Perched on Mount Miesna, the basilica sanctuary of Santi Vittore e Corona is a true religious complex and pro-jew Romanesque jewel, with strong Armenian and oriental influences. The interior features frescoes from the Giotto school, the marble sarcophagus of the martyrs and an ancient organ donated by the emperor Franz Joseph of Austria in 1861.
Santuario dei Santi Vittore e Corona History
On the spur of Monte Miesna which tends to join the opposite side of Monte Tomatico, almost to close the beautiful Felt basin, stands the architectural complex of the Sanctuary and Convent of the Holy Martyrs Vittore and Corona, protectors of the ancient City and Diocese of Feltre.
The Sanctuary was built from 1096 to 1101 and was an integral part of the defensive curtain of the Feltre territory towards the Treviso plain.
Romanesque in style with clear Byzantine influences, it has a Greek cross, three naves with a transept and a central dome
The Sanctuary of Saints Vittore and Corona di Feltre for more than nine centuries continues to attract people of all social conditions, from the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire such as Charles IV of Bohemia to the medieval artists who frescoed the walls, from men of culture to humble people of the people.
The location of the Sanctuary is particularly suggestive, located on the slopes of Mount Miesna and overhanging a craggy rock, in front of the beautiful peaks of the Feltre Dolomites.
There are three staircases that introduce us to the Sanctuary: the one renovated in the 1800s by the architect Giuseppe Segusini from Feltre with the statues of Saints Vittore and Corona on the sides and placed just after the suggestive "Capitello dell'Angelo", the one in front of the portal and a third, with ten steps, that you meet as soon as you enter the atrium or narthex.
Dating from the end of the 12th to the beginning of the 16th century, the frescoes in the Sanctuary constitute the most interesting complex of murals painted in the upper Veneto.
Among works from the Ottonian period, the Giotto school and students of Tommaso da Modena, the last supper and the history of martyrdom stand out on the left wall.