Cattedrale di Ceneda

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta e San Tiziano stands on the main square of Ceneda, the seat of the Diocese of Vittorio Veneto. The eighteenth-century church has a neoclassical interior and a façade reworked in 1912. Its crypt preserves the relics of San Tiziano, a seventh-century bishop of Oderzo, according to local tradition.

Why it matters

The diocese traces its origins to the ancient Diocese of Opitergium, now Oderzo. The official tourism portal recounts the tradition that the relics of San Tiziano arrived in Ceneda in the seventh century; they are venerated in the crypt at the base of the bell tower. The present church was built between 1740 and 1773 to a design by Ottavio Scotti. Architects Moretti and Rupolo reworked Scotti’s original façade design in 1912.

What to notice

Paintings in the cathedral include Pier Antonio Novelli’s Assunta (1797) above the high altar and his Madonna del Rosario between Saints Dominic and Rose (1796) in the transept. Jacopo da Valenza’s Madonna with Child, San Biagio and San Giovanni Battista dates to 1508; his Vescovo Trevisan altarpiece is dated 1494. Other works include a Madonna with Child, San Rocco and San Sebastiano attributed to Girolamo Denti, an Ascension attributed to Leandro Bassano, and a Deposition by Palma il Giovane. The cathedral museum, established in 2013, presents the religious history of Ceneda.

Context and history

Ceneda was the seat of a bishop-count in the early Middle Ages, and the bishops’ castle still stands on the hill above the cathedral. The present building replaced earlier churches on the site. The town of Vittorio was formed in 1866 through the union of Serravalle and Ceneda; the name Vittorio Veneto was adopted in 1923, after the battle of 1918. The diocese took the new name while its cathedral remained in Ceneda.