The discreet revolution of the Italian city has become an alternative to the excessive tourism of Venice

The discreet revolution of the Italian city has become an alternative to the excessive tourism of Venice


While Venice struggles with visitor crowds and pollution, nearby Treviso is implementing an ambitious sustainability program, maintaining traditions that include tiramisu and prosecco.




The air is thick with salt and butter when a bowl of tagliatelle with melted anchovies and flaked cod roe it arrives at my table, which is near the canal.

The loud pop of a cork breaks the buzz of the restaurant and the waitress pours a glass of local white wine. Lunch arrived.

“This is the queen of butters,” says my waitress, who claims that Alpine butter… First Botiro — which covers my dough is a regional specialty.

Produced in the mountain areas from raw milk in the months of July and September, he says, “now it tastes better”.

It’s September and I’m in Treviso, one of the quietest and most delightful destinations in northern Italy and a place where many travelers are just passing through, disembarking here on low-cost airline flights and heading directly to nearby Venice.

However, it is worth stopping in Treviso: a historic walled city lined with canals, where tiramisu first appeared on menus and where radicchio and prosecco shape everyday life.

It is a destination that has attracted more and more attention, most recently for becoming the first Italian city to win the European Green Leaf Award, a European Union initiative that recognizes the environmental efforts of smaller cities, with between 20,000 and 100,000 residents.

With a population of nearly 94,000, Treviso impressed the judges by transforming an abandoned landfill into a solar park, renovating its canal system to improve water quality and launching biodiversity projects to clean the air.

The green initiative is also expanding beyond the city limits, towards the Prosecco Hills, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, where wine producers are adopting sustainable practices to combat climate change.

Treviso’s efforts offer an interesting counterpoint to Venice, just 30 minutes away, which continues to suffer from excessive tourism, water pollution and infrastructure difficulties.

The ancient city’s much-vaunted daily visitor fee has raised millions in revenue but has failed to significantly reduce tourist numbers, which will still average 13,000 per day in 2025, up from 16,676 in 2024.



The city received the sustainability award in 2025

“We are very proud of our city,” says Alessandro Manera, deputy mayor of Treviso.

“It was a challenge to prove that an Italian city could win this award. The aim of the award is not to be the most beautiful and greenest city in Europe. It’s about showing who is improving.”

Since launching its sustainable mission seven years ago, Treviso has built kilometers of new cycle paths to reduce car use, implemented recycling programs in schools and planted 6,000 trees.

Trees, explains Manera, play a fundamental role in improving air quality in the municipality, located in the Po Valley, a natural basin that traps pollutants.

Another fundamental project was the modernization of Treviso’s sewage infrastructure, which reached only 27% of the city population.

“We are already at 64% and [até o 10º ano] We would like to finish at 80%,” says Manera.

“It’s really a green revolution, because all that sewage ended up in our rivers.”

For a city surrounded by water, transformation is vital. Often nicknamed “little Venice” by locals, Treviso’s canals run through the city’s 2,100-year-old historic center, past flowering balconies and weeping willows that hang along the banks.

“This is a city where the canals are the protagonists,” says Ilaria Barbon, tour guide for Treviso Tours.

“The presence of the Sile river was essential for the origins and development of Treviso. The same canals and massive walls protected Treviso at the beginning of the 16th century.”

He adds that water remains fundamental to Treviso’s identity.

“Today the water quality is very good. We have many fountains, some famous, like the I gave you three or the Of the Tits. Aqua is an application that allows you to monitor the supply of your bottle [de água]. I live 6 km from Treviso and the local administration is distributing aluminum bottles to all the children at school: the objective is zero plastic.”



Treviso's centuries-old water mills are being revitalized to provide energy to parts of the city

This same water has also fueled the Treviso industry for some time.

Ancient water mills used to grind grain in the 16th century are scattered throughout the city. They have recently been reactivated and one of them even provides energy for the lights of the central fish market in Treviso.

“This is the only place currently stocked because, for the entire city, it would be impossible,” explains Manera.

“But another big project, worth 25 million euros, is to convert all the city’s public lighting to LED. We will complete it in six to seven months,” he says, estimating that this will result in energy savings of 70%.

This same quest for more sustainable living goes beyond infrastructure. Tour guide Annalisa De Martin encourages travelers to explore Treviso on two wheels, leading bike tours along the canals, river paths and surrounding countryside, while savoring the city’s cuisine.

“I always end my walks with a slice of tiramisu,” he tells me: “It was invented here.”

Legend has it that the coffee-dipped dessert was created in the 18th century by a pimp who ran a local brothel.

Tiramisu – which literally means “cheer me up” – was said to be offered as an aphrodisiac to customers. Visit any of the city’s restaurants and you will almost certainly see it on the menu.

Treviso is also famous for the production of radicchio, a type of red radicchio with a slightly bitter taste that is often eaten with cheese. The itineraries wind along the Strada del Radicchio, a stretch full of farms open to visitors

“Here radicchio is used in many ways,” says De Martin.

“Not only raw, but also for risottos and roasts. We also use it for pasta sauces and [para fazer chutney] for cheese. We have a radicchio cake called fregolotta and someone once even made a radicchio tiramisu during our annual Tiramisu World Cup.”



In the Prosecco Hills, producers are adopting sustainable practices in response to climate change

Beyond the desserts and vegetables, the region’s rolling Prosecco hills reflect the same balance of land, tradition and innovation.

Winemaker Sandro Bottega, founder of Bottega Prosecco, says climate change is forcing producers to adapt.

“We are experiencing many things,” says Bottega, “from excessive evaporation of water during hot summers to increased rain and hail during colder seasons, which damage the vines.”

He says climate change is having a major impact on production, adding that “in some vineyards last year we lost 80% [de nossas colheitas]. This year it will be 50%.”

In response, producers like Bottega are experimenting with sustainable viticulture methods to reduce their carbon impact, such as green manure techniques to promote soil fertility, solar panels used to pursue energy independence, and geothermal air conditioning as a natural climate control.

A sign, perhaps, that Treviso’s green ambitions have spread beyond the city walls.

Together, they show how one of Italy’s quietest destinations is shaping a green future; a future rooted in the simple pleasures of good food and drink, clean water and community action.

Source: Terra

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