Trento (Italian: [ˈtrento] ⓘ or [ˈtrɛnto];[3] Ladin and Lombard: Trent; Austrian German: Trient [tʁiˈɛnt] ⓘ; Cimbrian: Tria;[4] Mócheno: Trea't; Venetian: Trénto/Trènt; Latin: Tridentum), also known in English as Trent,[5] is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy.

Trento is an educational, scientific, financial and political centre in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, in Tyrol and Northern Italy in general.

The city contains a picturesque Medieval and Renaissance historic centre, with ancient buildings such as Trento Cathedral and the Castello del Buonconsiglio.

It is the first, and currently unique, Italian institute and one of the few Europeans present in the club of the best international study schools in the world that form policy makers.

[citation needed] In the last twenty years, thanks to the gradual creation of various research centers (FBK, FEM) and laboratories in the IT, engineering and sciences fields, Trento and its university have been nicknamed the "Silicon Valley of the Alps".

Julius Caesar re-founded it as a Roman municipality when Rome extended citizenship to the part of Cisalpine Gaul north of the River Po.

[14][15] The Latin name given to the settlement was Tridentum, meaning "Three-tooth place" or "Trident-town" (tri- "three" + dēns, dent- "tooth").

[citation needed] In the following centuries, however, the sovereignty was divided between the Bishopric of Trent and the County of Tyrol (from 1363 part of the Habsburg monarchy).

A dark episode in the history of Trento was the murder of a 3-year-old Christian boy, Simonino, later known as Simon of Trent, disappeared in 1475 on the eve of Good Friday, the city's small Jewish community was accused of killing him and draining his blood for Jewish ritual purposes.

[citation needed] In the 16th century, Trento became notable for the Council of Trent (1545–1563) which gave rise to the Counter-Reformation.

In 1558 Cardinal Madruzzo granted the privilege of printing Hebrew books to Joseph Ottolengo, a German rabbi.

The actual printer was Jacob Marcaria, a local physician; after his death in 1562, the activity of the press of Riva di Trento ceased.

Even Tuscany was particularly hard hit; malaria existed far inland into the Veneto area, reaching the Italian Alps.

[citation needed] Benito Mussolini briefly joined the staff of a local newspaper in 1909, but left Trento because they could not create an anti-Austrian group.

The nationalist cause led Italy into World War I. Damiano Chiesa and the deputy in the Austrian parliament Cesare Battisti were two well-known local irredentists who had joined the Italian Army to fight against Austria-Hungary with the aim of bringing the territory of Trento into the new Kingdom of Italy.

After World War I, Trento and its Italian-speaking province, along with Bolzano (Bozen) and the part of Tyrol that stretched south of the Alpine watershed (which was primarily German-speaking, as still is to this day), were annexed by Italy.

German troops promptly invaded northern Italy and the provinces of Trento, Belluno and South Tyrol became part of the Operation Zone of the Alpine Foothills, annexed to Germany.

Spring brings unpredictable weather with wind blowing north to south or vice-versa through the valley.

[citation needed] Summer nights can be hot as well, with overnight lows hovering around 22-24 °C (in the hilly suburbs east, north and west of Trento summer nights can be much cooler, with overnight temperature differing by up to 6 °C from the ones experienced in the city centre[citation needed]).

Early fall is pleasant, with foliage starting around mid-October at higher elevations, late October in the uphill suburbs and in November downtown.

Today, Trento thrives on commerce, services, tourism, high-quality agriculture and food industry (including wine and fruit), as a research and conference center thanks to a small but renowned university and internationally renowned research centers such as Fondazione Bruno Kessler, active in both fundamental and applied research, the Italian-German Historical Institute, the Centre for Computational and Systems Biology and ECT*, active in theoretical nuclear studies and part of FBK, and as logistics and transportation thoroughfare.

In the course of recent years, numerous economic scholars and managers such as Sir Anthony Atkinson, Fan Gang, Zygmunt Bauman and the Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker took an active part.

These parties ranged from the left (as in the case of Europa Verde) to the Catholic centre (including Partito Autonomista Trentino Tirolese, and Insieme per Trento).

When determining the composition of his Giunta (the equivalent of a City Cabinet), Ianeselli selected seven members of the City Council: Monica Baggia, Elisabetta Bozzarelli, Mariachiara Franzoia, Chiara Maule, Salvatore Panetta, Roberto Stanchina, and Paolo Zanella.

The city center is small, and most Late-Medieval and Renaissance buildings have been restored to their original pastel colours and wooden balconies.

The post office was once decorated with colored windows by Fortunato Depero, but these were destroyed during bombings in World War II.

Other buildings of that time include the Grand Hotel by Giovanni Lorenzi with some guest rooms furnished with futurist furniture by Depero, and the "R. Sanzio" Primary School built in 1931–34 and designed by Adalberto Libera.

The Autostrada A22 (part of the European route E45) highway connects Trento to Verona and to Bolzano, Innsbruck and Munich.

Bus or train services operate to the main surrounding valleys: Fassa, Fiemme, Gudicarie, Non, Primiero, Rendena, Sole, Tesino, Valsugana.

The public transport network within the city consists of 20 bus lines operated by Trentino Trasporti and a cable car service to Sardagna.