Via XX Settembre

Via XX Settembre -- still called the Contrada Grande locally -- is Conegliano's single main street, running the length of the historic centre under continuous arcades. Its palace fronts are Gothic and Venetian, and many still carry fragments of the frescoes that once covered them.

This is a functioning high street serving residents first, in a town that sees few overnight visitors. Money spent here goes further than it does in the hill villages.

The frescoes are exposed to weather and traffic pollution and are slowly disappearing; nothing a visitor does affects that, but they are worth looking at properly while they are still legible.

Free, open and largely pedestrianised. Walking it end to end takes about ten minutes without stopping. It begins a short climb up from Conegliano station and runs toward the foot of the castle hill.

The shops are ordinary working businesses rather than souvenir outlets, which is much of its character.

Late afternoon and early evening, when the street fills for the passeggiata and low light reaches under the arcades. Bright days are much better for what remains of the frescoes.

Being covered, it is one of the few things here that rain does not spoil.