The Church of Santa Corona, founded in 1270 and the fulcrum of a Dominican monastic complex is undoubtedly worthy to be visited. The Latin cross church was built to protect the relic of the Santa Spina donated in 1259 by Luigi IX, king of France, to the bishop Bartolomeo da Breganze, and displayed to the public on Good Friday. Moreover, in this Church, Andrea Palladio was buried in 1580. But, in the mid-1800s the remains were moved to the Memorial of the main cemetery where they rest the "illustrious people of Vicenza". Characteristic is the façade with a gabled shape, which recalls the Po Valley "wind" motif.
The inside, austere and solemn, has three naves, with presbytery designed in 1480 by Lorenzo da Bologna. From the right-side door of the crypt you enter the Valmarana chapel, designed by Palladio in 1576. The artistic heritage is very noteworthy, with some very prominent works: in the third chapel on the right, “Adorazione dei Magi” painted by Paolo Veronese in 1573; in the chapel at the end of the right nave, “I Santi Pietro e Paolo e Pio V adorano Maria”, juvenile masterwork by the venetian Giovan Battista Pittoni (1723); in the fifth altar of the left nave, “Battesimo di Cristo", mature masterwork by the venetian Giovanni Bellini (1427-1516).
The magnificent complex of the main altar is decorated with from polychrome inlays of fine marble, lapis lazuli, coral, carnelian and mother of pearl. The Dominicans were driven away following the Napoleonic suppressions, in 1810 the propriety passed to the Municipality of Vicenza and today it is inserted in the circuit of the Musei Civici (€ 3.00 – Ticket office at IAT or in basilica palladiana). The adjacent convent is now used as an archaeological-naturalistic museum.
Beato Bartolomeo of Breganze (Breganze 1200 – Vicenza 1270).
Born in the ancient and well-known family of Breganze, since he was very young, he chose the life of the preacher in the Dominican order attracting many vocations. He was highly esteemed by the Popes of the time, Gregorio IX and Innocenzo IV, who appointed him Bishop in 1253. Two years later he was sent to Vicenza to Pope Alessandro IV, but he had to move first to England and then to Paris to walk away from Ezzelino da Romano. The king Luigi XIV wanted to meet him and, grateful for the consolation he received in Terra Santa during the crusades, he gave him a thorn of the Holy Crown of Jesus Christ. Come back to Vicenza with the precious relic, he built a Dominican convent and the Church called Santa Corona, that still today contains the precious gift and the rests of the Blessed. Pope Pio VI beatified Bartolomeo da Breganze on the 11th of September, 1793.
The reliquary of the Sacra Spina, among the most ancient and precious sacred goldsmith works existing today in Vicenza, is displayed at the Diocesan Museum.
Non sembra nemmeno di essere in un percorso virtuale. Perché, di fatto, non è una semplice riproduzione di quelle che si possono sperimentare navigando su Google Maps. Il virtual tour della chiesa di Santa Corona a Vicenza è stato realizzato con tecnologie che, di solito, si usano in ambito tecnico edile. Dietro al virtual tour, che è perfino sbarcato alla Mostra del Cinema di Venezia all’Excelsior nel panel delle produzioni della Vicenza Film Commission, c’è Alessandro Meggiolan, geometra e – come si autodefinisce – «dronista».
Il dipinto più bello del mondo «Non sono un regista nel vero senso del termine – spiega Meggiolan – Sono un tecnico, da sempre appassionato di tecnologia e del territorio. Ho incominciato ad avventurarmi nel mondo dei droni nel 2014». Inizialmente, infatti, Meggiolan ha usato i droni solo in ambito tecnico: da lì, è nata una vera e propria passione, fino al virtual tour della chiesa di Santa Corona, iniziata nel 1261. Il tour permette di «visitare» la chiesa a partire dall’esterno, fino a riprodurne ogni particolare all’interno: soprattutto, l’imponente «Battesimo di Cristo» di Giovanni Bellini, realizzato all’inizio del 1500, che è stato definito dal critico e sottosegretario alla Cultura Vittorio Sgarbi come il «quadro più bello che si possa trovare in Italia». «Il virtual tour non funziona come Google Maps, in cui bisogna utilizzare un cursore – specifica ancora Meggiolan – Gli elementi non sono semplicemente foto panoramiche, ma sono modelli tridimensionali, compresa la tela del Bellini».
Turismo e arricchimento del patrimonio culturale Si potranno anche avviare, durante la navigazione, approfondimenti del complesso religioso di Santa Corona su ogni ambientazione sia all’interno sia all’esterno, quindi anche gli annessi chiostri. Il video è visibile online già da qualche giorno: il fine, però, non è solamente quello di promozione turistica. «Al di là dell’esperienza, se mai la chiesa dovesse avere un problema, subire un danno magari provocato da una scossa di terremoto, grazie a questo lavoro si potrebbe ricostruire con accuratezza – afferma Carla Padovan, direttrice del consorzio di promozione turistica Vicenza è – Non è una semplice opportunità di scoperta, ma un arricchimento per il nostro patrimonio culturale».
TVA VICENZA, 17.11:
VICENZA. SGARBI SHOW. Vittorio Sgarbi non ha dubbi, la chiesa di Santa Corona è il grande trionfo dell’inizio del Rinascimento e chi non la visita è una capra. Diamante prezioso il Battesimo di Cristo, la pala del grande pittore Giovanni Bellini. Per lui, tra i dipinti più belli d’Italia. E oggi Vicenza riparte da qui. Dal suo gioiello più nascosto. Diventerà un vero e proprio attrattore turistico attraverso un percorso di valorizzazione promosso da “Vicenza è” e dal comune.
IL GIORNALE DI VICENZA,18.11:
Sgarbi e il "Battesimo" «Il quadro più bello»
Parterre delle grandi occasioni nella chiesa di Santa Corona per la lectiodi Vittorio Sgarbi sul Battesimo di Cristo del Bellini, recentemente restaurato, che sarà al centro di un progetto di valorizzazione turistica inuna sinergia tra Comune e Consorzio Vicenzaè. Il critico d'arte l'hadefinito «il quadro più bello del mondo». Ma soprattutto il quadro dellasua vita, della sua formazione, raccontato alternando ricordi personali eriferimenti artistici e culturali. Sgarbi arrivò ventiquattrenne a Vicenza,fresco vincitore di un concorso per la Sovrintendenza del Veneto,trovandosi davanti personaggi del calibro di Renato Cevese, che gliappariva dice - come a Goethe nel suo viaggio in Italia dovetteroapparirgli gli accademici olimpici - fermo e orgoglioso, conservatore,artisticamente parlando. Poi l'idea che li avvicinò: allestire per lecelebrazioni del Palladio una mostra sui pittori del suo tempo, proprionella Chiesa di Santa Corona, dove inizia effettivamente la preparazione,anche grazie all'aiuto pratico del padre e dove quindi avviene il primoincontro col dipinto del Bellini. Poi gli sforzi per ottenere il primo finanziamento per il restauro e gli incontri che ciconducono attraverso la Vicenza dei decenni passati: Neri Pozza, Ferdinando Bandini, Giustino Valmarana. Si coglie in luiun senso di malinconia, Sgarbi appare un po' più disarmato del solito: vuole vedere in questa sua visita, per lui 71enne,una coincidenza, un segno, per il fatto che l'opera è stata realizzata proprio da un Bellini della stessa età, nella parte finaledella sua vita, questa corrispondenza lo riempie di emozione. «Per me questo dipinto ha sempre avuto un'attrazionemagica - dice - qui ritrovo Dio nella natura, anzi Dio è la natura, è la potenza della sua creazione, quasi come se il Bellinigiunto alla fine della sua esistenza, avesse trovato una sorta di purificazione, quasi un trattato di filosofia che vuol dare unsenso al secolo che stava nascendo, il Cinquecento di Michelangelo e Raffaello». Il capolavoro del Bellini sarà oggetto,come detto, di un'operazione di promozione, che, hanno spiegato Carla Padovan e Vladimiro Riva, del consorzio Vicenzaè, si concretizzerà, anche grazie al sostegno del Funt, il Fondo unico nazionale per il turismo, in un percorso attraversoformazione degli operatori turistici, coinvolgimento di tour operator, della stampa specializzata in Italia e all'estero con de ipress tours, nonché la produzione di materiali divulgativi tradizionali e innovativi, come il già esistente virtual tour della chiesa di Santa Corona.
If you visit Vicenza and its surroundings, don’t miss the Grotta di Lourdes in Chiampo, called in this way since it is an imitation of the French original one. It was constructed by Fra Claudio Granzotto, Franciscan friar beatified in 1994 by John Paul II. In the niche, as in Massabielle, there is the statue of the ‘Immacolata Concezione’, 1.78 m high. The consecration of the place happened in September 29, 1935 and during the Lourdian centenary of 1958 hosted 200 thousand pilgrims. In this place there are also a monument dedicated to Bernardette Soubirous, made by Fra Claudio in 1942, the ‘Via Crucis’ in the Botanic Park, the Museum 'P. Aurelio Menin' and the New Church, shaped like a shell to accommodate the growing flow of pilgrims.
TRISSINO Grotta di Lourdes It is a natural ravine near Villa Trissino Marzotto, consecrated to Our Lady of Lourdes. It can be visited all year round and from there you can also enjoy a magnificent view of the town and the valley.
CISMON DEL GRAPPA Santuario della Madonna del Pedancino The popular devotion started during the fight against sacred images, but strengthened after the apparition of the Virgin to a mute shepherd boy at the end of the eighteenth century who after the episode began to speak. A small chapel was built and a huge devotion towards the Madonna del Pedancino spread all over in the Brenta valley. In 1748 a miraculous rescue of the wooden statue of the Madonna occurred, surprisingly it remained intact even though the violent storm and the consequent flood destroyed the oratory where it was located. The statue was rescued in Pozzoleone and brought back with a solemn procession in 1760 to the reconstructed chapel. Still today, in August, this rescue is celebrated with a festival called ‘Festa dell’emigrante’ (literally: festival of the emigrant) since a lot of people come back for the occasion.
MUSSOLENTE Santuario della Madonna dell’acqua This place is known for the miraculous rescue of the statue of the Madonna after a violent flood occurred in 1636 caused by overflow of the torrent Volon. The statue was found intact by an inhabitant who recovered it and relocated it after 3 years to the small church up on the hill. Since then, the population has been very devoted to the Madonna of the water, so called due to the circumstances of its discovery, and asks her to protect crops and animals from water scarcity and to protect the population from the war as happened in 1917 after the defeat of Caporetto and in 1944 due to the Nazi occupation.
SAN NAZARIO Chiesa della Madonna dell’Onda This popular tradition started after the tragic overflow of river Brenta, which destroyed houses and streets but preserved the Chapel, built in 1547, where inside there was a fresco of the ‘Madonna con bambino e i Santi Rocco e Sebastiano’. The inhabitants, who considered it a miraculous event, built a church around the Chapel in honour of the ‘Madonna dell’Onda’ (literally: Madonna of the wave), attracting large flows of pilgrims, thus making it necessary to build a larger Temple in 1833. Every year two processions are celebrated at the same time from San Nazario and from Valstagna with two different statues of the Madonna, that meet halfway, bowing towards each other as a good luck gesture against floods.
MAROSTICA LOCALITÀ VALLONARA Madonna dei Capitei It seems that the church had been constructed in 1620, where previously various capitals dedicated to the Virgin were built after the apparitions of the Madonna. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information about the apparitions and when they happened. However, they are still celebrated nowadays during a popular festival called ‘festa della Comparsa’. There are more than fifty votive donations with the image of the miraculous Virgin inside the Church.
GALLIO Sacello della Madonna del Carmine It is a votive shrine erected as thanks for having protected the town from the violence of the Second World War. The memories of the wounds inflicted upon the territory of the Altopiano by the first world war was still there when the second conflict started and the population then made a vow which was fulfilled with the construction of this small church, which was blessed on the 16th of July, 1946 after an imposing procession on the Ferragh hill. In 1989 a violent storm shattered the statue in thousands pieces, which were scattered across the lawns in front. Also in this case the popular pity and the devotion to the Madonna animated the meticulous collection and the statue was recomposed and appropriately restored to the point that in 1991 it was relocated to the cusp.
And much more: • Vicenza, Basilica dei SS. Felice e Fortunato • Vicenza, Chiesa di S. Corona • Bassano,Santuario della Beata Giovanna – tomb • Marola, Chiesa Parrocchiale, tomb of Eurosia Fabris • Schio Istituto Canossiane, teca di Santa Bakhita
The Diocese of Vicenza has 22 Vicariates and 354 Parishes, some of them turned into Pastoral Units. In the Province of Vicenza, whose borders, as it is known, have been different than the diocesan ones since before the year 1000, there are 374 parishes. In the 121 municipalities of Vicenza more than 50 different patrons are proudly celebrated even though since 1978 the Madonna di Monte Berico has become the patron of Vicenza and its diocese.
So here are the main ex voto sanctuaries and the most visited places of our province by the residents, but most of all by pilgrims and tourists, often built for popular initiative after the Madonna’s apparitions, like the Sanctuary of Monte Berico, or that the popular piety has transformed into places of widespread worship because they preserve the childhood memories of a Saint, as in the case of the birth home of the nun Maria Bertilla Boscardin in Brendola.
A common thread linked to popular tradition rather than to the artistic or architectural importance of the buildings. These are visits that can be made for religious reasons or for mere curiosity, to know more about the community’s events, the traditions and the cultures, that fix in the memory also historical events such as wars, plagues, floods. The tradition of the so called ex-voto suscepto, votive offerings, dates back to the ancient times and to different religions, but even though they are forms of theatricalization for having averted or overcome situations of suffering and precariousness, even today, in various ways, they are widespread and practiced throughout the world. It is a proposal of slow tourism to take time to dedicate to contemplation, knowledge, listening…even to ourselves.
Certainly, the most important one is the Sanctuary of St. Mary of Monte Berico, located just a few kilometres away from the historic centre of Vicenza.
The Madonna appeared to a peasant Vincenza Pasini on the 7th of March, 1426 and the 1st of August, 1428. Since the first days of the apparitions and while the Church was still being built as requested by the Madonna to free the population from the plague. The place turned into a pilgrimage destination until it became, even today, one of the most important of the Marian faith in the world.
Still today the requests for intercessions are numerous and the bond of Vicenza’s people and the Marian Sanctuary is very strong, as proven by the many ex voto collected in the important Museum where there are also historic pieces from the 15th century to the 20th century and up to the present day.
The gothic church, to the west of the complex, was built in just 3 months, with the help of the population, convinced of the prodigious liberation from the plague that had lasted for about a quarter of a century. The current façade is not the original one, because a radical renovation carried out in 1860 made its appearance heavier. The 17th century church was made by Carlo Borella from Vicenza, the construction started in 1688 and ended in 1703. The construction of this impressive work was also carried out at the behest of the city of Vicenza, as a sign and expression of the continuous bond of faith between the citizens and the Madonna. On the outside the architecture is identical on the three sides, East, North and West. Three wide symmetrical stairs introduce the church which, majestic and incisive in its masses and its numerous statues, throws its aerial dome high above the three sources, giving the building a marked slenderness. Do not miss the room of the painting where you can admire the precious canva by Paolo Veronese “La Cena di S. Gregorio Magno” with Jesus, disguised as a pilgrim, reveals himself to the 12 poor people that the Saint used to host. During the war in 1848, the canvas was cut by the Austrian into 32 pieces. It was restored and put again in its original place 10 years later. On the sides there are two important paintings by Alessandro Maganza, while in the gothic church there is ‘La Pietà di Bartolomeo Montagna’.
Origin of the worship: In 1530 an invasion of locusts destroyed the countryside of Thiene. St. Mary appeared to 3 little girls, promising protection if a temple in her honour was built. Nobody believed the three little girls and also the second and third apparitions were not taken into account even though the Virgin promised a miraculous sign: the big elm tree suddenly lost its bark while maintaining its green leaves. The situation changed when St. Mary appeared to a cripple man, who later recovered. Because of his sudden recovery, this apparition led to the construction of the Church. Inside it there are many ex-voto, symbols of the devotion of the population. Every year, the farmers celebrate Thanksgiving as a sign of gratitude for the year's harvest.
The ex-voto: the popular devotion handed down for centuries is testified by the presence of the ex-voto present inside the Church, where every year the Thanksgiving celebration desired by the farmers is celebrated as a sign of gratitude for the year's harvest. The help of the friars is requested to bless the salt for the livestock, the t-shirts of sick children and the apples on the day of S. Biagio.
Custodians: the Capuchin friars were called in 1610 and in 1613 the Church they built together with the Convent was consecrated. In 1972 the liturgic autonomy was granted and in 1980 it became parish with Father Giorgio Bonato da Salcedo, who started an intense activity with the community until the acquisition also of a mountain building in Fiorentini.
Architectural information: the complex was built in 1602 with the consecration of the Cappella by the Bishop of Padova. Later, a new Convent was added (now only the Cloister is still present). In 1854 the ancient church was partially demolished and reconstructed under the direction of Engineer Dino Altieri. Inside the little choir there are two canvases by Alessandro Maganza, son of Gian Battista.
BRENDOLA Casa Natale di Santa Maria Bertilla Boscardin Via S. Bertilla, 71 - 36040 Brendola Tel. 0444 601842
Birthplace of the humble nun of the Congregation of the Dorothean Sisters of Vicenza, where multiple pilgrims still go and prey in the little church built precisely next to her house. Pope Pius XII beatified her in 1952, she was subsequently sanctified by Pope John XXII on 11 May 1961.
Ex-voto: there are numerous testimonies of ex-voto that refer especially to intercessions for children to whom she was very dedicated as a nurse.
Custodians: the Congregation of the Dorothean Sisters cherish with love what has now become a place of worship of Saint Bertilla in Brendola. The religious organization was established by Mons. Antonio Farina in 1836. Today it gas 1.400 nuns divided into 120 communities in different part of the world outside Italy, such as in Ecuador, Colombia, Brasile, India e Terra Santa.
Architectonic and arstistic information: the birthplace of the Saint has been preserved almost intact in all the spaces where her family and she lived in poverty. You can measure yourself with the small doors of the farmers' houses of the time, the same beds and everyday utensils, including some civil and religious clothes that belonged to the Holy Nun.
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SCALDAFERRO DI POZZOLEONE Santuario della Madonna Salus Infirmorum di Scaldaferro Via Vallazza, 7 – 36050 Scaldaferro di Pozzoleone Tel. 0444 462251 – www.mariaoggi.it
The origin of the worship dates back to 1665 when an image of St. Mary was found on the wall of a farm. Immediately, it was venerated as a divine sign and pilgrimages started. In 1715 the owners built a small octagonal temple and in 1756 a Franciscan hermit arrived as a guardian. Several owners followed one another and it was only in 1910 that the Church was given to the Parish Priest of Pozzoleone Don Elia Dalla Costa, future Cardinal, himself pardoned by the Madonna, who dedicated himself to the expansion of the building and the diffusion of the worship. In 1923 he blessed the new Sanctuary that turned into a Parish in 1954. Every second Sunday of the month the Day of the Sick is celebrated.
Ex voto: Many ex-voto tablets and silver hearts, present in the Sanctuary, testify the numerous miracles that happened through her intercession.
Custodians: the first custodian of the Sanctuary of Scaldaferro dates back to 1756 when it was still a private farm. This is Gian Maria Violin, a Franciscan hermit under whose influence the image of the Virgin was crowned. Different proprieties followed one another, since, despite being a consecrated place, it was inserted in a private context. The future Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa ended the ius patronatus that had lasted for centuries by receiving the Church as a donation. The Parish was established in 1954. Today it is officiated by a Marian Community called to manage the Sanctuary in 1993 by the then Bishop of Vicenza Pietro Nonis.
Architectural information: The Church has an inscribed cross plan extended from the presbytery which is located in what was the ancient Tempietto. Here there is the eighteenth-century main altar that frames the holy image of St. Mary. In 1971 an extraordinary Christmas nativity scene was inaugurated and today the entire community still contributes to its creation. In 2006 a mosaic was made by Slovenian Jesuit Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, artist that decorated the ‘Cappella del Papa’ in Vaticano as well.
LONIGO Santuario della Madonna dei Miracoli Via Madonna di Lonigo, 18 - 36045 Lonigo (Vicenza) Tel. 0444 830502 – www.madonnadeimiracoli.org
Origin of the worship: it all started with a crime in 1486, after killing their fellow two criminals took refuge in the old Church of S. Pietro, where one of them attacked the painting of St. Mary in the left eye and in the chest. After that she started to bleed and moved her hands to cover her wounds. Since then, this place became a pilgrimage destination. For this reason, the Bishop of Vicenza started to investigate if the miracle really happened. In 1492 the trial ended because seven witnesses confirmed that not only St. Mary moved, but she went on to make miracles.
Ex voto: the 350 precious ex voto tablets cover the period between 1486 and 1893 and testify the popular pity for the intercessions that took place. In 1997 an important Museum of ex voto was inaugurated, it consists of painted tablets but also chains, hearts and silver foil images donated by humble class pilgrims, even though there are also bigger donations occurred in 1500 and 1600.
Custodians: the current Sanctuary stands on the ancient Church of S.Pietro Lometende or in Lamentese, the exact origin of which is not known. It seems that between the 10th and 11th centuries the Benedictine monks had built a monastery there that depended on the Abbey of Santa Maria Organo of Verona. For this reason, after the episode of 1486, the Olivetan, the white benedictine reformers of this Abbey, arrived. They obtained the right to officiate it and built, on the ruins, a large monastery, expanding it until it actually had 3 churches: a votive one with a thaumaturgic image, one used as a vestibule and one which is wider and decorated for the big celebrations. With suppression of the order, the Church became a private residence and then in 1826 returned to a Marian devotional centre due to the insistence of the faithful. The Parish was established in 1955, it is now officiated by the diocesan clergy. Thanks to some papal privileges, it celebrates the annual feast on the fourth Sunday after Easter.
Information about the architecture: the religious complex consists of three different churches inside the same structure: one contains the thaumaturgical image, the other one serves as a vestibule and the last one, wider and more decorated, is used for big celebrations. In the votive chapel the fresco of the Miracle is contained in a red marble aedicula from the Alvise Lamberti period. Whereas the grate on which the papal triregnum rests in memory of the Coronation of the Holy Image, belongs to the following era. The other decorations were added during the Baroque era. The central nave and the apse host beautiful frescos, canvas and sculptures.
The worship of the Saints and the Blessed is a testimony of the still practiced and widespread popular religiousness. The life choice of each of them is often intriguing and certainly surprising, as is the mystery of the numerous healings and intercessions that are still recorded after centuries and the one of the rapid spread of their veneration in absence of a earthly direction, perhaps easy today with the available informatic tools, that surely were not available in the past and until the middle of the last century.
Saint Vincenzo di Saragozza, deacon and martyr died in Valencia in Spain during the terrible prosecutions of Diocleziano. He is worshipped by the Church of Vicenza, of which he was primary patron until 1978.
Saints Felice and Fortunato (Vicenza – Aquileia). Unfortunately, the birthdates are not certain as well as the date of their martyrdom, which should date back to 303 AD. Right after their death a contention between Vicenza and Aquileia started for the relics, which ended with the agreement that those of Saint Felice would come to Vicenza, whereas the ones of Saint Fortunato remained in Aquileia from where they were then moved to Malamoco and then to Chioggia. We suggest to visit the paleo Christian complex of the Basilica of Saint Felice and Forunato located in the neighbourhood of S.Felice just outside the city walls and built on the rests of a small building which was the first place of practice of the Christian faith in the city.
Saints Leonzio and Carpoforo. Doctors and martyrs whose origins are not clear. They were buried first in the Basilica of SS. Felice and Fortunato and then in the X century moved to the Cathedral and worshipped for centuries as the patrons of Vicenza.
Saints Donato, Secondiano, Romolo and companions, many of whom were from Vicenza, were martyred by Diocleziano in Concordia, since they refuse to recant the Christian faith. Since ancient times they have been celebrated by the Church of Vicenza.
Saint Teobaldo (Provins, Francia 1017? – Vicenza 1066). Of French noble origins, at his father’s proposal to undertake a military career he chose the ascetic life of a hermit, wandering with a friend around France and Luxembourg. After the pilgrimage in Santiago of Compostela and in Rome he stopped in Vicenza where he settled in a small ruin of a chapel in a forest of Sossano. At the death of the companion accepted the company of some disciples and the priestly ordination by the Bishop of Vicenza. His fame of sanctity reached also his parents in France, who decided to join him in Vicenza and convert. The mother ended her life as a hermit. He was canonized by Pope Alessandro II in 1073.
Beato Giovanni Cacciaforte de Surdis, (Cremona 1125 – Vicenza 1181). At the age of 16 years old entered as a benedictine monk into the Abbey of Saint Lorenzo from Cremona. These were difficult times for the Church culminating with the schism and the election of the antipope Vittore IV sustained by Barbarossa. After the regency of the bishopric of Mantua, he was moved to Vicenza, where after two years, died at the hands of a feudal lord, whom himself had excommunicated. The martyr Bishop was beatified in 1824. His rests are contained in a marble tomb inside the Cathedral in Piazza Duomo.
Beato Isnardo from Chiampo (Chiampo (?) – Pavia 1244). The date is not certain, but only the birthplace of Beato Isnardo. Dominican preacher he moved to Milan and then to Pavia, where he died after a harsh ascetic life of preaching. His rests are contained in the Church of Saints Gervasio and Protasio of Pavia. His worship was confirmed of the 12th of March, 1919.
Beato Bartolomeo from Breganze (Breganze 1200 – Vicenza 1270). Born in the ancient and well-known family of Breganze, since he was very young, he chose the life of the preacher in the Dominican order attracting many vocations. He was highly esteemed by the Popes of the time, Gregorio IX and Innocenzo IV, who appointed him Bishop in 1253. Two years later he was sent to Vicenza to Pope Alessandro IV, but he had to move first to England and then to Paris to walk away from Ezzelino da Romano. The king Luigi XIV wanted to meet him and, grateful for the consolation he received in Terra Santa during the crusades, he gave him a thorn of the Holy Crown of Jesus Christ. Come back to Vicenza with the precious relic, he built a Dominican convent and the Church called Santa Corona, that still today contains the precious gift and the rests of the Blessed. Pope Pio VI beatified Bartolomeo da Breganze on the 11th of September, 1793.
San Lorenzo Giustiniani (Venezia 1381 – 1456). Of venetian noble origins, he chose mendicity despite the effort of his mother to dissuade him. He is honoured by the Church of Vicenza since he had been the prior of the convent of Saint Agostino in Vicenza for many years before he became the patriarch of Venice.
Beato Marco da Montegallo (Montegallo 1425 – Vicenza 1496). Of noble origins he was forced by his father to marry a girl of the same social class with whom he lived chastely, dissolving the marital vows upon his father's death. They both consecrated to the religious life and as Franciscan, Marco da Montegallo started to work against usury. He founded the first Monti di Pietà. The first in Ascoli in 1458 and then in Fabriano, Fano, Arcevia and Vicenza in 1486 where ten years later, during a period of preaching, he died. He was buried in the Church of S. Biagio vecchio. He was beatified by Pope Gregorio XVI in 1839.
Beata Giovanna Maria Bonomo (Asiago 1606 – Bassano 1670), She was a mystic like Santa Caterina da Siena e Teresa D'Avila, and received the ‘wounds of love’ and the stigmata. It seems that she started to speak when she was just 9 months old to prevent her father from doing a bad action. Also precocious in study, music, dance and embroidery, she took the vow of chastity at just nine years old on the occasion of her First Communion in the monastery of Santa Chiara di Trento led by the Poor Clare nuns, where she entered after the death of her mother. Later, at the age of 15 years old she moved to the Benedictine Monastery of San Girolamo in Bassano. The stigmata and the frequent moments of extasy and even the experiences of bilocation, caused various problems inside the Monastery up to the point that she wasn’t allowed to write and to meet people. This probably led to increase her reputation of sanctity. The process of beatification started in 1699 and ended in 1783 with Pope Pio VI. She is celebrated as the patron of Asiago and Bassano del Grappa and still today there are numerous pilgrimages to her tomb moved to the Chiesa della Misericordia in Bassano del Grappa, or better known as the Sanctuary of Beata Giovanna. A statue in her honour is present in the centre of Asiago, that is her birthplace.
San Gaetano Thiene (Vicenza 1480 – Naples 1547). He was born in Vicenza from the noble family of the Thiene, he graduated in Padua in law at the age of just 24 years old and then he dedicated himself to the ecclesiastic life. He is defined as the Saint of Providence and during his stay in Vaticano, he tried to start a reformative action. He accepted to be ordained a priest at the age of just 36 years because till that moment he didn’t feel he was worth it. He celebrated his first mass during Christmas night, during which, as he confided Sister Laura Magnani, the Madonna appeared to him and placed the Baby Jesus in his arms. He founded the order of the Theatines by imposing the rule of possessing nothing and asking for nothing. He worked many years in Naples where he died and where he was honored, as patron of the city, in the Basilica of S. Paolo Maggiore, known as the Church of S.Gaetano. He was beatified on the 23rd of November, 1624 by Pope Urbano VIII and canonized on the 12th of April, 1671 by Pope Clemente X.
Beata Elisabetta Vendramin (Bassano del Grappa 1790 – Padua 1870) is the founder of the Elizabethan Franciscan Tertiary Sisters that at the end of the 20th century numbered over 1500 sisters in various countries in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Latin America. They continue to work with the same strenght and determination of their founder. There is no tomb of hers since her rests were confused in the mass grace during the renovation works in the cemetery of Padua.
Beato Giovanni Antonio Farina (Gambellara 1803 – Vicenza 1888) Bishop of Treviso and Vicenza he had great sensitivity as an educator which led him to found the Institute of the Sisters of Saint Dorothy, very active still today in Vicenza and in the world. He followed with great commitment the training of the merciful and prayerful priests. He was beatified by Giovanni Paolo II on the 4th of November, 2001. Sister Maria Bertilla Boscardin was also part of his congregation, his first holy nurse who like him rests in the mother house of the religious Institution in Vicenza in via S.Domenico, 23.
Beata Gaetana Sterni (Cassola 1827 – Bassano 1889): she was the founder of the Sisters of the Divine Will. At the age of just 26 years old she she entered a shelter for beggars after an unfortunate and brief marital experience ended with her husband’s death, a widowed entrepreneur with three children, and aftertaking care of her younger siblings following the death of her mother. She committed herself entirely to this charitable undertaking, taking care, for 36 years, until her death, of guests who were victims of disorder, vice and abuse of all kinds. She was beatified by Giovanni Paolo II on the 4th of November, 2001. Her rests are contained in the Mother House of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Will in Bassano del Grappa (VI).
Saint Bertilla Boscardin (Brendola 1888 – Treviso 1922) the Saint of humility and assistance to the sick, especially children, became nun at the Institute of the Dorothy Master Sisters of Don Antonio Farina and throughout his life he carried out the humblest tasks, enduring inconveniences and misunderstandings. She was inscribed in the register of the Saints by Pope Giovanni XXIII in 1961.
Beata Mamma Eurosia Fabris Barban (Quinto Vicentino 1866 – Marola 1932). Franciscan tertiary who accepted to marry her neighbour to look after his two daughters. Then she had 9 more children with her husband, 2 of whom died at a young age, and adopted 3 orphans. She was beatified in November 6, 2005 when the Pope discovered a miracle happened through her intercession and in September 18, 2009 she was proclaimed patron saint of Vicenza catechists by the Bishop of Vicenza.
Saint Giuseppina Bakhita (Oglassa, Darfur 1869 – Schio 1947) arrived in Schio from Africa. Born to a wealthy Muslim family, she was kidnapped at 6 years old by two Arab slavers and one gave her the name 'bakhita' which means lucky. After being sold as a slave many times, she finally arrived in Italy in 1890 where she was baptized in Venice, and then moved to Schio. She lived almost all her life in the Convent of the ‘Canossiane’. A sweet nun who spoke only in Vicenza dialect, but who was called to hold conferences for the enhancement of missions and integration between peoples. The process of canonisation, began in 1959 just 12 years after her death. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized by Giovanni Paolo II in 2000. In 2009, the Italian national public broadcasting company, RAI, made a two-episodes miniseries in her honour. She died due to a long and painful disease. Her rests were moved in 1969 to the Temple of the Holy Family in the Convent of the Canossians in Schio in Via Fusinato, 51 and they are exposed to public veneration in a transparent case located in the Chapel which is based on the model of the Pantheon and was begun in 1850 by Bartolomeo Folladore and completed in 1901 by his son Gioachino. The four big canvases in the niches of the circular wall were made by the painter Mincato.
Beato Claudio Granzotto (S.Lucia di Piave, TV 1900 – Chiampo, VI 1947) sculptor, he obtained a diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice but he soon left his promising artistic career to become Franciscan friar and build the Grotta di Lourdes in Chiampo, a perfect reproduction on a scale 1 to 1 of the French original one. He died at the age of just 47 years old we died due to cerebral cancer and then he was buried in the Grotta, where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, who every year find there the same atmosphere of peace and serenity that can be felt in the French one.
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Parterre delle grandi occasioni nella chiesa di Santa Corona per la lectiodi Vittorio Sgarbi sul Battesimo di Cristo del Bellini, recentemente restaurato, che sarà al centro di un progetto di valorizzazione turistica inuna sinergia tra Comune e Consorzio Vicenzaè. Il critico d'arte l'hadefinito «il quadro più bello del mondo». Ma soprattutto il quadro dellasua vita, della sua formazione, raccontato alternando ricordi personali eriferimenti artistici e culturali. Sgarbi arrivò ventiquattrenne a Vicenza,fresco vincitore di un concorso per la Sovrintendenza del Veneto,trovandosi davanti personaggi del calibro di Renato Cevese, che gliappariva dice - come a Goethe nel suo viaggio in Italia dovetteroapparirgli gli accademici olimpici - fermo e orgoglioso, conservatore,artisticamente parlando. Poi l'idea che li avvicinò: allestire per lecelebrazioni del Palladio una mostra sui pittori del suo tempo, proprionella Chiesa di Santa Corona, dove inizia effettivamente la preparazione,anche grazie all'aiuto pratico del padre e dove quindi avviene il primoincontro col dipinto del Bellini. Poi gli sforzi per ottenere il primo finanziamento per il restauro e gli incontri che ciconducono attraverso la Vicenza dei decenni passati: Neri Pozza, Ferdinando Bandini, Giustino Valmarana. Si coglie in luiun senso di malinconia, Sgarbi appare un po' più disarmato del solito: vuole vedere in questa sua visita, per lui 71enne,una coincidenza, un segno, per il fatto che l'opera è stata realizzata proprio da un Bellini della stessa età, nella parte finaledella sua vita, questa corrispondenza lo riempie di emozione. «Per me questo dipinto ha sempre avuto un'attrazionemagica - dice - qui ritrovo Dio nella natura, anzi Dio è la natura, è la potenza della sua creazione, quasi come se il Bellinigiunto alla fine della sua esistenza, avesse trovato una sorta di purificazione, quasi un trattato di filosofia che vuol dare unsenso al secolo che stava nascendo, il Cinquecento di Michelangelo e Raffaello». Il capolavoro del Bellini sarà oggetto,come detto, di un'operazione di promozione, che, hanno spiegato Carla Padovan e Vladimiro Riva, del consorzio Vicenzaè, si concretizzerà, anche grazie al sostegno del Funt, il Fondo unico nazionale per il turismo, in un percorso attraversoformazione degli operatori turistici, coinvolgimento di tour operator, della stampa specializzata in Italia e all'estero con de ipress tours, nonché la produzione di materiali divulgativi tradizionali e innovativi, come il già esistente virtual tour della chiesa di Santa Corona.
mattina, nella chiesa di Santa Corona, Vittorio Sgarbi, invitato dal consigliere delegato del consorzio di promozione turistica Vicenzaè Vladimiro Riva, a presentare «Il Battesimo di Cristo» di Giovanni Bellini.
CHIAMPO Grotta di Lourdes e la Pieve
Certainly, the most important one is the 
