The ancient Contrada Grande

The ancient Contrada Grande – the current Via XX Settembre – was once surrounded by the city walls and could be accessed through three gates: Porta del Rujo to the west, Porta del Monticano to the east and Porta S. Polo to the south. The Porta del Monticano, already mentioned in 1309, was restored by Scaligeri and Carraresi and presents on the external façade a fresco depicting the “Lion of St. Mark andante”, by Giovanni Antonio de Sacchis, called Pordenone (Pordenone 1483 ca. – Ferrara 1539). The dedication of the painting is due to the laying of the lion, which rests the hind legs on the Venetian Lagoon, while the front legs are going to conquer the Mainland; Tradition has it that the open book that the lion holds with its legs is a symbol of the peaceful process with which the city is subjected to the Serenissima.

Proceeding along Via XX Settembre we can see some Renaissance palaces with carved or frescoed stone decorations, including on the right the ancient Monte di Pietà characterized by a fresco that covers the entire façade with little angels, among clouds, which support the instruments of the Passion . In the center, above the elegant loggia of the ground floor, a beautiful stone frame underlines the image of the Pietà, probably a work by Ludovico Fiumicelli. A little further on, on the opposite side of the road, stands Palazzo Montalban Nuovo, an imposing building of the century. XVIII, with the characteristic passing porch, built on the site that previously allowed the passage between the Contrada and Piazza delle Pecorelle (now Piazza IV Novembre).

Continuing to walk, on the left there are two other noteworthy buildings: Palazzo Sarcinelli and Casa Longega. The first, home of the noble Sarcinelli family of Ceneda, is a building from the first half of the sixteenth century with an airy loggia in rustication on the ground floor and, on the main floor, a hall decorated with stuccoes that contain the portraits of the most important characters who have stopped. Casa Longega (15th century), on the other hand, was the first residence of the ancient and noble Montalban family, as shown by the coat of arms on the column capitals; noteworthy are the terracotta decorations that adorn the facade. Next to the building is Via Marcatelli, which quickly leads to Porta S. Polo, also called “del pidocchio”, which connected the village with the Convent of the Padri Umiliati, located outside the walls. Immediately afterwards, on the right, there is Palazzo Montalban Vecchio from the Sanmicheli school (XVI century), characterized by the high rusticated portico and, inside, by a beautiful central hall that occupies the entire width of the building. Facing the building is the Renaissance Casa Colussi (formerly the seat of the Knights of the Podestà), whose façade is embellished with a beautiful three-light window and frescoes.

With just a few steps you reach Piazza Cima which overlooks: the Palazzo del Municipio, designed in the century. XVIII by Ottavio Scotti, but strongly reworked in the following century; the Academy Theater, a work of the mid-nineteenth century, and Palazzo Da Collo, a sixteenth-century building built on a Gothic lot, inside which the Oratory of the Assumption is incorporated. Looking to the left of the Academy, you can see the beautiful pierced balcony of Casa Sbarra, whose façade still shows traces of the frescoes that decorated it entirely.

Opposite piazza Cima is the largest Piazzetta on 18 July 1866, which overlooks Casa Dalla Balla, now Piutti, with its remarkable frescoes, stone cornices and the corner balcony. Finally, we must mention Casa Biffis, whose harmonious simplicity is enriched by Gothic capitals and a beautiful portal with phytomorphic motifs.
The theory of the arcades that characterizes the entire Contrada Grande is not interrupted even by the façade of the Sala dei Battuti which hides the one of the Duomo.
Continue through other frescoed facades until you reach the Torricelle Dante, which in 1865 replaced the medieval gate of Rujo.