Castello di San Martino (Ceneda)

Above Ceneda's cathedral roofs, on its own green hill, stands the Castello di San Martino — for the best part of a thousand years the residence of the bishops who ruled this land. The castle remains the residence of the bishop of Vittorio Veneto, with walls, tower and gardens shaping Ceneda's skyline.

Why it matters

The castle is the reason Ceneda is a city at all. Settlement on the hills of San Martino and San Paolo reaches back to pre-Roman times, and after the destruction of Oderzo in the seventh century the relics of San Tiziano made this hill a spiritual capital; a count-bishop soon held both crozier and temporal power here — the local chronicle fixes the moment in 897, when Emperor Berengar's visit registered the wealth and authority of the see. The fortress that grew into today's residence watched the whole history of the Venetian mainland pass beneath its walls — duels with Treviso, the long Venetian era, earthquakes, and the modern union of Ceneda with Serravalle. The castle's long continuity as the bishop's residence distinguishes it among local fortifications.

What to notice

Seen from the town, the silhouette is the point: the tower rebuilt by Bishop Antonio Correr in 1420 when the fortress took its present noble-residence forms, and the walls reinforced in 1571 by Bishop Michele della Torre with new towers towards the south-east against a feared Ottoman raid. A road Bishop Francesco Brevia cut around 1500 links the cathedral and castle gate. Vines and olives cover the hillside opposite San Paolo, and a 1403 letter praised the view, with goats, peacocks and a clear spring within the castle enclosure. The interior includes gardens, chapels and a hall decorated with the painted arms of the bishops of Ceneda.

Context and history

The site's chronicle is one of destruction and rebuilding. Local histories tell of Trevisan forces devastating the fortress in 1199 and Hungarian raiders striking again in 1410; Antonio Correr's reconstruction of 1420 turned a war machine into a Renaissance residence worthy of the count-bishops. Venice's fall brought confiscation under the laws of 1866–67, and — the date the chroniclers give is 3 October 1881 — the castle went back to the clergy after the state failed to find a buyer; Bishop Sigismondo Brandolini-Rota then restored it radically and bought up the surrounding land. Nature tested it too: the earthquake of 1873 brought the eastern tower down almost entirely, and further shocks in 1936 forced major restorations, with additional works in 1914 between the two. Through all of it the castle kept its inhabitants — among the guests recorded in its halls were the future Pope Pius X, the educator Leonardo Murialdo, and Albino Luciani, the cardinal who would become Pope John Paul I. The castle's history is closely tied to the development of Ceneda below.