Excerpt from Le Chiese di Polcenigo by Alessandro Fadelli

The first documentary news about the church at the sources of the Livenza dates back to the 14th century, but the building is perhaps older. It has been hypothesized that it was built on the site of an ancient pagan temple, but there is currently no certain evidence regarding this.

Already in the 1400s, the sanctuary was a subject of great devotion and pilgrimages for fertility and against drought.

In 1588, to better manage the multitude of faithful and the irregular keeping of accounts, observant Franciscan friars were called from Venice, who built a convent behind the church, now completely disappeared.

The Franciscans, who remained until 1769 to manage the influx of devotees, rebuilt the sanctuary between the late 1500s and early 1600s, which still today presents itself in the typically Counter-Reformation features assumed in that period: a large porch in front of the entrance, which hosted the devotees during the night, a portal surmounted by the typical Franciscan coat of arms, a single large hall, a vast raised presbytery, and an underlying crypt.

It houses several notable works of art, among which undoubtedly dominates the monumental and scenic 17th-century wooden main altar, perhaps by the Ghirlanduzzi of Ceneda, rich in friezes and gilding, which encloses a precious wooden altarpiece, carved and painted in 1494 by Domenico da Tolmezzo, depicting the Holy Trinity: a grandiose work, among the highest of the Tolmezzino, who for the occasion also ventured into painting four delicate Adoring Angels within the same edicule.

Next to the altarpiece stands the funerary monument, adorned with helmets, armor, and cannons, dedicated in 1642 to Count Gio Batta di Polcenigo, a valiant leader.

On the walls, various frescoes of religious themes by unknown authors can be seen, dating from the late 16th century to the first half of the 17th century: among all, the figures of Moses, David, and the Sibyls deserve a mention.

In some lunettes of the presbytery, Episodes from the life of Jesus are depicted, while behind the main altar there is a magnificent 17th-century wooden choir decorated with the double-headed eagle, which the counts of Polcenigo boasted, and some paintings, some monochrome and others polychrome.

Other interesting frescoes with religious subjects (17th century) adorn the walls of the nearby sacristy, which also preserves some iron stocks, donated according to tradition, by Counts Marzio and Gio Batta di Polcenigo, who were taken prisoner in 1606 by the Turks and then freed after the payment of a large ransom.

Also in the sacristy are some curious wooden heads, perhaps from the 17th century, depicting Jesus, the Three Marys, and characters in oriental-style clothing, probably part of an ancient sculptural group that constituted a Lamentation over the Dead Christ or something similar, as well as a jointed and dressed mannequin of Saint Francis and a series of 18th-century Stations of the Cross paintings.

In the crypt under the altar, there is today a modern-era Dead Christ and three wooden statues (the Three Marys) of uncertain dating.

In the four side altars, three stone and one wooden, there are a painting by a Venetian-Friulian painter (late 16th-early 17th century) with the Madonna and Child and saints Barbara, Peter, and Paul, another painting by a painter from Palma, close to the style of Matteo Ingoli (early 17th century), with another Madonna and Child and saints Anthony the Abbot, Mark, and Francis with donor and coat of arms of the Manin counts, a carved and gilded wooden altar of Saint Francis, also from the 17th century, and finally a wooden statue of the Immaculate Madonna (popularly known as Madonna del Latte), perhaps from the 18th century, to which women who could not breastfeed used to flock in the past.