For centuries, despite the passage of time and the events of history, the building has preserved its grandeur and original charm to this day.
Villa Alpago Beltramini is a large and prestigious architectural complex in the rural area of Val Belluna. Located just a few kilometres from the city centre, it stands in a dominant position over the countryside, between the Piave River and the provincial road along the left bank of the Piave.
According to historian Adriano Alpago Novello, Villa Alpago was built at the beginning of the 18th century. Francesco Alpago (1717–1786, Chancellor of the Council of Nobles) lived in the villa, and Girolamo Alpago—son of Antonio—died there in 1776.
Historically, the main entrance to the Villa Alpago Beltramini complex was located—when approaching from Belluno—at the junction between Via Visome and Via Rivamaor. Here there was a small forecourt, now completely overgrown and therefore hidden from view, where an elegant wrought-iron entrance gate once stood. Above it was the pediment of the Alpago family, topped with a noble crown.
The gate was supported by two tall and imposing stone pillars, still standing today, with moulded bases and capitals, to which the stone masonry walls that completed the architectural composition of the entrance were bonded. To this day, this remains the main entrance, alongside which a secondary access from Via Rivamaor has also been added.
The entire complex is listed among the Veneto Villas (IRVV).
The elements include:
The complex is completed by the outherns terrace and the two monumental avenues. Lastly, surrounding the villa are large tracts of land that are still used for agriculture today.
The building’s current condition—which has led to the loss of various areas of plaster and suspended ceilings—allows for a clearer reading of the masonry textures, bonding patterns, structural discontinuities and the type of floor structures.
It is therefore possible to carry out an updated critical analysis of the building, which suggests that the structure we see today is in fact the result of a major intervention carried out in the 18th century by the Alpago family. The aim was to renovate and expand one or more pre-existing buildings, linking them together to create an “apparently” unified structure of greater prestige and monumentality, complete with all the functional parts needed to manage the family’s vast estates. This hypothesis would also explain the villa’s distinctive internal layout (which partly diverges from the traditional Venetian model), as well as the different floor levels inside the building.
The intervention may have been completed in 1779, a date that appears engraved in the old plaster consistent with the monumental staircase, which was probably built precisely to serve as a junction between the different levels and to unify the various pre-existing building sections.
In keeping with the work on the villa, interventions were also carried out on the two rural wings. Once completed, the villa must have appeared lavish, with painted walls and ceilings, and rooms enhanced by statues placed in niches. Perhaps decorative sculptural elements were also present along the avenue and the promenade, but unfortunately they were looted.
What is certain is that by the mid-20th century (ref. Austro-Italian Cadastre, 1st survey, Visome register, sheet 3), the complex already had its present-day configuration, except for a portion of the north-west rural wing, which was altered at a later time. Another established fact is that “the invasion of 1918 caused serious damage and dispersed a large part of the many works of art that were preserved here,” as historian Alpago Novello reports.
Probably consistent with the major 18th-century intervention on the buildings, and in line with the architectural spirit of the time, are also the works carried out on the external features, which led to the creation of the eastern avenue, the southern terrace, and the promenade along the southern avenues.
By the mid-19th century, all of these had certainly already been completed, as would be confirmed by the layout of the parcels in the Austro-Italian cadastre of the 1st survey.