TRENT, or TRIENT, an old town of Italy in the Tyrol; on the left bank of the Adige; 54 miles N. N. E. of Verona. It has two suburbs, San Martino and Santa Croce, and in its environs villages rise beautifully above one another on the mountain slopes. Of the town, which is quite Italian in its character, the finest squares are the Piazza d'Armi and the Piazzi del Duomo, the latter adorned with a fountain, and containing the courts of justice. Among the 15 churches the fin est are the Cathedral, a Romanesque basilica, with two domes, founded in 1048, begun in its present form in 1212, and completed in the 15th century; Santa Maria Maggiore, where the celebrated Council of Trent sat from 1545-1563, con taining an admirable organ, and adorned with portraits of the members of the council; and the Church dell' Annun ziata, with a high cupola resting on four pillars. Other buildings are the town
hall, the Palace of Justice, the theatre, and the Palazzo Buon Consiglio, for merly the residence of the prince-bishops, now a barrack. The town has two mon asteries, a theological institute, an upper gymnasium, and a public library and museum. The industries are silk spin ning and weaving, dyeing, iron founding, and the manufacture of cloth, pottery, and cards. In the vicinity are great marble quarries. Trent was a Roman colony, became in the 4th century the seat of a bishop, and in 574 of a Lom bard duke. In 1027 Konrad II. granted to its bishops princely rank and the fief of the town. The bishropic was secu larized in 1803, and added to the Aus trian crown-lands. It is in the territory awarded to Italy by the treaty of St. Germain. Pop. about 30,000.