The center of town is Piazza dei Signori, lined with arcades that run under the retro-medieval Palazzo del Podestà, rebuilt in the 1870s with a tall battlemented clock tower, and spread into a loggia under the 13th-century brick council hall Palazzo dei Trecento.
Just beyond this square, on Piazza S. Vito, sits a pair of medieval churches: Santa Lucia, with Tomaso da Modena frescoes in the first alcove on the right, and San Vito, with its rather faded Byzantine-style frescoes from the 12th or 13th century. Both are open daily 9am to noon and 4 to 6pm.
The overbearing facade of the Duomo is from 1836, but it's flanked by Romanesque lions that, coupled with the seven green copper domes, speak to the cathedral's 12th-century origins in the Venetian-Byzantine style. The second pilaster features a late-1400s relief of the Visitation by Lorenzo Bregno. The chapel altarpiece at the end of the right aisle is an unusually bright and open Annunciation by Titian (the chapel's founder Broccardo Malchiostro was painted in later, crouching behind the classical building to peep at the scene). The crypt contains a forest of columns and fragments of 14th-century fresco and mosaic. It's open Monday to Saturday 7:30am to noon and 3:30 to 7pm, Sunday 7:30am to 1pm and 3:30 to 8pm.
Via Canoniche, next to the cathedral, runs past an ancient paleo-Christian mosaic of the 4th century to a Gothic priory housing the Museo Diocesano d'Arte Sacra (tel. 0422-416-707). Inside are mid-13th-century frescoes, a Tomaso da Modena that used to decorate the bishop's palace, and plenty of medieval sculpture along with the usual vestments and holy silverware -- though, frankly, if admission weren't free, it wouldn't be worth it. It's open Monday to Thursday 9am to noon, Saturday 9am to noon and 3 to 6pm.
More interesting -- or at least it will be once it reopens -- is the Museo Civico, Borgo Cavour 24 (tel. 0422-658-442 or 0422-591-337). On the ground floor is a remarkable collection of ancient bronze relics, including swords and ritualistic disks from the 5th century B.C., alongside Roman remains. Upstairs, the painting collection includes works, but no standouts, by Giovanni Bellini, Lorenzo Lotto, Titian, Jacopo Bassano, Cima da Conegliano, and both Giovanni Battista and Gian Domenico Tiepolo. At press time it had just closed for restorations and renovations, with no set date for reopening, but thankfully the best of the paintings are still being shown in Santa Caterina (below), where some of the museum's other collections may be moving on a permanent basis in the future as Treviso rethinks its civic museum scene. Though closed as we go to press, the old ticket price was 3€ ($3.45), and open hours were Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 12:30pm and 2:30 to 5pm, and Sunday 9am to noon.
Down in the southwest corner of town, the big brick 13th- to 14th-century Dominican church of San Nicolò houses some good Gothic frescoes. Tomaso da Modena decorated the huge round columns with a series of saints; Antonio da Treviso did the absolutely gargantuan St. Christopher -- his .9m (3-ft.) long feet strolling over biting fish -- in 1410. On the right side of the apse, the tomb of Agostino d'Onigo from 1500 has courtly Pages frescoed by Lorenzo Lotto, who also did the altarpiece of the Incredulity of St. Thomas with Apostles in the chapel right of the altar. The late-14th-century Sienese School frescoes lining the walls include an Adoration of the Magi, complete with camels. It's open daily 8am to 12:30pm and 3:30 to 7pm. Next door to the (unused) front door of the church is the entrance to the adjoining seminary's Sala del Capitolo, Piazzetta Benedetto XI 2 (tel. 0422-3247), frescoed in 1352 by Tomaso da Modena with 40 Dominicans busily studying and copying out manuscripts at their desks. It's open 8am to 6pm daily; admission is free (ring the bell if the door is shut).
On the other side of town -- across the wide Cagnan canals, whose islands host a daily fish market -- stands a (deconsecrated) church that's now well worth seeking out. The highlight of Santa Caterina (tel. 0422-591-337) itself are frescoes by Tomaso da Modena, including a Madonna and (detached from a now-destroyed church and kept here) a series on the life of St. Ursula. The bonus is that a long restoration on the church complex was completed in summer 2003, and the city plans to transfer many of its treasures here to take up permanent display. The exact division of works between the (currently closed for its own restoration) Museo Civico and this space has yet to be decided, but in the meantime at least the city's painting collection is being kept here. Admission is now 3€ ($3.45) for adults, 2€ ($2.30) for students, and 1€ ($1.15) for kids under 10; it's open every Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 12:30pm and 2:30 to 6pm.
Free Tours--The tourist office offers free guided tours of the city, April 28 to December 29, on Saturdays, lasting from 10am to noon. The tours must be booked in advance at tel. 0422-547-632.
