TRENT, or TRIENT, a town of the Austrian empire, capital of a circle in the Tyrol, stands in a beautiful situation on the Adige, 25 miles N.W. of Venice. Seen from a distance, it has a very picturesque appearance, with embattled walls, large ruined castle, and numerous towers and spires. The streets are broad and regular, and the houses well built, for the most part in the Italian style. In the middle of a handsome square there is a fine marble fountain; and down many of the streets there run canals of pure water. The cathedral is a very fine edifice, entirely of marble, in the Byzantine style. The church of St Maria Maggiore, a modern red marble building, occupies the site of the council chamber, now destroyed, where the celebrated Council of Trent sat (1545-63); and has a painting with portraits of all the members. Trent has also a town-hall, several monasteries, an hospital, a number of silk-mills and distilleries, and an extensive trade in silk, wine, and brandy. It was the ancient Tridentum, and was a Roman colony and an important city in the middle ages, when the bishops were independent princes. Pop. 12,900.