Monte Calisio


Monte Calisio, at, is a mountain located in the North of Italy and sourrended by the following suburbs of Trento and Civezzano: Martignano, Cognola, Villamontagna, Gardolo and Melta di Gardolo.

History

Prehistory

The first evidence of human presence in the whole region of Tirol were found here at the western slopes of Monte Calisio where, in 1971, the so called "Venere del Gàban",i.e. a statuette made from deer horn and portraying a woman, was found.

Roman Period

In 15 BC Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus build the so called via Claudia Augusta, a road which connected to Augsburg. This road passed along the places where now we can find the suburbs of Meano, Martignano and Cognola and
sometime it coincided with still existing trails.

Argentario mime

In the past on the Monte Calisio's slopes there were many important silver mines. These mines provided silver to Tirol in particular by mean of the mint of Merano.
This is the reason for which the most ancient mining code in Europe was written during 1207 at Trento by Prince-Bishop Federico Vanga.
These mines lost their importance during the fifteenth century when a new very important mine, Schwaz 's mine, was discovered near Insbruck.
Anyway many of these old mines, locally called canope, are still visible in the wood of Monte Calisio and some of them can still accessible.

Contemporary History

During the past centuries the slopes of Monte Calisio were relatively sparsely populated. On the other hand in the last century more and more person decided to live there causing the above mentioned suburbs to grow at high rate.
Below the mountain top, at, the ruins of Forte Casara can be found. This was a fort, build just before World War I by Austro-Hungarian Empire and abandoned during 1915.