallen for the fatherland. Carducci himself attended the unveiling.
She keeps watch here day and night, always open to anyone who passes. When you’re ready, continue on and let Treviso tell you its next chapter.
