Things To Do in Treviso

The historic heart of Treviso, Piazza dei Signori ★ is anchored by the Palazzo del Podestà, rebuilt in the 1870s with a tall clock tower, and the Palazzo dei Trecento, the 13th-century town council hall (chic Bar Beltrame nestles beneath the arches). Just beyond the square, on adjacent Piazza San Vito, sit two handsome medieval churches: Santa Lucia ★ (www.santaluciatreviso.it; tel. 0422/5457200), with a superb Tomaso da Modena fresco of the “Madonna del Pavegio” in the first shrine on the right; and San Vito ★, with its fine 13th-century Byzantine-style frescoes. Both are open daily 8am–noon; admission is free.

Historic Via Calmaggiore, lined with posh boutiques, runs northwest from Piazza dei Signori towards Treviso’s Duomo ★ (admission free; Mon–Sat 7:30am–noon and 3:30–7pm; Sun 8am–1pm and 3:30–8pm). Its relatively dull neoclassical facade dates only from 1836, but its flanking Romanesque lions and seven Venetian-Byzantine style green copper domes testify to the cathedral’s 12th-century origins. The crypt is the most compelling part of the interior, with tombs of the city’s bishops amid a forest of columns and fragments of 14th-century frescoes and mosaics. The cathedral also has a fine 1520 Titian altarpiece, the “Malchiostro Annunciation.”

Stroll southwest from the Duomo to the massive Italian Gothic San Nicolò church ★ (admission free; daily 8am–noon and 3:30–6pm), with its intriguing Gothic frescoes. Tomaso da Modena and his school decorated the huge round columns with a series of saints, notably St. Jerome and St. Agnes. Antonio da Treviso painted the gargantuan St. Christopher—his .9m-long (3-ft.) feet strolling over biting fish—in 1410. 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. 0422-324800), frescoed in 1352 by Tomaso da Modena with 40 Dominicans busily studying and copying out manuscripts at their desks. It's open 8am to 5pm daily; admission is free (ring the bell if the door is shut).

East of Piazza dei Signori, in Piazzetta Mario Botter, the Museo di Santa Caterina (www.museicivicitreviso.it; tel. 0422/658442; 6€; Tues–Sun 9am–12:30pm and 2:30–6pm), housed in a deconsecrated church, displays another Tomaso da Modena fresco cycle, the “Story of the Life of Saint Ursula.” There’s also a cache of local archaeological finds, plus minor works by Titian, Lorenzo Lotto, and Francesco Guardi. South of there, the 15th-century church of Santa Maria Maggiore (admission free; daily 8am–noon and 3:30–6pm) houses a venerated frescoed image of Mary (the “Madonna Granda”), an ancient Byzantine-style image later touched up by Tomaso and members of his school.