Silea is a municipality in the province of Treviso, on the border with the territory of the capital and consists of four historic villages, all different and each with its own history. Of great interest is the Regional Park of Sile, accessible through a foot or cycling path. Along the way it is possible to come across beautiful bridges, a small harbor, churches, elegant villas and admire the bird fowl.
The numerous and important artefacts found here prove that the area was already inhabited since Prehistoric Ages, probably due to the important presence of streams, which represented a rapid means of transporting goods and people. Interesting pathways attest the presence of the Paleoveneti populations, who settled here, later subdued, in the II century B.C. by the Romans, to whom we owe the division of the country in centuries, the creation of roads, including the Via Claudia Augusta Altinate, and the construction of the first municipalities. Historians attest that, although the Romans had made permanent settlements possible, it was not until the fall of Rome and the invasion of barbarian tribes, including the Lombards and Franks, that the settlements became real towns. It is no coincidence that the original name of the town was "Ooze", a term that derives from the Lombard dialect. In the Middle Ages the entire area, as the other nearby towns, submitted the domain the Carrara and the Della Scala and later enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity under the rule of the Serenissima Republic of Venice. Subsequently followed a period of French and Austrian conquest, until the town was, finally, annexed to the Kingdom of Italy.
Not to miss:
- the Church entitled to Empress Helena, which was originally built in the XI century and rebuilt in the second half of the XV century. The simple façade is interrupted only by a crescent-shaped window and a tympanum with two half-columns at the ends. The XVI century Bell Tower features a square base and along its sides, it is embellished by blind arches and embrasures, while the Gothic belfry has mullioned windows and is topped by a spire. Of effect is the contrast of colors of different parts of the tower;
- the Parish Church of St. Michael the Archangel, of which there is no official news till the second half of the XII century, was later rebuilt in the late XV century and restored in the XVII. The XVI century Bell Tower was rebuilt in the mid XVIII century. The building contains artworks of the artists Marini and Vincenzo del Mosaico and an eighteenth century organ;
- the Oratory of Mary of the Assumption, built in 1762, is part of Villa Valier's properties;
- the XIX century Church of Our Lady of Health;
- the XVII century Church of the Saints Vittore and Corona;
- Villa Bianchini, whose original construction dates from the XVII century;
- the late XVII century Villa Memmo;
- the XVIII century Villa Miollo;
- the XVI century Villa Valier;
- the XVII century Villa Barbaro;
- the XVIII century Villa Fanio;
- Villa Contarini;
- Villa Maderni;
- Villa Collotti;
- Villa Bembo;
- Villa Pisani;
- Villa Riva.