Villa Zileri

Between the beginning of 1917 and the end of 1918, the Monteviale territory was part of two important defence systems at the same time: the entrenched field of Vicenza and the “Ortogonale1” strategic line, on the Agno – Leogra ridgeline.

The soldiers occupied farms and town houses since the beginning of the war, but from 1916 the most important guests where housed mainly in Villa Zileri, a prestigious mansion, with ample spaces for motor vehicles, mules and horses.

Trenches and stations were dug on the hills of Monteviale and the road system on the ridgeline and the plain facing south was enhanced. Also Mt. Cucco and Mt. San Giorgio, the two isolated hills just north of Villa Zileri, underwent some fortification works.

In June 1916, during the Strafexpedition on the Vicenza Plateaus, Her Royal Highness Hélène of Orléans, Duchess of Aosta and general surveyor of the Italian Red Cross, chose Villa Zileri as her headquarters for her visits to the military hospitals near the front. In November 1917, after the defeat of Caporetto, the troops of the 47th Division of the French Army lined up along the Agno – Leogra ridgeline, from Monteviale to Priabona.

On 28 April 1918 His Royal Highness Edward VIII, Prince of Wales, who had reached Italy with the British Army, was hosted by the Duchess of Aosta in Villa Zilieri.