Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo

Tarvisio's parish church of Saints Peter and Paul combines a Carinthian Gothic core with later Baroque additions. Its artworks include Villach-school frescoes, a wooden high altar dated 1728 and Roman funerary stones preserved behind the apse.

Why it matters

The church reflects Tarvisio's position in the Valcanale, where architectural and cultural ties extend across the Alpine border. Its setting within a fortified enclosure recalls the town's defensive history under the prince-bishops of Bamberg. It survived the assault of 1478 and was burned in 1492.

What to notice

The broad Gothic nave contrasts with the Baroque side aisles. Sixteenth-century apse frescoes are attributed to the school of Villach, while the sacrament tabernacle, carved after 1450, is attributed to Friedrich von Villach and his circle. The polychrome and gilded wooden high altar dates to 1728, and the pulpit to 1733. Behind the apse are three Roman funerary slabs from Camporosso, including a copy of a monument commissioned by Vitalis for himself and his wife Sura.

Context and history

The parish began as a chapel authorised in 1399 by Bamberg bishop Albert von Wertheim, dependent on the older church of Sant'Egidio at Camporosso. Construction of the present church began in 1445 as a single nave with a polygonal apse. An eighteenth-century transept and sacristy expanded the building. Between 1959 and 1961, architect Giacomo Della Mea enlarged the nave westward, giving the church its present entrance and façade. The church's art ranges from late-Gothic carving to stained glass from Innsbruck and modern windows recalling the valley's Slavic heritage.