G8 Agriculture Ministers' Meeting
The town of Cison di Valmarino in the province of Treviso, some 100 km from Venice, is to host the first ever G8 Agriculture Ministers' Meeting. The area around Cison, known as the March of Treviso, is not only rich in historical landmarks with its Roman roads, churches, castles, fortresses, villas and areas of natural beauty and interest; it is also the region that saw the birth of great Renaissance artist Giorgione and of Neoclassical sculptor Canova.
The meeting is to be held in the castle of the Conti Brandolini d'Adda, perched on a bluff overlooking the Valmareno valley and the ancient town of Cison di Valmarino. The castle, nestling in a 50-hectare wooded park, has the appearance of a medieval village majestically set like a gem in the rolling Veneto landscape. It began life as a Roman fort, erected to guard the Via Imperialis Claudia Augusta linking the Adriatic to nothern Europe. Rebuilt and rechristened "Castelbrando", the castle is privately owned today.
It has been enlarged on several different occasions over the centuries. The Da Camino family, who held it during the Middle Ages, surrounded it with powerful crenellated and battlemented walls and built a keep in the middle of the inner bailey. It subsequently fell to the Venetian Republic, which initially awarded it as a fiefdom to Marin Faliero, later granting it in recognition of military merit to mercenary captains Giovanni Brandolino and Erasmo da Narni, better known as Gattamelata. The Brandolini family extended the central part of the castle in the 16th century.
The last part to be erected was the 18th century U-shaped wing, built according to a powerful linear plan drawn up by architect Ottavio Scotti from Treviso. The Conti Brandolini sold the property in 1959 to the Salesian Fathers, who restructured it and used it as a centre for spiritual studies. A private owner purchased it and thoroughly restored it in 1997. The Brandolini family's arms with the starred crown of Cyprus can be seen in the castle halls, while a rich collection of arms and armour displayed on the walls of the grand staircase inside the palace wing is a reminder of the family's military calling.
Sources: Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies; Cison di Valmarino Municipal Authority.
