Department of Sociology and Social Research, Trento

A large multi-storey ochre and stone corner building with rows of windows stands at a street intersection with a pedestrian crossing in the foreground. — Corner view of the ochre university building with banded stonework, rows of windows, street signs, and a zebra crossing in the foreground, Trento. Photo: Stefano Vigolo, 2010.

Trento · Centro Storico · University Department Building

The former Palazzo degli Studi on Via Verdi houses the first sociology department founded in Italy, a centre of the 1968 student movement.

At a glance

The Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento stands at Via Giuseppe Verdi 26. The building was erected as the city’s first public primary school, and since 1962 it has been associated with the institutional study of sociology in Italy.

Key facts

Where: Via Giuseppe Verdi 26, 38122 Trento
What: Building
When: 1888
GPS: 46.0666, 11.1195 · Open in Google Maps

History

The palace was built to a design by the Viennese architect Carl Hinträger in 1888 to house the first public elementary schools of Trento. It later became the seat of the Istituto Universitario di Scienze Sociali, established in 1962 as the first place in Italy institutionally dedicated to the study of sociology and the first institute where a degree in sociology could be obtained.

The cultural energy produced by the meeting of strongly motivated students from across Italy made the University of Trento one of the centres of the 1968 student protest movement and of the Italian feminist movement. The current department structure replaced the former Faculty of Sociology after the university reform introduced by Law no. 240 of 2010, known as the «Gelmini reform».

What you see

The photograph shows a large multi-storey corner building faced in ochre with banded stonework. Rows of rectangular windows mark each level. A street sign and a pedestrian crossing are visible in the foreground at the intersection. The main entrance is on Via Verdi, where the building has automatic doors and multiple lifts serving the upper floors.

Do you know more about this place?

If you know a date, a name, a document, a plaque or a photograph that tells its story, write to Sofia through the contact page. What arrives with a source goes into this page, with your name as the contributor.

Nearby

Molino Vittoria, Università di Trento — another university building of the same institution in Trento
Fontana del Nettuno, Trento — a civic monument in the historic centre, a short walk away
Roman Villa of Orpheus — archaeological site nearby

Sources

Comune di Trento, Facoltà di sociologia, Palazzo degli Studi: building history, architect name, 1888 construction, 1962 institute founding, 1968 movement role, address
Università di Trento, Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale | Persone: current department role, address, director Marco Brunazzo, first sociology department in Italy
universita.it, Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale – Università degli Studi di Trento: replacement of Faculty by current department under Law 240/2010
Stefano Vigolo, photographs and notes to the editorial staff (2026): identification of the subject and GPS coordinates. Not a published source

Find it on the map

See this place and what’s around it →

➤ Take me there Opens Google Maps navigation from where you are — on foot, by bike, by transit or by car

Google Maps See the location on a full map → Street View Walk around the place virtually → OpenStreetMap Free community cartography →

Travel tips from CHO

Go on the first Sunday of the month

State museums, archaeological parks and monuments across Italy open free of charge on the first Sunday of every month. It covers state-run sites only — civic and private museums set their own prices — and there is nothing to claim: you simply walk in.

The ministry’s free days →

In September, the doors that are usually shut open

For one long weekend every September, some fifty European countries run the European Heritage Days together: palaces, workshops, archives and private houses that are closed the rest of the year let visitors in, almost always for nothing. Italy sets its own dates, and they are published a few weeks ahead.

Dates, country by country →

Arrive already connected

Maps, opening hours and tickets all need data, and roaming outside your own network still costs more than the ticket. A travel eSIM for Italy installs on your phone before you leave home and works the moment you land — no queue at the airport, no physical card to swap.

Data plans for Italy →Affiliate link — what this means

📷 Become a Cultural Heritage Online photographer

Share your photos of places: they stay published under your name as the author. The more they're seen, the more you get noticed — and soon a contest will reward the most appreciated photos.

Is this page about you?

This page is read by travellers and heritage enthusiasts who find it on Google. Tell us how you are connected to this place and we will take it from there.