Bagnoli di Sopra

The name of Bagnoli derives from “balneoli”, a term that indicated the presence of marshes in the territory, and in fact, before Roman times, this part of the Po Valley was an immense expanse of water, remaining so for centuries until the territory was completely reclaimed, starting from the Middle Ages. The specification “sopra”, which means “above” is a reference to the fact that Bagnoli’s main residential area was originally located in what is today the fraction of “Bagnoletto”, then called “Bagnoli di Sopra” as it is located at a higher level than the rest of the territory, which was submerged by marshes.

The first document mentioning Bagnoli dates back to 954 and is the deed of donation with which Almerico II, a Lombard duke, donated his “curte di Bagnolo” to the monks of the SS. Trinità and San Michele Arcangelo of Brondolo; at the time it was only a small village, where for some centuries there had been a small church consecrated to St. Michael, and the convent was built by the same monks only in the year 1000. The monks also realized the first monumental works regarding land reclamation, establishing small farms, building defenses from the waters and the first roads, making this vast expanse of land holdings cultivable, starting an agricultural and viticultural tradition that is still an important part of this area’s culture after a thousand years.

Around 1425 the monks of the Order of Canons Regular of Santo Spirito succeeded the monks of the Benedictine Order in carrying out the “tenure” of Bagnoli, undertaking a series of initiatives that had already been planned to complete the reclamation works.

In the 16th century a terrible fire caused by the enemies of the Republic of Venice, led by Maximilian I, struck and devastated Bagnoli and, in 1656, the Carinthian Counts Widmann and the Nave family bought the monastery and all the assets that they found in Bagnoli’s territory. Ludovico Widmann was the one who, around the end of the 17th century, began the construction of the residential complex – now known as Villa Widmann-Borletti – consisting of a villa, a theater, some buildings, cellars, barns, stables and huge gardens, and which saw the likes of the illustrious Carlo Goldoni among its guests.