Belluno and Feltre, Diocese of

BELLUNO AND FELTRE, Diocese of. - B., a city of Venetia (about 27,000 inhabitants), is the capital of the province of the same name (3,676 sq km, and about 235,000 inhabitants), of which the town of F. forms part; the latter has a population of 19,000 in the entire municipality, and about 6,500 in the built-up center. Both are seats of dioceses, and their territory extends to the north of the dioceses of Treviso and Vittorio Veneto, comprising the upper valley of the Piave and of its tributaries above the Fenèr gorge (Valdobbiadene). From their origins they formed two distinct dioceses, of which the first records date from the second half of the 6th century in connection with the schism of the Three Chapters; but we can say nothing about their origin; they persisted throughout the Middle Ages, enriched with privileges by the Carolingian sovereigns and by the kings of Italy. Lucius III on 29 Oct. 1184 confirmed to the bishop of F. the possessions he enjoyed, and on 18 Oct. 1185 did the same for the bishop of B. Reduced to critical conditions because of hostilities with the commune of Treviso, the two dioceses were united under a single bishop, while keeping their territories distinct, by Pope Celestine III in 1197, in the person of Drudo da Camino, bishop of F. The union lasted until 7 June 1460, when Pius II established that the two dioceses should be divided at the first vacancy. When indeed the bishop Francesco di Legname died on 11 Jan. 1462, Teodoro Lelli received F. on 15 Feb., and Lodovico Donato B. on 2 Apr.; and the dioceses thus remained divided until 1 May 1818, when, following the agreements made with the Emperor of Austria Francis I, Pius VII united them again under a single prelate, keeping their territories distinct with the obligation of residing alternately in both; this obligation was removed in these years by fixing the seat at B. On this occasion they were united with the other Venetian dioceses under the jurisdiction of the patriarchate of Venice, whereas previously they had depended on the patriarchate of Aquileia and, after 1751, on the archbishop of Udine. Their diocesan boundaries were also modified at that time. Pope Gregory XVI, who was born at B., on 30 Apr. 1846 detached the territory of Cadore from the diocese of Udine and incorporated it into that of B., to which it was all the closer.

The diocese of B. and F. has 120 parishes with 193,863 souls, 211 diocesan priests and 56 regulars (1948).

Among the most illustrious bishops of B. are remembered Cardinal Gaspare Contarini (1536-42) and Alvise Lollino, a famous scholar; among the bishops of F., Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio (1512-1520) and his brother Tommaso (1520-46).

Pio Paschini

ART IN BELLUNO AND FELTRE

Its very ancient origin is attested by a prehistoric necropolis (at the foot of Monte Serva). While the Roman remains in the vicinity are rather numerous, the Middle Ages passed leaving very few traces in the suburban churches of S. Fermo and S. Sebastiano.

The cathedral, the work of Tullio Lombardo, completed only in its interior (1517-60), was built in place of another, smaller 15th-century one: the interior with three naves, harmonious in the proportions of its very tall pillars and in the succession of the seven round-arched side arches, is made richer by the 17th-century altars of multi-colored marbles flanked by statues of saints and surmounted by canvases by Schiavone, by Jacopo da Ponte, by Palma il Giovane and by Cesare Vecellio (his is the St. Sebastian of 1584). The apse rises on a bastion of the ancient walls. In the underground sacristy is preserved a polyptych by Simone da Cusighe (1397), The Life of St. Martin, which rests on a stupendous ark of gilded marble and porphyry of the 14th century.

On the south side of the cathedral rises the bell tower (1732-43), surmounted by a bronze angel, by Juvarra. In front of it is the baptistery in the church of the Madonna delle Grazie (1520): the baptismal font in brecciated marble is adorned with wooden sculptures and surmounted by the statuette of the Baptist by Brustolon.

Also worthy of note are the church of S. Stefano in Italian Gothic forms, with three naves (second half of the 15th century) with an altar of gilded wood, which reproduces in carving an altarpiece by Alvise Vivarini, executed by Andrea di Foro (15th century), and the 18th-century church of S. Pietro with interesting Baroque altars, two large altarpieces of carved wood, Crucifixion and Death of St. Francis Xavier, masterpieces of Brustolon, and frescoes by Sebastiano Ricci.

Numerous are the civil buildings of artistic interest, among which the most important is the palazzo dei Rettori. Begun in 1491 in place of another that dated back to 1409, it was the work either of a nephew of Ghiberti or of the Venetian Candi. The bell tower is the only remnant of the ancient palace of the count-bishop, beside which is the civic museum, formerly the seat of the college of doctors, where canvases by Giorgione, by Palma il Giovane and works by Cellini are collected.

Characteristic for their projecting first floor are the numerous patrician houses of the 17th and 18th centuries, decorated with Roman antiquities in their atria.

The town hall in Neo-Gothic forms (1838) by Segusin, whose is also the Neoclassical theater, has preserved some elements of the ancient palace of the council of nobles, unfortunately demolished in the last century to build the present courthouse there.

Porta Rugo (1522) preserves the Venetian tower of the 15th century; the Porta Dojona with the central arch surmounted by the Venetian lion, was built in 1553 in place of a 13th-century gate of which it preserves the original wooden doors (1200).

Fabia Borroni