Tarcento occupies a strategic location at a bridging point on the River Torre.

Tarcento first appears in the historical record around the year 1126 CE, when an Austrian nobleman, Machland, from Perg, was feudal overlord of the castle around which the town had developed.

Both castles were badly damaged during wars for control of the area between the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice in the Middle Ages, and in 1420 CE Tarcento became part of the territory controlled by the Venetian Republic.

After the Italian rout at the Battle of Caporetto in 1917, Tarcento was occupied by the Austrians until the end of the war.

A catastrophic earthquake in 1976 caused a great deal of damage in the town and its surroundings, all of which has subsequently been repaired.