Our tour of the places of artistic and cultural importance in Valeggio begins in the historic centre where we find the Chiesa parocchiale di San Pietro in Cattedra, with its strikingly unusual façade and beautiful bronze doorway which was commissioned in 2006 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the church’s consecration.

Neoclassical in style, it was built in 1753 on the ruins of an earlier 17th-century church, but some documents testify to a Romanesque parish church dating back to 1145. While the facade remains unfinished, inside a large nave draws the eye towards an immense 19th-century altarpiece. On the left is a magnificent pipe organ (1812) by G.B. Sona of the 18th-century Veneto-Gardesana school, fully restored and in perfect working order.

The 16th-century chapel of the Oratory, which stands in the small square on the left side of the church, also deserves a brief mention. Recently restored, it is the oldest sacred building in Valeggio. In our parish there were once four other chapels dedicated to St. Zeno, St. Rocco, St. Giorgio and St. Giustina but unfortunately only a few traces remain.