The Collegio, which still serves today as a scenic backdrop to what remains of the ancient Piazza San Francesco, is known to have been established only from 1636, when the Este Andrea Bortoloni, a member of a wealthy and noble family from the area, became a Conventual Franciscan friar and began the construction of the monastery, also serving as a teacher for forty years in the convent.
Regarding the design of the building, it is likely that Vincenzo Scamozzi, the continuator of the Palladian classicist trend in Veneto, provided it to what would later be the on-site executor of the project, Antonio Zuccato.
The classicist language of Scamozzi is particularly visible in the cloister of the convent, characterized by typical elements such as the use of overlapping orders, Doric in the lower register and Ionic in the upper, with tympanum windows featuring balustrades and a double fascia cornice with terminal dentilation.
On the perimeter of the cloister, three accesses open to the building and the Aula Magna, where one can admire the painting with the “Dinner at Emmaus,” placed on the back wall of the large room. The theme of the painting and the dimensions of the room clearly indicate that this was the refectory of the convent, next to which was the chapel dedicated to the Virgin.
The first floor was instead used as a dormitory for the young students within the college.
The Cloister of San Francesco today hosts events, performances, conferences, and cultural meetings.
