The churches of Conegliano

Over the centuries, Christian faith, religiosity and devotion have strongly expressed themselves through artistic forms that are the fruit of their age and the peculiarities of a territory. The proposed itinerary touches on some churches and oratories in the historic center of Conegliano.

Parrocchiale dei Santi Martino e Rosa

From the walls of Refosso, passing the Monticano river through the San Martino bridge, the church appears on the left with its unmistakable rough facade, with stone and brick surfaces. On the left side is the bell tower. Although the origins of the sacred building appear unknown, already at the beginning of the 13th century it was part of a more articulated complex of welfare realities. Initially sold to the Crociferi friars (1639) in 1665 the complex of San Martino passed to the Dominicans who expanded the structure. Inside the church, as a single hall, many works by members of this order are kept; for example, the choir, the crown of the high altar and the pulpit were made by friar Elia Biondo in the eighteenth century; the high altar is the work of friar Carlo Bonazza (1695); the wooden choir is the work of friar Ludovico Vittorio Facchini (c. 1696). Of note is the painting with the Adoration of the Shepherds by Francesco da Milano, the canvas with Saint Sebastian and Saints Barbara and Rocco del Pozzoserrato and the large canvas placed in the presbytery depicting the Last Supper by Sante Peranda (1615).

Parrocchiale dei Santi Rocco e Domenico

The birth of the church is linked to the diffusion of the cult of Saint Roch of Montpellier, the patron saint of the plague that struck the population very hard from the 14th century. The construction of the church dates back to around 1630. The church is today in absolute continuity with the arcade that characterizes the center of Conegliano. The frontal body of the building, of clear neoclassical origin, rests on the arcade with three arches. The round arches anticipate the three portals and the central one is framed by a pair of columns and the tympanum. Inside the church there are several noteworthy works: the altarpiece depicting the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Pozzoserrato (1593), the ceiling frescoes of the nave depicting the Apotheosis of Saints Rocco and Domenico, which continues in the two rectangular monochromes with the representation of scenes from the life of saints Rocco and Domenico, made by Giovanni De Min (1827).

Oratorio della Beata Vergine della Salute

The building overlooks the final stretch of Via XX Settembre, the ancient Contrada Grande, towards Porta del Monticano which marks the exit from the historic center. It is bordered on one side by the Montalban Nuovo building, with which it was originally connected thanks to a still existing but no longer open access. As for the church of Saints Rocco and Domenico, the building of the oratory is connected to the spreading of the disastrous plague epidemic which in 1630 affected vast areas of Italy and Veneto, reaching Conegliano itself. The facade of the oratory is in continuity with the porticos of the street itself and consists of a portico with three arches supported by columns with capitals of composite order. Above the arches the façade is accompanied by a pictorial decoration with geometric motifs. Inside there is a valuable seventeenth-century altar in stone and polychrome marbles.

Oratorio della Beata Vergine delle Grazie (XVIII sec.)

The decentralized location and the decorative sobriety of the facade do not seem to portend the richness of the works of art preserved inside, which make it a precious treasure chest of one of the most significant monuments of the city’s figurative culture. It was built in 1774 on the site of the Convent of the Reformed Fathers of St. Francis, suppressed by the Republic of Venice. Inside, on the high altar, a beautiful altarpiece by Francesco Beccaruzzi (XVI century) depicts the Madonna Enthroned with Child and Saints John the Baptist and Francis of Assisi.

Texts taken from “Le Chiese di Conegliano” Veneto Comunicazione.