The Old Churches of Vicenza: the Basilica of Saints Felice and Fortunato

In Roman times, south of the Via Postumia, there was a pagan necropolis where even the first Christians buried their dead. In this area grew the cult of the brothers Felice and Fortunato de Rainoni, martyred in Aquileia during the reign of Domitian.

Toward the end of the 4th century, a simple ecclesiae hall was built, measuring roughly 10 × 16 meters: structurally modest, yet enriched by a mosaic floor that is still visible inside the basilica. In 452, the hordes of Attila attacked and devastated the city, razing the aula ecclesiae to the ground. It was rebuilt with dimensions of 24 × 16.5 meters and three naves. At the beginning of the 8th century, the Benedictines settled in the basilica and dedicated it to Saints Vitus and Modestus, figures dear to their order. In 802, Charlemagne visited the basilica, donating objects and privileges.

In 899, Hungarian incursions half-destroyed and burned the basilica. Bishop Rodolfo of Vicenza, with a privilegium issued in 983, reaffirmed the presence of the Benedictines and granted them substantial resources for reconstruction.

The terrible earthquake of January 3, 1117 devastated much of northern Italy and severely damaged the basilica; Abbot Alberto immediately began rebuilding. Under the rule of the Scaligeri and later the Visconti, the church gradually declined.

In 1532, Bartolomeo d’Alviano proposed demolishing the basilica to strengthen the city’s defenses — a plan fortunately never carried out.

It was only in the second half of the 1600s, at the height of the Baroque period, that the church’s appearance was completely transformed. The façade was clad in two tiers of marble, beneath which an atrium with a three-arched portico was added. Portico and façade were crowned with balustrades and statues; the interior was renovated and the ceiling given a coffered structure.

The presbytery was separated from the area for the faithful, raised on neo-Romanesque arches crowned by an ornate balcony. The walls, no longer faced with marble, were plastered, and the apse basin was frescoed by Giulio Carpioni with “The Coronation of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit.”

Neglect, time, and the 1695 earthquake once again damaged the structure, which was restored in the first half of the 18th century. During the Napoleonic period, with the suppression of confraternities and religious orders, the Benedictines were expelled, and in 1806 the complex passed into municipal ownership.

Finally, in 1935, thanks to Monsignor Giuseppe Lorenzon, all the 18th- and 19th-century additions were removed, and the basilica was restored to its 12th-century form, which is the one visible today. Adriano Bevilacqua

The Basilica of Saints Felice and Fortunato is only one of the many reflections of the historical, cultural and artistic heritage that lives and breathes within our Palladian Lands of Beauty.If you wish to truly step inside, here below you’ll find the passage that continues your exploration

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Article updated in 2026