Chiesa dei Santi Vito e Modesto

On Gorizia's Piazzutta, the church of Santi Vito e Modesto preserves a history shaped by a hospital, a neighbourhood and repeated rebuilding. Founded beside a Fatebenefratelli hospital in 1656, it was remodelled in the eighteenth century and reconstructed after the First World War.

Why it matters

Baron Giovanni Vito del Mestri initiated the church and adjacent hospital in 1656. The church was originally dedicated to San Giovanni and served the hospital of the Misericorditi, also known as the Fatebenefratelli. Its history connects religious life and charitable care in the County of Gorizia with the later development of the surrounding neighbourhood, known as the Piazzutta.

What to notice

A pomegranate emblem of the Fatebenefratelli appears above the entrance. The façade's giant-order pilasters reflect the late-1920s reconstruction in a Baroque idiom. The single nave contains marble side altars transferred from Gorizia's cathedral. Its high altarpiece, depicting the Martyrdom of Saints Vito and Modesto, came from the Dominican church at Farra d'Isonzo and gave the church its present dedication.

Context and history

The damp site near the Corno stream led the hospital to move to Palazzo Alvarez in the 1780s, while the church remained. It was renovated in Baroque forms in 1768–1769. The First World War left the building badly damaged, and it was rebuilt by the end of the 1920s. The present church brings together furnishings from the former hospital church, the cathedral and Farra d'Isonzo.