Chiesa di San Girolamo e Gaetano

The Church of San Girolamo, also known as the Church of San Gaetano or more commonly as the Church of the Conca, dates back to the second half of the fifteenth century when Count Giacomo Thiene built, beside his villa, a small church dedicated to San Girolamo, probably consecrated in 1472.

Historically and artistically, it is one of the most interesting places of worship in the city: the small church has a single nave with a wooden truss ceiling; the external façade features an unusual trilobate termination, and the surface is divided into three parts by pilasters that frame the marble portal adorned with noble coats of arms, the upper ones belonging to the Thiene family.

In 1563, the church had an extremely poor decoration, with only one altar (now there are three), above which the Virgin was depicted with Saints Girolamo and Rocco; the church also lacked a baptismal font and did not preserve the Most Holy Sacrament. The main altar was enriched in the seventeenth century by a panel by Alessandro Maganza depicting the Madonna, San Girolamo, and San Rocco, which has unfortunately been lost.

Next to the church, an elegant brick bell tower was built in the sixteenth century, and in 1582 Count Claudio Thiene had the first bell placed there, the oldest among those preserved in Thiene. Over the centuries, the little church, which served as the private oratory of the Thiene counts, underwent alterations to its original structure: in 1709 the noble Lodovico Thiene built the altar of San Gaetano, the saint of Providence, belonging to the noble Thiene family, and in 1734, he also erected the altar dedicated to Saints Ignatius and Luigi, decorating them with two paintings by the Vicentine artist Giovanni Antonio De Pieri.