Duomo di Santa Maria in Colle

The Cathedral of Santa Maria in Colle stands inside Bassano del Grappa's upper castle, on a site documented as a parish church from 998.

Why it matters

The cathedral occupies a distinctive position within the Ezzelini castle enclosure, joining the city's religious history with its defensive past. Its history spans nine centuries, from the medieval parish that served the surrounding countryside to paintings by the Bassano family. The church remains part of the Diocese of Vicenza.

What to notice

The single broad nave dates to the fifteenth-century rebuilding. The collection includes a processional cross associated with Antonio Averlino, known as Filarete, Leandro Bassano's Stoning of Saint Stephen, and the Circumcision by Jacopo Bassano and Francesco Bassano the Younger. Vincenzo Scamozzi designed the apse, completed in 1588–1590. The baptismal font recalls the church's medieval role as the district's baptismal church.

Context and history

The pieve of Santa Maria in Colle is documented from 998 on a site believed to be older. The church was rebuilt between 1465 and 1473 as a single hall and elevated to a collegiate church; Pope Julius II granted it parish rights in 1508. Scamozzi's apse and later votive chapels were added in subsequent centuries. Napoleonic reforms suppressed the collegiate chapter. A twentieth-century plan to replace the church was interrupted by war, and the unfinished structure became a war memorial. Restorations in 1930–1932 and 1985–1988 returned the church to its present state.