What is Feltre known for?

Sacked in 1510 during the War of the League of Cambrai and rebuilt over sixty years in coherent sixteenth-century style. First weekend of August, with five rioni in Renaissance costume, archery and a horse race around Piazza Maggiore. National park covering 32,000 hectares of the Vette Feltrine and Monti del Sole, headquartered in the city.

Feltre is a comune in the province of Belluno, Veneto region of Italy, about 81 kilometers from Trento.

Veneto · Belluno

Feltre

A Renaissance cityin the Belluno Prealps, sacked in 1510 by Habsburg troops and rebuilt as the vertical village it remains.

81 km / 50 mi

Nearest hub (Trento)

20,369

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Parco Nazionale

Why come

Feltre sitson a hill above the Stizzon, near its confluence with the Piave, seventy kilometers north of Padova. Roman Feltria was a municipium on the Via Claudia Augusta. The defining episode in the city's appearance is 1510: during the War of the League of Cambrai, troops under Maximilian I of Habsburg sacked the town after the Venetian defeat at Agnadello, burning most of it. Feltre rebuilt over the next sixty years in coherent sixteenth-century Renaissance style, which gives the historic core its remarkable uniformity. The upper city, the citadel built around Piazza Maggiore, holds the Palazzo della Ragione with its Palladio-attributed loggia, the Castello di Alboino with its medieval keep, and the church of San Rocco. Via Mezzaterra, the long arcaded street through the lower city, is the spine of the Renaissance reconstruction. The Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi headquarters is in the city. The Palio di Feltre runs the first weekend of August with five rioni in costume, archery and a horse race in Piazza Maggiore.

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Gallery

10 photos · scroll →

Known for

Piazza Maggiore
Main square of the upper city, at the highest point of the centro storico, surrounded by Renaissance palaces and the citadel walls.
Palazzo della Ragione
Sixteenth-century town hall on Piazza Maggiore with a loggia traditionally attributed to Andrea Palladio.
Castello di Alboino
Medieval keep above the centro storico, named for the Lombard king Alboin, with views across the Piave valley to the Vette Feltrine.
Pinacoteca di Palazzo Villabruna
Civic gallery with works by Morto da Feltre, Cima da Conegliano, Gentile Bellini and Pietro Marescalchi.
Via Mezzaterra
Arcaded street through the lower city, the spine of the sixteenth-century Renaissance reconstruction after the 1510 sack.
Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi
National park headquartered in Feltre, covering 32,000 hectares of the Vette Feltrine and Monti del Sole north of the city.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through October is the working season. The hill stays a few degrees cooler than the Piave valley below, and the Vette Feltrine to the north stay walkable from May to October. The Palio di Feltre runs the first weekend of August: five rioni in costume, archery, a horse race around Piazza Maggiore, and the city fills past its 20,000 residents. July is warm but never as heavy as the plain. November through March is cold and grey; valley fog from the Piave can climb to the upper city. The view from the Castello di Alboino south across the Piave toward Monte Grappa is best after the first October cold snap when the haze clears.