Il servizio delle Poste di Rovereto in Antico Regime e i Maestri di Posta della stazione lagarina.

The postal station in Rovereto was one of the centres for the collection and sorting of mail along the imperial postal route connecting Innsbruck and Mantua. It was established in the first decades of the sixteenth century and entrusted to postmasters who guaranteed a regular service through the Lagarina Valley to Mantua and from Rovereto to Lake Garda. At the stations set up by these postmasters, there worked grooms, couriers, and relay teams, while other postmen worked at the smaller, interim stations along the way. The postmasters at the main office in Rovereto were nominated by the head postmaster stationed in Innsbruck, from whom they received their emoluments. Initially, appointments were on a temporary basis, but following a decision taken by Empress Maria Theresia, the nomination became a kind of fief that was transmissible to family descendants. Subsequently, holders of the position included Giovanni Simoncini, the baron Matteo Cresseri, and the families de Benedetti, Cosmi, and Bossi Fedrigotti. The latter family continued to run the communication and service network, including the transport of people and mail, up until the First World War. After the end of the conflict, the service and its infrastructure was taken over by the Kingdom of Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]