Mason Vicentino
Mason Vicentino is a locality of the foothill belt of Vicenza that, since 20 February 2019, has no longer been an independent muni...
Updated 12 July 2026
The story
The story of Mason Vicentino
From Mason Vicentino to Colceresa
On 20 February 2019 Mason Vicentino ceased to exist as an independent municipality, merging with neighbouring Molvena to create the new municipality of Colceresa. The name chosen for the new administrative entity derives from the dialectal term 'cerexa-ceriésa', meaning cherry, an explicit tribute to the typical produce of this foothill belt, the same geographical area where the famous Marostica cherry ripens. Mason Vicentino today remains one of Colceresa's two main hamlets, together with Molvena, while retaining its own recognisable historical and toponymic identity, with the parish, civic centre and the memory of the former municipality still very present in residents' daily life.
From the Roman mansio to the court of Maxone
Mason's origins trace back to an ancient Roman 'mansio', a staging and relay post along the communication routes of the time, around which a rural village gradually developed, dependent on nearby Breganze. The first certain documentary reference dates to 1038, when the 'court of Maxone' appears in a deed as property of the Abbey of Nonantola, an important monastic centre in Emilia with vast holdings scattered also across Venetian territory. The area's civil history has always remained closely tied to that of Breganze, whose administrative and economic affairs Mason shared for centuries, before gaining its own municipal autonomy.
The name Mason Vicentino
The municipality took the name Mason Vicentino from 1867, with the addition of the adjective 'Vicentino' to distinguish it from other places of the same name in Italy, following a practice common to many Veneto municipalities in the period after annexation to the Kingdom of Italy. The name Mason, of Latin origin tied to the mansio, remained in use until the 2019 merger, when it flowed into the new place name Colceresa. Even today many residents and local services, from the parish to associations, continue to use the historic name Mason Vicentino to refer to their own territory.
Villa Angaran delle Stelle
Mason Vicentino's most important monument is undoubtedly Villa Angaran delle Stelle, a magnificent example of Venetian Neoclassical architecture built in the early 18th century. The Angaran family acquired the land in 1451 and, after becoming Venetian patricians in 1655, decided to give their house greater social visibility by building the present villa complex, which remained the family's property until 1855. It is one of the most significant examples of a Venetian villa in the foothill belt of the Vicenza area, evidence of the wealth accumulated by patrician Venetian families through mainland landholdings between the 17th and 18th centuries.
Cherries and the farming character
Mason Vicentino lies in one of the Italian areas most renowned for cherry growing, the same foothill belt that includes nearby Marostica, famous worldwide for its PGI cherry. It is no coincidence that the new municipality of Colceresa chose a name recalling this very fruit, a sign of how central cherry farming remains to the territory's economic and landscape identity. Alongside cherries, local agriculture includes vineyards and other crops typical of the Vicenza foothills, in a landscape of gentle hills that, in late spring, turn the characteristic red of orchards in full production.
Experiences not to miss
- Admire Villa Angaran delle Stelle, a masterpiece of Venetian Neoclassical style
- Explore the cherry-orchard hills between Mason Vicentino and Marostica in spring
- Visit the historic centre tied to the medieval court of Maxone
- Discover neighbouring Molvena and the wider municipality of Colceresa
Routes · Trovido Route
