The restoration of the count hall of coats of arms at the bishop’s castle of San Martino will be inaugurated on June 21st in Vittorio Veneto, at 6 pm, in the presence of Bishop Corrado Pizziolo. The hall already existed, as a throne room, in the medieval castle. At the end of the 16th century it was renovated by order of the Venetian bishop Marcantonio Mocenigo: the construction of the barrel vault with grotesques, painted by Pozzoserrato, dates back to that era. The large rectangular hall then became a hall of arms and, only in 1942, did it begin to be called the “hall of coats of arms”, following Bishop Beccegato’s decision to reproduce the coats of arms of the bishops of Ceneda from the beginning of the history of the diocese until 17th century (the coats of arms of subsequent bishops are found in the hall of the bishopric and in the atrium of the chapel of San Martino).
A small jewel, which however needed rehabilitation and restoration due to the damage caused by humidity in the north wall. For years, water has flowed towards the wall from the external staircase, filling it. In 2019 the staircase was restored and the problem of water flow resolved, but work still had to be done to the wall of the room to remove the humidity. “Immediately – explains Don Mirco Miotto, director of the Sacred Art and Cultural Heritage Office – a ‘sacrificial’ plaster was used, which did its job for a few years, extracting humidity. But when this plaster finished its effect, it became necessary to intervene differently. And so the work began by the specialized company Diemmeci of Villorba. The situation that the experts found was worse than expected and in various points they had to work with specific techniques to ensure the fixing of the plaster. It was decided to proceed with the cleaning and consolidation of the south wall as well, so as to have a complete job. The vault, however, only needed cleaning.” The cost of the intervention was supported by the diocese of Vittorio Veneto, also thanks to a significant contribution from Banca Prealpi.
