Feltre, in the province of Belluno, is one of the gateway to the Dolomites. In ancient times it was called Recthica oppida, as Pliny called it, then a Roman Municipium from 39 BC. Reborn from the barbarian invasions (the most disastrous was that of the Lombards in 569 AD), it passed under Ezzelino da Romano, the da Camino, and then the Scaligeri, the Da Carrara and the Visconti. In 1404 the city "donated" itself to the Republic of Venice. And faithful to Venice, apart from a brief parenthesis from 1411 to 1420, it will remain until the end of the Serenissima in 1797.
In its long history Feltre has always been a borderland, and this particular position has made it a place of encounter (and confrontation) between different populations. But it also represented a added value, which has left the marks of history in the town. They can be read in its architecture, in the facades of the buildings, in the archaeological paths that take us far away, at the time when it was an important center because it is close to via Claudia Augusta Altinate.
The ancient history of Feltre, a Roman village whose traces can be read in the important remains of the underground area of the Cathedral
Discover the Feltre flourishing Roman village and seat of prestigious magistrates means going down to the hypogeum area of the Duomo. A hidden world, still largely to be studied, certainly rich in testimonies that tell us the story of this rich and very vital Roman town center. It can be perceived by visiting the ancient hypogeum. It will be perceived further from next autumn when the civic museum will open the brand new archaeological section with the remains of Ionic-Italic and Corinthian capitals, ancient sculptures and a monumental statue of Aesculapius in Greek marble. It dates back to the second century after Christ and was found in 1974 in the archaeological area of the Cathedral.
From past to present, or almost, Feltre is also told through the artifacts of the blacksmith and craftsman from Feltre Charles Rizzarda. Ecosystem's staff is wrought iron worked almost like a lace which characterizes gates, lamps, railings, railings, tiles, is his work. Precious artifacts are kept in the Carlo Rizzarda Gallery of Modern Art because it was this craftsman, or rather iron artist, who wanted it. The Gallery was opened in 1938 and over the years it has gradually been enriched with decorative art objects, furniture, and recently also with the precious artistic glass of the Nasci-Franzoia collection. Eight hundred and eighty designer glass - a reference to nearby Venice and the island of Murano - donated to the city last May and dedicated to the Venetian glass production of the twentieth century.
Between alleys and streets, the precious Renaissance architecture inside the walls
An ancient and prestigious history distinguishes the Diocesan Museum, almost a fortress refined inside by frescoes, stuccos and decorative works. But also from precious artifacts from all over the territory of the current Diocese of Belluno-Feltre. Among these, a silver chalice which is the oldest Eucharistic in the West. And a Madonna Assunta by Andrea Brustolon. Walking through Feltre also means admiring the beauty of the green landscapes that surround it, getting lost in alleys and precious Renaissance architecture resulting from its reconstruction after the fires that largely destroyed it at the beginning of the sixteenth century.
The Teatro de la Sena and the first plays by Carlo Goldoni
Its in Feltre the great playwright Carlo Goldoni tells in his memoirs that he discovered his passion for the stage. And in Feltre, where he was as assistant clerk, he performed two of his first plays. One of the treasures of Feltre is its Teatro de la Sena for the restoration of which, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, we turned to Giannantonio Selva, the Venetian architect who ten years earlier in the lagoon had been the architect of the La Fenice Grand Theater.
Walking in Feltre also means taking his own city walls, visit the Venetian prisons, admire the ancient loggia, just restored, overlooking via Beccherie. And stop in front of Lombard fountains, beautiful, desired by Venice to guarantee the town the water supply in the event of a siege. And then the Castle, the Clock Tower, the Late Romanesque Campanon Tower. Its great bell rang when the Maggior Consiglio met and until the XNUMXs the ancient tradition continued announcing the beginning of the municipal council with its tolls.
Getting lost in Feltre also means, among the ups and downs of alleys and streets, meeting the owner of an ancient building, apparently of little importance, which during a recent restoration found sixteenth-century frescoes inside. If you have time and you are lucky, the friendly owner can also offer you to come into his house to show you. A rarity as well as a great opportunity to really enter the living "heart" of the town.
Photo source in evidence: Matteo Danesin
What a show!
Yes, I have the same opinion.