If during your stay at The Court of Marga If you wish to immerse yourself in the most cultured, refined, and profound atmosphere of the Trevigian Prealps, there is a place you absolutely cannot miss. In the beating heart of the ancient village of Serravalle, overlooking the picturesque Piazza Marcantonio Flaminio, stands the Museum of Cenedese.

Housed in one of Veneto's most charming palaces, this museum is a veritable time machine. It is not a simple exhibition of objects, but the telling of an immense historical identity: that of the “Cenedese”, an ancient territory situated between the Piave and Livenza rivers, extending vertically from the Val Belluna down to the Adriatic coast.

Here's an in-depth guide to uncovering every single secret held within its walls.

The Loggia della Comunità: a monument that tells the story of Venice's power

Even before crossing the threshold of the museum, the building itself captures the gaze: the monumental Serravalle Community Lodge (also known as the Palace of the Community). This palace represents one of the most splendid, elegant and intact examples of Venetian mainland architecture in the entire regional landscape.

The rivalry with Ceneda and the Podestà Venier

The Loggia was erected during a period of extraordinary economic and political splendour, between 1462 and 1476, on the foundations of the previous and older Palazzo dei Podestà. The Venetian Podestà Gabriele and Domenico Venier wanted it, desiring a monumental building capable of reasserting Serravalle's civil, judicial, and commercial supremacy over the nearby and rival Ceneda (at the time dominated by the temporal power of the Bishops). The Venier family coats of arms, masterfully carved into the Istrian stone, are still visible and watch over the square.

The mystery of the rediscovered clock and the frescoes unearthed from the past

The recent and impressive scientific restorations carried out at the palace have gifted the community two incredible historical plot twists:

• The missing dial of 1487: Whilst carrying out cleaning work on the adjacent bell tower, archaeologists have rediscovered an ancient painted clock face, all traces and documentary records of which had been lost since the end of the 15th century.
• 15th-century painting cycles: On the external façade and beneath the wide portico, large fragments of 15th-century frescoes have been uncovered; these once adorned the entire building with geometric, allegorical and heraldic motifs, bearing witness to the visual splendour of Renaissance-era Serravalle.

The museum was established within this gem thanks to the efforts of the engineer Francesco Troyer (1863-1936). A passionate collector and tireless scholar, Troyer dedicated his entire life to collecting, cataloguing, and rescuing historical and artistic fragments of the Piave Left Bank from decay or dispersal, thereby saving the very soul of the territory.

The Archaeological Section: from prehistoric cults to the Lombard Duchy

The ground floor of the museum houses an archaeological exhibition of exceptional value, which demonstrates how the Vittorio Veneto basin has always been an essential strategic and military hub for anyone wishing to travel between the Po Valley and northern Europe (via Cadore and Germany).

• Prehistory and Mount Altare: Artefacts dating back to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages bear witness to the first human settlements in the caves of the area. Of great fascination are the artefacts from the nearby Altare Mount, a hilltop archaeological site which for centuries served as an open-air sanctuary, a place of pagan and votive worship first for the Paleoveneti and later for the Celtic tribes who came down from the Alps.
• Romanisation and the consular roads: Inscriptions on stone, imperial coins, intact grave goods and everyday pottery document the Roman development of the area, which ensured the security of commercial traffic along the variants of the Via Claudia Augusta.
• The Lombards: Ceneda, capital of the Duchy: This is perhaps the most dense part of its history. In the 6th century AD, Ceneda became the seat of one of the most important Lombard duchies in Italy. The museum displays treasures discovered in the necropolises of the area: iron weapons (including lethal double-edged swords). scramasax), finely crafted bronze fibulae, cavalry stirrups, and the extremely rare gold leaf crosses that were sewn onto the shrouds of noble Lombard warriors.

The Art Gallery: Great Art from the Renaissance to the 20th Century

As you climb the steps of the monumental staircase, you enter the art gallery, where history gives way to pure visual beauty, through a collection spanning from the 15th century to the last century.

The secret of the Madonna del Sansovino (c. 1540)

The absolute masterpiece, the work for which art critics and travellers from all over the world visit the museum, is the splendid Madonna and Child of Jacopo Sansovino (Jacopo Tatti), dating from around 1540. It is a high relief carved in polychrome papier-mâché. This technique, now unfairly regarded as “primitive”, was, in the Renaissance, a highly refined workshop secret, used by the greatest masters (including Donatello and Sansovino himself) to create works intended for private devotion that possessed the same sculptural quality as marble or bronze, yet with extraordinary lightness and a very warm colour rendering. The gentleness of the Virgin’s face and the natural movement of the Child are a testament to the highest expression of Venetian classicism.

From Renaissance grace to 19th-century realism

Continuing the tour, you'll encounter more artistic gems:

• Devotional paintings strongly influenced by the nearby school of Tiziano Vecellio and from the pictorial tradition of Cima da Conegliano.
• The splendid bronze of the’“Water seller” of Vincenzo Gemito, one of the foremost Italian realist sculptors of the late 19th century, capable of infusing vibrant and almost dramatic vitality into metallic matter.
• The intense and melancholic canvases of Pietro Pajetta, an artist of the 19th century who was able to portray with profound sensitivity the social reality and faces of the Venetian people of the time.

The Image of Resistance: Art as Memory

The museum's route takes a bold and necessary leap into contemporary history through the section dedicated to “The Image of the Resistance”. This room houses paintings, graphic works, and sculptures by 20th-century artists who sought to visually represent the drama, violence, and unwavering yearning for freedom of the partisan struggle that inflamed the woods of the nearby Cansiglio and Pedemontana. It is the ideal bridge connecting ancient art to the modern sacrifice that earned Vittorio Veneto the prestigious Gold Medal of Military Valour.

📍 Useful information for your day trip:

• Headquarters Piazza Marcantonio Flaminio, 1 – Historic District of Serravalle, Vittorio Veneto.
• Contact details Telephone 0438 57103
• Court Advice: As the museum is rich in detail, allow at least an hour and a half for your visit. To check the latest seasonal opening times and any special events, always consult the official tourist portal: www.turismovittorioveneto.it.

💡 Return to La Corte di Marga

After being captivated by the geometric elegance of the Venetian Loggia and the Renaissance grace of Sansovino, the best way to conclude your day is to return to the hills of Prosecco Superiore. We await you in Miane at our Charming apartments at La Corte di Marga, where the historic charm of exquisitely restored rural buildings will welcome your rest in an oasis of absolute silence and relaxation by the swimming pool with a fine glass of wine, admiring the splendid Prosecco Hills, a UNESCO World Heritage site.