Rivoli Veronese - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

RIVOLI VERONESE, a village of Venetia, Italy, in the province of Verona, on a hill on the right bank of the Adige, 13 m. N.W. of Verona, 617 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 1340. It is celebrated as the scene of the battle in which, on the 15th of January 1797, Napoleon inflicted a decisive defeat upon the Austrians commanded by Josef Alvintzi, Baron von Barberek (1735-1810) (see French Revolutionary Wars). A famous street in Paris (Rue de Rivoli) commemorates the victory, and under the empire Marshal Massena received the title of duke of Rivoli. The strong positions around Rivoli, which command the approaches from Tirol and the upper Adige into the Italian plain, have always been celebrated in military history as a formidable obstacle, and Charles V. and Prince Eugene of Savoy preferred to turn them by difficult mountain paths instead of attacking them directly. Minor engagements, such as rearguard actions and holding attacks, have consequently often taken place about them, notably in the campaign of 1796-97. An engagement of this character was fought here in 1848 between the Austrian and the Piedmontese troops.