Oratory of Sant’Andrea

The existence of the Oratory of Sant’Andrea, located at the mouth of the suggestive San Liberale Valley, is attested in the early Middle Ages from 1070, when it was located near the castle of the Antici, of which no ruins remain. In 1242, it is mentioned as the only church of Fietta in a dispute between this very municipality and the neighboring municipality of Possagno. Sant’Andrea remains the patron saint of the town and titular of a very ancient confraternity still existing, whose statutes are preserved from 1604. Sant’Andrea was the curial church of the regola (i.e., the community) until the second half of the 18th century when (1774) this function was delegated to the church of the Santissima Trinità in Fietta. The building consists of a single rectangular nave. The perimeter walls are made of plastered stone, the roof structure of wooden trusses and tiles forming a traditional gabled roof with terracotta tiles. The facade, gabled, is characterized by the central portal and two stone-framed windows, a stone holy water font, and the central lunette. The roof with an overhanging stone slab cornice culminates with a central cross. The interior consists of a single central nave oriented from east to west. The only entrance on the west side has a wooden door. The presbytery area is raised by one step from the nave. The recent restoration (2001) allowed for the reinforcement of the existing minimal structures in local stone. The flooring of the central nave is in raw concrete. The presbytery, on the other hand, has terracotta tile flooring, while the steps to access the altar and sacristy are in local stone. The famous Remondini family from Bassano left a trace of their typographic art at Sant’Andrea, namely the etchings of the Via Crucis, dating back to the mid-18th century. The wooden altar houses a copy of an altarpiece attributed to the Da Ponte School (Leandro?) currently unavailable due to theft. In this representation, behind Sant’Andrea, Saint Roch is recognizable, and in the background, the local hills. If the altar and altarpiece are contemporary, the image of the worshiper at the feet is certainly the portrait of Iseppo Fietta, as the inscription states: “Iseppo Fietta Gastaldo of the School of S. Andrea together with Silvestro and Antonio Andreatta and Vittore Bernardo Marzoli, had this work done in the month of February in the year of the Lord 1602, when the Rev. Don Olivo Pilone was Parish Priest.”